by Judy Handley | Oct 6, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 279: Trip to Hyannis
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Weather: Sunny but Cooler; High Temp 61, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
By the time I got up and did all of the things one must do to get ready for the day( plus take Shadow for his morning walk), it was time to head to Hyannis for an annual eye exam. Actually, the last time I went was in the spring of 2024, but both of the lens of my current glasses are so scratched that I have been wearing glasses from four years ago for the past month. This was an appointment I couldn’t miss. The good news is I will have new glasses in 10 days. The bad news was that there is evidence of the beginnings of cataracts, but thankfully not enough to be referred for surgery. I was hoping to never have to deal with cataracts, but it looks like my hope was in vain.
While in Hyannis, I thought I would do a little shopping. I hate shopping, but I needed organic green tea from Whole Foods and my sister needs so many different items of clothing. The most pressing is that she needs nightgowns not pajamas. And I am the last person on earth who should be shopping for nightgowns. I have never owned one and honestly have only ever bought one pair of pajamas for myself in the past 50 years. I used to wear old t-shirts for pajamas, but I did buy one summer pair of pajamas and one pair of knee length pajama bottoms about 10 years ago. I have been trying to order things for my sister online, and I do have a few things coming, but it is so hard to judge quality and size online. All of this is complicated by the fact that she can only wear petite sizes due to arm length and not every store has petites. My intolerance for mall shopping and the fact that they had nothing for me to buy today has convinced me that I am going to have to do her shopping online and pay whatever price is asked. I was looking for things on sale or for affordable prices, but I now know that is just not going to work. She has the money. I just hate paying such high prices for things.
I didn’t get home until almost 3:30, fixed and ate lunch, played outside with Shadow, and then was off to pick Ollie up from golf practice. I had a huge bag of chocolate goodies for the Goldstones from Trader Joe’s, and that made Ollie very happy. Trader Joe’s was my only successful shopping stop of the day. Whole Foods didn’t even have the organic green tea I needed. I think my 9-month stint of refusing to order from Amazon is over. I give in. In person shopping is just not my thing.
by Judy Handley | Oct 5, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 278: Scheduled Minute by Minute
Date: Monday, October 5, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 67, Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
My day today was literally scheduled minute by minute. But I survived! Tomorrow is almost the opposite. I have only two things on my calendar, the first being an eye exam in Hyannis. With travel time, that will take at least 3 hour of my day, but I only have to get back in time to pick Ollie up after golf practice. But first I have to survive the early morning temp in the low 40’s. Ouch! Early Wednesday morning looks the same, then it warms back up a bit on the overnights.
by Judy Handley | Oct 4, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 277: Heather’s Birthday Sail Aboard the Liberté
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny, Turning Overcast, Rain PM; High Temp 63, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Jed’s birthday gift to Heather was an afternoon sail on the Liberté.
The Liberté is a 77’ three-masted steel schooner that takes people for sailing excursions out of the Falmouth Harbor. Today was the last trip of the season and ten of us were lucky enough to be aboard. Jed invited two couples plus the six of us. Grace and Mike are the parents of one of Sam’s good friends, Robert. And Kate and Jeannot are the parents of Jean Luc, one of Jonah’s best friends. Robert is back at school in Miami and Jean Luc had to pick up a friend at the airport, so just the parents could come today.
We motored out of the harbor at noon with and lucked out with good winds and enough sunshine until near the end of the two plus hour sail. Heather and Sam got to pitch in and help while raising the sails, but the rest of the afternoon was just enjoying a beautiful fall day on the water.
We slowly sailed our way toward Nobska Light and when we turned to head home, the cloud cover came in. Shortly after that, I heard someone say the rain was coming in 24 minutes. We sailed more quickly home, and lucky for us, the first drops of rain didn’t hit the deck until just at the moment we arrived at the dock.
When I got home, despite the little bit of rain we were having, I needed to launch into a gardening project. When I lived in the cottage in East Falmouth, Ollie got a butterfly garden starter kit for his birthday in 2020. It had Echinacea seeds in it, so we planted them. I babied the little plants and by summer’s end we had a few Echinacea plants with beautiful pink flowers that the bees loved.
Echinacea is a perennial, so every year I had more and more. When I moved from the cottage, I dug up all the Echinacea plants and brought them here with me. I planted them all in a big round white plastic tub and they have been flourishing there Just beside my back deck for the past three years. But last week, I was told I had to move the tub of Echinacea because a contractor is coming to do some work right where the tub sits. Well, sat, as it has now been moved. There was no way I could move the foot and half high tub that is two feet across and full of garden soil, so I dug up clumps of plants and put the clumps in buckets and took them to Heather’s and transplanted them in her front yard. Hopefully they will have a permanent home there. That took at least a couple of hours and suddenly it was time for dinner. But I got to do the two things I love to do all in one day. I had a lovely time on the water sailing and then spent the rest of the afternoon gardening. It made for a perfect fourth day of October.
