by Judy Handley | Feb 10, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 41: Yucky Weather Coming
Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Weather: Sunny, Warmer, Tonight Snow, Then Rain; High Temp 33, Low 30 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I have really enjoyed having real winter for a change, but it looks like our beautiful blanket of snow is not going to last much longer. Tonight, we are supposed to get a little snow, topped by rain that will freeze everything by morning, then the temperature rises and the thaw begins. Yuck! I much prefer the snow and haven’t minded the cold. I really don’t like 40 degrees and rain. Yuck.
Today was a catch-up day in between running here and there. I had a Board of Library Trustees meeting tonight and book club this morning. But I could only be there for about 20 minutes. At least I got to see everyone and add my comments about a book that I haven’t finished. I only made a dent in my ‘to do’ list today, but that is better than nothing. I have been so incredibly busy that many things that need immediate attention have been put on the back burner. I’ll keep at it tomorrow morning, before things get really busy again.
Justin is recovering from this hernia surgery much faster than the last time. So that is good news. And Heather flies home from the Netherlands tomorrow. Sam is not flying home for another week or so, which is a bit of a change in plans. But there are things he still needs to attend to before leaving Groningen.
I should keep working tonight to chip away at that ‘to do’ list. But right now, I am going to get on my exercise bike and watch a little of the Olympics. I think I deserve that!
by Judy Handley | Feb 9, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 40: Thinking of Justin
Date: Monday, February 9, 2026
Weather: Sunny, Still Cold but Warming Up a Bit; High Temp 32, Low 15 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
My son Justin had hernia surgery today. He had his first hernia surgery on this exact same date in 2017. I flew down to help out. I was way more painful than Justin anticipated. For the first day or two post-surgery, it was all Jo and I could do to help him get up to go the bathroom. But we learned quickly and by the time I left, things were pretty much back to normal. The surgery went well, but I will be anxious to hear from Jo tomorrow morning as to how he is doing. Ziggy and Coco were too young to help out in 2017, but now Ziggy is almost as big as Justin and can help with the lifting. I said it then and I say it again here, hernia surgery is not serious, but it is one surgery that should allow a night in the hospital. I have only had knee and back surgery and with those, it hurts a bit, but you can get in and out of bed without help. With abdominal surgery, you don’t have the muscles you need to lift yourself up. Love you, Justin, and sending you healing thoughts.
I spent my entire day preparing for the Indivisible Falmouth February meeting tonight and also cooking dinner for Jonah and Ollie. Jed had a Health Board meeting starting at 5:30 pm, so I dropped off dinner for the boys and headed to the library, also at 5:30 pm to set up for tonight’s meeting. I am in charge of the organized activity for the monthly meeting, and that, plus nailing down the times and making room reservations for our trainings prior to NO KINGS on March 28, took me all day. But I was successful in getting the calendar or trainings all set and we had a great meeting tonight. Almost everyone was there for the first time which was great. I don’t know where all of our ‘regulars’ were tonight, but it was wonderful to welcome newbies. We are growing which is a very good thing.
by Judy Handley | Feb 8, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 38: Snowy Saturday
Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026
Weather: Snow, Wind, Cold; High Temp 30, Low 5 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Yep! It is winter. Heather and Jed were predicting today that we have at least 3 more weeks of this cycle of snow, followed by wind, a few sunny and cold days, then we start over with another dose of snow, wind, cold days all thanks to the polar vertex. Shadow has always loved snow. But tonight, when we went out after the snow stopped, the wind was blowing the snow off the roof of the house and was swirling around our feet. I walked him out the street, but as soon as I turned around to head back to the house he started pulling really hard. I just let him go and he went straight to the front door as fast he could run. Jonah is loving the cold weather because the ponds are frozen and he and his friends can play ice hockey. Unfortunately, Ollie has been house bound due to the broken arm and has not had a chance to enjoy the snow.
Heather is in route to Amsterdam tonight. Sam finished finals last week and then withdrew. University in the Netherlands is just not for him and he decided it made no sense to spend another semester of misery. He has made some very good friends, and he is going to miss them. But now it is time to start the next chapter in the life of Sam. They arrive home late Wednesday night, and then the whole family leaves on Saturday for a week in Vermont as it is school break. I’m planning to join them for a couple of days to have some adventures with Ollie while everyone else is skiing or snowboarding.
