by Judy Handley | Nov 1, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 305: It’s November
Date: Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Weather: Overcast, Cool, and Rainy; High 48 Low 33 degrees F; Sunset 5:39 pm (-0)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
This was a fast-paced day. I headed to Hyannis for an 8:45 appointment with my knee surgeon. The purpose of this visit was to get a cortisone shot in my left hip for the bursitis he says is the cause of the pain in my hips. For whatever reason, appointments were backed up and it took much longer than I expected. On the way home I stopped at the Cape Cod Package Store to see what Australian wines they have. As always, they came through with some interesting choices for my wine group meeting here at my house the week after I return from Puerto Rico. So, one more thing to mark off the to do list. By the time I got home, it was after 11 am and I had a friend coming at noon for lunch. So, I scurried around to get lunch ready and then had a couple of relaxed hours with friend Kate Eldred. Then it was off again, to an Exploring Public Policy meeting on gun safety and a check in with my Health and Wellness group, both meeting at the same time, one door away from each other. The gun safety meeting was a presentation by the Falmouth Gun Safety Coalition, and it was really well done. After it was over, I went next door in time for the end of the Health and Wellness Group. Again, I was off to go home and take Shadow out and go pick up Ollie from this sax lesson. Whew! What a day. But it was a good one, despite the cold weather and rain. But it is November—time to admit that summer is over!
by Judy Handley | Oct 31, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 304: Happy Halloween
Date: Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Cool; High 49 Low 41 degrees F; Sunset 5:39 pm (-3)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
This last day of October finally brought us a chilly fall day. When I walked outside with Shadow this morning, I finally knew that it is fall. I had to go back in and get a jacket, something I have not needed this fall except for rainy days.
Shadow had a 9 am appointment to be groomed, so we headed up to the Bourne Bridge where I dropped him off and then continued on across the bridge to go to Costco. I was told he wouldn’t be ready until 4 pm today, so I came home from Costco, actually took a little nap, and was then back out the door before 3 pm to take Ollie to a horseback riding lesson. Since Highlander Farm where he takes lessons was on the way to pick up Shadow, I dropped Ollie off, went to get Shadow, came back and took Shadow for a walk while we waited for Ollie to finish up. I took Ollie home so he could get ready to go Trick or Treating in the neighborhood with his friend Simon. Ollie showed me his completed jack-o-lantern again.
He was obviously very proud of it. Sam and some of his soccer buddies decided to meet at the Sports Center to play indoor soccer. They needed another player, so Sam called Jonah and Heather took him to play before he headed to a friend’s house for Halloween night. The last I heard, Ollie and Simon were at Simon’s house trading candy.
I did not expect to get any Trick or Treaters at my house, but I was pleasantly surprised when five kids braved the dark walk down my long drive-way. Happy Halloween!
by Judy Handley | Oct 30, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 303: Another Do Nothing Rainy Day
Date: Monday, October 30, 2023
Weather: Overcast, Rain; High 61 Low 41 degrees F; Sunset 5:42 pm (-0)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
It was another rainy day, a good do-nothing day that I enjoyed immensely. But a few good things did happen in spite of my insistence on doing nothing. Karen Baranowski dropped by to say hello, Comcast came to check my signal, their idea, not mine, but in fact they found my signal to be quite compromised. They fixed what they could today, but will be back to work on the outside line in a week or two. In the afternoon, I worked a bit more on my Voyage of Windbird presentation and realized I really need to add some video. So now I need a quick lesson in how to edit. I picked Sam and Jonah up from their last soccer practice, actually a scrimmage with the incoming freshmen next year. Sam says he can help me with the video editing, so I hope to work with him after school on Wednesday. That was it except for the text where Heather sent a photo of Ollie with the finished, artistic jack-o-lantern he started carving last night. Spectacular.
by Judy Handley | Oct 29, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 302: Rainy Day
Date: Sunday, October 29, 2023
Weather: Overcast, Rain; High 63 Low 48 degrees F; Sunset 5:42 pm (-2)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Last night when I was attaching a couple of photos to my log, I noticed that the wedding photo I posted two days ago said it was from the 300th day of 1974. But my log from this year was labeled as the 301st day. This didn’t match up. This morning I checked, and indeed, the anniversary date this year was on the 300th day of the year, not the 301st as I labeled it. So, I went back through all my logs from 2023 and found that on Day 217, I had jumped a head a day. Not a big deal except that now I want to go back and fix every log since then to reflect the correct information. I have to change every log filed and then go to the website and change the information there. It will take a bit, but I can’t let myself be responsible for changing history. Today is the 302nd day of 2023, not the 303rd day. I will go back and make it all correct.
