by Judy Handley | Jan 4, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 4: Return of the Snowboarders
Date: Saturday, January 4, 2020
Weather: Totally Overcast with Rain; High 41, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I haven’t seen them yet, but I got a text from Heather announcing that the snowboarders had returned from the North Country.
She posted a couple of photos on Facebook, so I was able to see the Goldpebbles in full snowboard regalia. It sounds like everyone had a great time. Here’s what Heather posted on Facebook: “Started 2020 with so much fun in Bethel (Maine) this week! The boys were the last ones (except ski patrol) off the mountain 2 out of 3 days, and the last ones up the lift on the third day. Jed tested his mettle on some lightly groomed advanced runs. And I got reacquainted with my cross-country skis after far too many years.” Hopefully I’ll get a first-hand report tomorrow.
I must be better because for the first time since before Christmas, I got back on my computer and started editing the photos from the holidays. The fact that I didn’t post any photos from Christmas tells me that I really must have felt worse than I thought. I always post my photos, no matter what. Just not this time. But I’m back on it now. I still have some congestion and my energy level is not 100 per cent, but good enough that Shadow and I could take our mile-long walk in the rain. By the time we got back, he was soaking wet, so I took the opportunity to give him a bath . . . not his favorite thing. He lets me bathe him without a fuss, but he just is not ready for the hair dryer. So basically, I wrap him in blankets and hold him for an hour, feeling sorry for him while he shivers and dries out a bit. I can’t believe how big he has gotten. Somehow I thought he would stay tiny for a few months, but he is half grown now and does his best to pull me at a fast pace down the street when we walk. It is definitely time for some training, so I must look into that this week. He is doing great with potty training, but sit, stay, heel, and down are actions he just doesn’t care to engage in on command. And I’ve made very little progress on ‘no bite’. When Heather and Justin were little, they loved reading Maurice Sendak’s book, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. The book is about a little boy called Max. His mother calls him a ‘wild thing’ and he says to her, “I’ll eat you up.”
He is then sent to his room without his supper and there he imagines that he lives in the land of the wild things. “And when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws till Max said “BE STILL!” and tamed (them) with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all and made him king of all wild things.” Sometimes I think Shadow wants to eat me up, he loves me so. I need to learn Max’s magic trick!
by Judy Handley | Jan 3, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 3: More of the Same
Date: Friday, January 3, 2020
Weather: Totally Overcast; High 44, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Unfortunately, I can’t report that I am better, so I’m still reading, working my puzzle, and napping with Shadow. But at least I am not worse. So, I’ll take that for now and be happy with it. If you are getting bored reading that I am doing nothing, I apologize. However, I fear I am starting to enjoy this lazy life! But when I look at my schedule for next week, I am going to have to snap out of this in the next four days because next Wednesday I have a Wine Explorers late afternoon get together and that evening I am hosting my Mah Jong group. Then on Thursday, I make a Voyage of Windbird presentation to the Falmouth Newcomers in the morning, have a memoir writing class in the afternoon, and a dinner with my dining-in group that evening. If I live through that, I have a few days off and then I fly to Florida for the long MLK weekend to see Mike and Linda Stuart, my good friends that are taking a break from biking around the world. They are in Bonita Springs and that is where Mark’s sisters live, so I will also get to visit with them as well. I would stay longer, but Shadow is still too young for me to leave him for long. Heather and boys have offered to host him for the long weekend, so it works out perfectly. I spent this evening booking a flight to Lexington, Kentucky in late April. I have always wanted to see Willie Nelson in concert, so my niece Janet who lives in Nashville found a concert with Willie, Chris Stapleton, Sheryl Crow, and Yola at Kroger Field in Lexington on April 25 and has convinced a few of my nieces and nephews and my 86 year old sister to join us. I will again be away from Friday to Monday. I’m hoping Heather will be willing to puppy sit again. But if that doesn’t work out, I’m sure I can find someone to take care of my little precious. Restrictions on travel are the problem with having a pet, but I think the trade off is worth it.
by Judy Handley | Jan 2, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 2: Day Two of 2020
Date: Thursday, January 2, 2020
Weather: Mixed Sun and Clouds, Still Breezy; High 42, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Normally, I just accept that it is a new year. But I think the fact that the political implications of 2020 have been looming over us for so long, I am having trouble believing it is actually here. But it is here and day two of 2020 for me was just a continuation of the first day of the year . . . more slow baking of granola, more walks with Shadow, more working on the vintage Christmas card puzzle, and more reading. I certainly feel better than I did last week, but I am still not in a healthy place. In fact, today I feel like I might have slipped backwards a bit. But I keep hoping that tomorrow will be the day that whatever it is I have just magically goes away.