This afternoon I met with the producer of the documentary that we are screening in late February about Temporary Protected Status families in this country. We talked for almost two hours. I’ll share some of that conversation with you tomorrow. And, of course, I went to the rally on the Green. Today it was a rally with falling snow, but that didn’t dampen our spirits.
by Judy Handley | Feb 8, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 39: Super Bowl Sunday
Date: Sunday, February 8, 2026
Weather: Windy, Sunny, and Cold; High Temp 20, Low 8 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was a beautiful day. The snow we got yesterday was a light, powdery snow and it blanketed everything with a soft white cover that makes it look like the ground has been covered with the softest, puffiest comforter imaginable. I headed out with Shadow this morning when the temperature was about 7 degrees F. It was bright and sunny, but we only made it a tenth of mile before Shadow started hopping on one leg and then the other. I think he get frozen snow between his toes, but whatever, I knew I needed to turn around and get him home. It was windy today, but nothing like last night, so he was once again enjoying being out in the snow.
I worked all day on an activity I will do at the Indivisible meeting tomorrow night, and I am still not finished. It is challenging because I don’t know how many people we will have. We had over 70 last month, so I am planning for that many and then making plans for fewer and more people. I was also trying to pin down dates for the trainings we will have during the month of March to prepare for NO KINGS on March 28. Plus I had to update the calendar on the website. Lots to keep me busy.
Heather made it to Groningen today and had dinner with Sam. They will begin the packing tomorrow. I went over to check in with Jed, Jonah, and Ollie just before the Super Bowl tonight and got photos of Ollie and Jonah with the chocolate football I bought for them. It really looked like a real football, the same size but I little lighter in weight, and it even felt like one. They did a couple of successful passes, thankfully without it falling to the floor, but decided they would start the eating process during the game.
I decided to come home and watch the game here so I could keep working on my PowerPoint for tomorrow night. If you watched the game, you already know it was not an exciting Super Bowl if you are a Pat’s fan. But since it was not a nail biter, I actually got a bit of work done while watching. And I really enjoyed the halftime show. I think Bab Bunny did a fabulous job of celebrating his beloved Puerto Rico. As he often does, he focused attention on some of the problems the island continues to struggle with, like the electric grid that is always ‘exploding’. But his political statements were subtle, which in this case I appreciated. I loved the celebration of Puerto Rican culture. I’ll be interested to hear Jo and Coco’s review. They both like Bad Bunny, but Justin and Ziggy do not.
On to tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Feb 7, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 37: Work and Friends and the Olympics
Date: Thursday, February 6, 2026
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Snow on the Way; High Temp 32, Low 3 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today was a welcome change for the work, work, work previous days of this week. I did work on Indivisible and Encore things all morning. But I took a break and had lunch with friend Eileen Mattingly. She worked with me on the Nonviolence in Action film series in the fall and I have not had a chance to see her since. I came home for a bit and worked on the upcoming film screening. One of the producers wrote and wants to meet with me at the library this weekend to make sure the tech set up is adequate. That required a trip to the library to see when the room is not use so we know when we can try things out. Then I went to an early dinner with friends Bruce and Jane Woodin and came home and watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Andrea Botticelli’s voice is so powerful. His performance during the Opening Ceremonies was so moving. It will stay with me always. And I applaud Italy for choosing the theme of ‘peace’ for these games.
by Judy Handley | Feb 6, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 37: Yada, Yada, Yada
Date: Thursday, February 6, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 33, Low 13 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Meeting, meeting, lunch, meeting, on my computer, yada, yada, yada. I am too tired to write. But I am excited about a film screening that was arranged today. It is about the 1.5 million Temporary Protected Status families in danger of deportation and family separation. I had a Zoom meeting with one of the producers and he agreed to a screening in Falmouth with one of the producers and one or two members of the Massachusetts TPS committee members who will come to do a panel discussion. More tomorrow night.
