by Judy Handley | Mar 5, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 64: Rainy Day, Sunny Birthday Celebration
Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026
Weather: Rainy Day; High Temp 44, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today was my 79th birthday. Me, oh my, that is a lot of years! The weather wasn’t my favorite–a rainy day that felt colder than the thermometer indicated—but the warmth came tonight in the form of a sunny birthday celebration with friends and family. My dining-in group has been meeting once a month since the summer of 2017 and this March it was my turn to host. I suggested we celebrate Cinco de Marcho with margaritas and Mexican food. So, that we did.
Three of us have birthdays within five days of each other, so we also had birthday cake. Heather, Jed, Jonah, and Ollie came over to join us for cake, and I invited my neighbor Billy to join us as well. He and Shadow were having a boys’ night out in Billy’s studio apartment, but he escaped long enough to have birthday cake with us.
I received two birthday cards today with this message written on the envelope, “Life is a celebration of the soul.” So true.
by Judy Handley | Dec 30, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 364: Family Walk to the Knob
Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Windy; High Temp 34, Low Temp 24 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA
Ziggy and I were the first ones up again this morning, so we took Shadow for his morning walk. This gave us alone time together for the second morning in a row. So special. After everyone had breakfast, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco headed out again to for a downtown walking exploration while Justin met with the Indivisible Falmouth website team to teach us more about how to maintain our website. A huge thank you to Justin for donating his time and skills to help us out.
This afternoon’s activity involving the whole family was a drive to Quissett Harbor and a walk out to the Knob.
Much of the walk was through the woods, but the last stretch is out in the open where we were walking directly into a very strong wind that made everything feel colder than the actual temperature. I wanted to get a group picture with us on the Knob, but it was a struggle in the wind to get a selfie of the whole group. As we were trying to figure this out, a lone walker popped onto the scene and took the photo for us. Lucky for us as we saw only one other person out to the Knob and no one on the way back. Once we were on our way back, we stopped for another photo of the cousins in one of our favorite climbing trees. Quissett Habor is so beautiful, and we have many happy family memories from the two summers Mark and I lived aboard there.
Tonight, we had a family dinner together at Heather and Jed’s and started thinking about our trip north to New Hampshire on New Year’s Day. We will be staying there until Sunday when I take Justin and family to the airport for their flight home. Already the time is passing much too quickly, so we are working hard to make the best of the time we do have. It is such a gift to have my whole family together. I am looking forward to tomorrow night’s New Year’s Eve festivities.
by Judy Handley | Dec 29, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 363: All Together Now
Date: Monday, December 29, 2025
Weather: Rain Overnight and All Day; High Temp 49 F
Location: At Home with My Shadow on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA
Ziggy and I were up early this morning, and Ziggy took Shady for his morning walk. Then we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things, Star Bucks to get coffee, and stopped by Heather and Jed’s to get some tea for Jo. How much fun it was to have a little alone time with a grandchild that I don’t get to see that often. After running our errands, we headed home. After everyone got up and had breakfast, we drove to Hyannis today to the mall and combined a little clothes shopping with a lot of time in the Barnes and Noble bookstore at the request of Ziggy and Coco. They love being surrounded by so many books as they don’t really have access to a big bookstore like that where they live in Puerto Rico. It was a good way to spend a very rainy day.
The cousins were anxious to see each other, so as soon as we got home from Hyannis, we headed to Heather and Jed’s. It was wonderful for all of us to be together. We had dinner together and then played a game called Imposter and laughed the evening away. It was a fun evening, and I look forward to our time all together now.
by Judy Handley | Dec 28, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 362: Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco Arrived
Date: Sunday, December 28, 2025
Weather: Overcast, High in the 30’s
Location: At Home with My Shadow on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA
Arrival was a little late, but Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco arrived at Boston Logan just after 9 pm tonight. They will be staying here with me until New Year’s Day when we, along with Heather and family, will head to New Hampshire for skiing and snowboarding fun for a few days. I don’t think all of us have ever been together to usher in a new year, so this week is going to be very special.
by Judy Handley | Dec 27, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 361: Snowy Standout on the Green, Prep for JJZ&C’s Visit
Date: Saturday, December 26, 2025
Weather: Snow Overnight, Mostly Cloudy Day; High Temp 29, Low 18 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA
Falmouth got a beautiful snow overnight, so Shadow was a happy dog this morning as he ran all over the yard shoveling the snow with his nose. I went to the weekly Standout on the Green and stayed until I thought my fingers were going to freeze off. I am going to have to get some mittens and handwarmers for the Saturday standouts. I then ran errands for almost 2 hours, visited with my friend Midge Freiswyk who spent Christmas in the hospital, and then finally headed home to get ready for Justin and family’s arrival tomorrow night. I inflated a queen and a twin bed in the living room for Ziggy and Coco, and a twin in the dining room for me. I will simply lean the twin in the dining room up against the book shelves during the day so we have room to eat, and then put it down each night. Justin and Jo will sleep in my bedroom. It will be a little cozy, but I think it will work. I have more prep to do tomorrow before I head to Boston to pick them up tomorrow evening. I can’t wait to see them.
by Judy Handley | Dec 26, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 361: Travel from Maine Back to Cape Cod
Date: Saturday, December 26, 2025
Weather: Overcast; High Temp 23, Low 21 degrees F
Location: Back Home with My Shadow on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA
The drive home from Maine was not nearly as beautiful as the drive up on Christmas eve with the new fallen snow, but there was very little traffic, and I made it home safely. When I got home and was carrying things from the car to the house, I heard someone saying, “Here he comes.” About that time, Shadow gave me a very enthusiastic greeting. My neighbor Andy had taken Shadow to his house to play in his fenced backyard and was returning him home. Shadow’s ‘home alone’ Christmas was not so alone after all.
I got a photo from Justin this afternoon showing off one of the Christmas presents I sent to them. I wrote out the story of this gift and attached it when I sent the package. The story went like this. A few weeks ago, my neighbor next door put a few things out on the sidewalk with a ‘free’ sign. As Shadow and I walked past, I noticed these beautiful leather pouches. They looked like what I imagined saddle bags to look like, but then I thought they looked too small. But I had no use for whatever they were, so we walked on. The next day, some of the ‘free’ items had been taken, but not the leather bags. I admired them once again as they looked like they had never been used, but I kept walking. Then, the third day I went out to get the mail, and it was starting to rain. I looked and saw that all of the ‘free’ items had been taken except for the beautiful leather bags. I just could not let them get ruined in the rain, so I took them inside, hung them over a chair in the dining room, and forgot about them. A few days later when I was packing presents to send to Justin and family, I looked at those bags and thought that surely Justin and Jo would find a use for them on their farm. I was still convinced that they weren’t really saddle bags, and had no idea what they were, but they needed a good home and I thought they might be useful at Finca Maravilla. I labeled the package as “A Mystery Gift for Finca Maravilla.” Now fast forward to Christmas Day in Puerto Rico. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco read the story attached to the gift and opened it. Unlike me, they instantly knew they were saddlebags and were overjoyed as they have wanted saddlebags for Hopi for years but couldn’t afford them. And they laughed and laughed at my ‘made-up’ story. They were convinced that I was joking and that I had bought them. When we talked yesterday afternoon, the first thing Justin said was that they all got a real kick out of my made up story. I explained that it was a true story and they could hardly believe it. Justin kept saying, “You’re kidding. Right? You didn’t pick those up off the street.” It took some convincing, but finally he believed me. Proof that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