It didn’t start raining until late morning, but then it was a steady drizzle the rest of the day. The good thing was that it was not as cool as predicted. Instead of the high being in the 50’s today, it was in the 60’s. I’ll take it. I did some research for the Health and Wellness Group I am a part of, went to the grocery store and drug store, and then came home and fixed Halloween bars (Toll House Squares with mini M&M’s instead of mini chocolate chips) and made a salad to take to Heather and Jed’s for dinner. I used a salad recipe similar to the one Jane Woodin brought to our dining-in group dinner last week. That meant deseeding some yummy pomegranates and air-frying some butternut squash. It is a hearty fall salad and was delicious. I went over to Heather and Jed’s around 5:30 pm to watch Ollie start carving his jack-o-lantern for Halloween, and after dinner, Heather and gang come over here for dessert. That was it for the 302nd day of 2023!
by Judy Handley | Oct 28, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 301: Full Moon and Fall Fling
Date: Saturday, October 28, 2023
Weather: Beautiful, Unseasonably Warm Day; High 70 Low 53 degrees F; Sunset 5:44 pm (-3)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
It was a beautiful, warm day, unseasonably so, but tomorrow’s high temperature will be almost 20 degrees cooler than today. The warm weather party is over for now and I am surely going to miss it. Sam and Jonah had their last soccer games of the season. The games were away, and I stayed home to pick Sam and Jonah up at the high school when they returned. Heather, Jed, and Ollie went to the games in Mattapoisett and then went to the boat to get her ready to come out of the water later this week. Shadow and I took a walk along the ocean this afternoon, and then tonight I went to a Newcomers/Encore Fall Fling. I was a curmudgeon and did not dress in costume, but many did. We had pirates,
can-can dancers, hippies,
Barbie look-alikes, skeletons, and monks. We even had a great Bruce Springsteen look-alike and lots of dancing.
Even though I didn’t really want to go, I had a good time. And when I went out to the car to leave, I was overwhelmed by the big, beautiful full moon.
Another lovely ending to a lovely day.
by Judy Handley | Oct 27, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 300: 49 Years Ago Today
Date: Friday, October 27, 2023
Weather: Overcast Turning Partly Sunny; High 675 Low 59 degrees F; Sunset 5:44 pm (-3)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Forty-nine years ago today, Mark and I were married at Lovers Key, Fort Myers Beach, Florida.
Only Mark’s immediate family members were in attendance at the sunrise wedding presided over by Mark’s mother. We went back to their condo for a champagne toast and then we took Mark’s parents motorboat and headed to Caya Costa Island for a honeymoon in the open on the little boat. It was simple and it was beautiful. My wedding ring was a Mexican silver ring that was replaced a couple of years later with a ring I spotted in an antique shop window in Princeton, West Virginia. I fell in love with it and have worn it everyday of my life since then until about two weeks ago. It was so tight on my finger that it had rubbed a sore on the top of my ring finger and I had to take it off, except I couldn’t get it off. I went to the jewelry store and they used Windex to get it off my finger, but I left it there until I decided if I was going to spent the money to have the ring expanded by almost two sizes, a $200 job. Today I went to give the okay to have it done. I’m sure we paid less than $200 for the ring in 1976, but after wearing something for 47 years, I just have to have it back on my finger no matter the cost.
While I was out, I made a lot of stops, checking things off my to do list. I needed a full-length mirror from Walmart, and I needed to have a very large, quilted sofa cover washed and dried at the laundromat, too big for the washer at home. I needed to get gas, buy beer, deposit some checks at the bank, and have something laminated at Staples. All of this happened after Shadow’s annual exam and vaccinations. That was another $200.
Then around 4:30 pm, I picked Sam up from soccer practice and took him to Hyannis to a bonfire and dinner with his rowing buddies. I love getting the opportunity to drive him places as it gives us time to talk about what is happening in his life. Not sure how we got from the days of discussing the best way to build sandcastles to talking about careers, colleges, gap years, and buying a car, but that is where the conversation led this evening. When I dropped him off and looked in my rearview mirror, I saw a huge almost full moon rising in the sky. It was huge. A lovely way to end the day.
FYI–Today is the 300th day of 2023. Only 65 days left until 2024.