by Judy Handley | Oct 3, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 276: Beautiful Day
Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 68, Low 50 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Weatherwise, it was a beautiful day. I spent two and a half hours this morning knocking on doors for Jack Richardson who is running to be a State Representative and Dylan Fernandez who is the incumbent running to be the State Senator from this area. I have been canvassing with a woman named Julie that I met on the Green. We both volunteered to knock on doors on the same day in August before the primary election, and we have been canvassing together ever since. We both find it striking just how many people have no idea who their State Senator or State Rep is currently, much less who is running in this election. They know their Reps and Senators in Washington, but not at the state level. I have to admit I was like this just a few years ago. I pad very little attention to local politics, only national. But Donald Trump jolted me into activist mode. I always knew it was important to be in the know, but now it is a matter of survival for our democracy. So, I knock on doors and have wonderful conversations with people who for the most part are truly appreciative of the information. It is a good way to spend my Saturday mornings. It does mean I am late getting to the Green, but Julie and I got there to spend about half an hour before everyone started dispersing.
I then came home and started prepping ingredients for making soup and I made chicken salad for lunch. I went to Heather and Jed’s to get help with the footpads from Patsy’s wheelchair. I bought footpads that can be raised and lowered so that her legs get a break from hanging down all day. But right after I put them on, one of the aides must have tried to lower them and jammed one of them. Heather and Jed figured out the problem, and it is working once again. Then it was home to play ball in the sunshine with Shadow for a bit. When I came in, I finished making the soup and that was it for my day.
by Judy Handley | Oct 2, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 275: It Really is October
Date: Friday, October 2, 2026
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 71, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I am still reeling from losing an entire summer and am finding it hard to believe that is already October. But the weather and the signs of fall are convincing me that it really is October. I worked all morning on Indivisible projects for NO KINGS Vote Early day on October 17, went to visit my sister, came home to have a late lunch, and was then off to a soccer game. All the while the sun was shining and it was gloriously sunny. A bit windy for the beach, but otherwise, it could have been a great beach day. But tomorrow afternoon might be my chance at a beach afternoon. I am doing political canvassing in the morning, but just maybe, I’ll spend the afternoon on the beach.
I had not picked up the October schedule for Bridges so was surprised when I arrived and everyone was out in the garden area. A local animal rescue group was there with two of their ponies and the residents were getting a chance to pet them. Despite the wind, my sister Patsy was enjoying her time outside petting the ponies.
By the time I got to Falmouth High School for the soccer game, a few clouds had come in. But that was a good thing. From 3 to 6 pm every afternoon, sitting in the bleachers to watch a game when the sun is shining is almost impossible. The bleachers face the low lying afternoon sun, so without sunglasses or a visor, you really can’t see. But the clouds this afternoon were just perfect. I didn’t get to see the end of the game as it was time for me to go pick Ollie up from the golf course, but Heather texted that it ended 0-0.
I had planned to go to the Falmouth Forum tonight, but just as I was ready to leave, I could not find my phone. I looked everywhere, even out in the yard with a flashlight to see if it had fallen out of my back pocket while I was playing with Shadow. I knew I had it in the car when I arrived home, so it had to be somewhere. I had to go over and get my neighbor Andy with his phone to come over and call my number. I had left it outside on the deck railing which is a long story you don’t need to hear. But by the time Andy left and I got into the car, it was almost 20 after 7. The Forum was to begin at 7:30 pm and there was no way I was going to get there, find a parking place, and get in the doors on time. So, I abandoned the idea. But Heather texted to tell me I could watch it on Zoom live. So I did. It was great fun … a Jeopardy game about Falmouth.
by Judy Handley | Sep 30, 2026 | 2026 Life Logs |
2026 Life Logs, Day 273: Happy Birthday, Heather
Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Weather: Mostly Cloudy with Some Sun Peeking Through; High Temp 67, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Happy 51st birthday to my beautiful, talented, brilliant daughter. Can you tell I am her mother? 🙂
We celebrated as a family at the new Indian restaurant in Mashpee. Jonah had a soccer game this afternoon and Ollie had golf practice, but we were all able to get to Mashpee by 7:15 pm to celebrate.
I spent my morning in meetings. First I had an Indivisible Falmouth planning meeting for NO KINGS Vote Early activities on October 17. I went from there to Coffee O to meet with a couple who are going to be visiting Timor ‘Lest. It is an independent county on the east side of the island of Timor and West Timor on the west end of the Island is part of Indonesia. Mark and I visited Timor West on our sail around the world, so we spent an hour and a half talking about sailing in general and then that part of the world. I west home to eat lunch and then I was off again for a meeting with the acting Town Clerk to go over Indivisible Falmouth’s plans for October 17. Then by 4 pm I was in the stadium at the high school to watch Falmouth take on Nauset. We lost this one 0-1. Hopefully the team can bounce back to go for a win over Martha’s Vineyard on Friday.