On New Year’s Eve, I sent a Jacquie Lawson e-card to a few people. One card went to Phil and Margaret Hunt, Jo’s parents who live in Haslemere, County Suffolk, England. I received my first Jacquie Lawson card from sailing friends from England and learned that this online email card business is located in England. What I didn’t know is that it is located just 6 miles down the road from where Jo’s parents live. Phil wrote back to me yesterday saying, “I see that your message was via a Jacquie Lawson card. Margaret has received these before for Christmas and birthdays and they are very popular over here. I had never received one myself before. I had always imagined that they were American but on looking closer (ie through the usual About Us on Contact us links) I see that it is a very English company and actually operates from a village only six miles from where we live!! If you look at the website you will see that Jacquie Lawson herself still runs the company from the village of Lurgashall (Jo had a school friend there) but now with assistance from people up to 150 or so miles away. On the signpost in one of the photos you can see Haslemere 6 (ie six miles away). A small world indeed.” And I am grateful for technology that allows us to feel like we are not so far apart.
by Judy Handley | Jan 1, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 1: New Year’s Day
Date: Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Weather: Sunny and Breezy; High 38, Low 26 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a gloriously sunny day, but quite windy. Still it was a wonderful day for a long walk with Shadow. We enjoyed New Year’s Eve and didn’t get into bed until 1:30 am. We were then up briefly at 7 am and then up for good at 8:30 and our New Year’s Day proceeded in quite an ordinary way. But as I went through the morning doing what I do most mornings, there was a recurring theme running through my head. I no longer do many things the same way I have done them for most of my life. Some of those changes came about during 2019, but most have been an evolution over the past five years or so. There is a ad from the American Cancer Society on TV these days that kept going through my head today. In the ad, a young man states that he used to have cancer, but not he doesn’t. Today I kept saying, I used to do . . . and now I don’t.
When I made my morning smoothie, I said to myself that I used to make smoothies with lots of fruit and yogurt, and now I don’t. My smoothie has a pear in it, but it also has kale, arugula, celery, cucumber, nuts, and seeds. And instead of yogurt, I use unsweetened almond milk.
Next, I made granola. I used to eat granola every day, but now I don’t. I eat it once or twice a week at most. I used to put seeds and nuts in my mostly oat granola, but now I put some oats in with mostly seeds and nuts.
Then I made soup. I used to use store bought chicken broth when making soup, but now I don’t. I make my own organic chicken bone broth.
I used to eat sandwiches for lunch, but now I don’t because I no longer eat bread. I now have a salad with beans, seeds, and avocado added.
When I looked in my refrigerator, I realized that I used to be the queen of plastic. I used more Ziploc baggies and Tupperware than anyone else I know. Now I don’t. I have gotten rid of all plastic containers and replaced them with glass. And cloth baggies and beeswax wrap have replaced all those baggies.
When I went on my walk with Shadow, I thought about how much trouble I had walking this time last year. But now I don’t. With my new knee replacement in February of this past year, I can once again walk without fear of falling.
The one thing that I noticed today that has not changed is my love of the lights on a Christmas tree. When I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning, I left the Christmas lights on so that the first thing I would see when I got up on New Year’s Day was the gentle light emanating from my Christmas tree. It is just magic to me. And those lights will stay on until January 6th, the twelfth day of Christmas, when the tree will come down. But the sparkle of those Christmas lights will stay with me all year. I think we all know that 2020 is going to be tumultuous year with all the political chaos. I will look forward to December when I can once again have the peace and calm those Christmas lights bring to me. If things get too chaotic, I might just have to put up my Christmas tree in July. But for now, I’ll just hope for a happy, peaceful, and prosperous 2020 for all.
by Judy Handley | Jan 1, 2020 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 365: Happy New Year to All
Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Weather: Dreary and Misty; High 38, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Happy New Year to all of you from me and my Shadow. We are having a quiet evening at home except for Shadow’s barking fits when fireworks go off. In fact, Shadow has been a little crazy all day. Maybe he is affected by the dreary weather. I know I am. It rained all day yesterday and today there was so little light inside that it was hard to see to work on my puzzle. So, I read and slept and cooked while Shadow ran around like a crazy pup. My friend Bruce Wooden posted this on my Facebook page a few days ago: “Having a puppy is like having a strong, fast, lightly armed infant that loves you unconditionally, but gets bored easily.” Yep. Even a long walk didn’t help today. We did take one nap together on the couch, but I was abruptly awakened with a wild black furry thing sitting on my head.
I got a text this evening that said, “SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW.” That was a message from Jonah. Evidently, they have had two days of snow in Maine and are headed to the slopes tomorrow for a few days of snowboarding and skiing before heading home. And then I got a Skype video call from Justin. The Handley-Hunts in Puerto Rico are bringing in the new year by camping out on the beach with many friends and lots of music. Ziggy was wearing the greatest 2020 gold rimmed glasses. And as soon as I hung up from talking to Justin, Lynne Kirwin called via Whats App from New Zealand. She is spending our winter, their summer, in New Zealand and is having a wonderful time connecting with friends. So from snowy Maine to tropic beaches to warm and wonderful New Zealand, I spent the last couple of hours of 2019 communicating with wonderful friends and family. And I just watched the ball drop in Times Square. Happy New Year to all!
by Judy Handley | Dec 30, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 364: Rainy Day
Date: Monday, December 30, 2019
Weather: Cold Rain; High 35, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a good reminder that it is winter. The sunshine and mild temperatures of the past few days abruptly ended last night when the it started raining. It didn’t get cold enough to freeze, but this morning when I first went out with Shadow, we didn’t stay out long. I came inside and got out my heaviest winter coat for the next trip outside. I continue to improve, feeling a bit better each day. But I won’t be going out on New Year’s Eve. I have launched into a few organizational projects and work stay home to work on those. If I can’t feel great for the first day of the new year, at least I can feel organized.
