by Judy Handley | Dec 7, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 341: Holidays-by-the-Sea 2025 …. continued
Date: Sunday, December 7, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Not Too Cold; High Temp 42 Low 24 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was an absolutely perfect day for Falmouth’s annual Christmas parade. It was sunny and not too cold. Heather and two other members of the Select Board were near the beginning of the parade and the Lawrence Middle School Band, with Ollie playing saxophone, was toward the end. The parade today, the Jingle Jog yesterday where Jonah and friends, and Heather and Ollie, ran the 5 K, and the lighting of the Village Green late yesterday made for a fabulous Holidays-by-the-Sea weekend.
Jed took Jonah to a soccer tournament today up near Boston, so the two of them didn’t get to enjoy the festivities today. But they had a beautiful day for a soccer tournament. Jonah’s team lost the first game by 1 point but then won the second game with Jonah making 2 goals and 1 assist. After the parade, Heather, Ollie, and I visited Highfield Hall’s Shopkeepers’ Noël. This year’s theme was a Victorian Christmas. There were beautiful displays, a holiday craft room, and the annual Gift Gallery. And we didn’t stop there. A little later we headed to Shipwrecked for sushi. All this, and the weekend started with a full moon. What a joyous welcome to the holiday season!
by Judy Handley | Dec 6, 2025 | Cape Cod, USA |
2025 Life Logs, Day 340: Holidays-by-the-Sea 2025
Date: Saturday, December 6, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Some Rain; High Temp 43 Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Most of the day today was spent downtown Falmouth to enjoy Falmouth’s Holidays-by-the-Sea activities. The first activity was not associated with the holiday season. It was our weekly Standout for Democracy on the Green. It rained as I was driving there. But by the time I parked, the rain had stopped. I got home at 1:30, answered some emails, and then turned around and went back down to Main Street for the 3:30 pm Jingle Jog. Again, it rained as I was driving there, but miraculously the rain stopped and a little ray of sunshine came through. Jonah, his friend Jean Luc, and some other soccer friends I didn’t know, were running the 5 K ‘fun’ race.
And Heather and Ollie were also both running. Jed was working on getting the boat secured for the winter, but he arrived in time to watch the race. It is a fun race to watch as everyone is dressed in some sort of holiday fashion. The team of runners dressed as Santa’s reindeer won my prize for most festive this year.
Main Street was closed off for the race, the downtown Holiday Stroll (shopping) from 4-8 pm, and the Lighting of the Green at 6 pm. I headed home after the race and had just enough time to eat lunch/dinner before heading back to the Green for the annual lighting. Parking is always a challenge, but I thought I could drive halfway and park at Lawrence Middle School, then walk across the playing fields to the Green. But I was wrong. There was not a place to park anywhere. Every parking space and every patch of grass was taken. So I drove back home and walked as fast as I could to get there just in time to see the lights.
Then the caroling begins. I didn’t stay for all of that as I was meeting friends who had invited me to go see a Woods Hole Film Festival movie tonight. It was a fun-filled day. But the weekend is not over. Tomorrow is the parade and Holidays at Highfield.
by Judy Handley | Dec 5, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 339: All Things Christmas
Date: Friday, December 5, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Cold; High Temp 34 Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Shadow had his holiday grooming appointment today and came home wearing a holiday bowtie. He looked so handsome and I should have gotten a photo, but it was almost dark by the time he was ready for pick up. I did get a picture tonight, but it was all I could do to get him to raise his head a little while ‘resting’ on the sofa. Spending the day at ‘beauty shop’ must be exhausting.
When I got home from driving him the 20 minutes up to the bridge to the groomer and drove the 20 minutes home, it was nearing 10 am. I wrote the weekly checks for the library and delivered those and ran some necessary errands. Then it was time to head to Waquoit to buy my Christmas tree. It is a balsam fir. When I went to pick Ollie up after school, we stopped at my house and he helped me get it in the tree holder. It was so much easier with two people. I have done it by myself for the past few years but holding up straight while screwing in the pins that hold it in place is tricky. I always get it leaning one way or another and have to try, try, and try again. We got it done in 5 minutes with two of us. Just before I picked him up, I received a text message from Jonah with his Christmas list. When I mentioned that to Ollie, in about 10 minutes, I got a list from him. I had asked both boys over a week ago to get their lists to me. But evidently the other grandmother contacted Jonah today and he sent the list to both of us. Then Ollie did the same. So there has been a lot of back and forth between Marti, Heather, and Jed this evening figuring out who will get what.
But back to this afternoon. After taking Ollie home, I spent another hour going to get Shadow. Actually, it took longer, because he was not ready at 4 pm when I got there. It was 4:45 before we headed home. Tonight, I got the lights and the garland on the tree. Ornaments will be put on a little at a time over the next week. And last night’s full moon is still looking beautiful as it overlooks all of this holiday readiness activity. It is looking a lot like Christmas here.
by Judy Handley | Dec 4, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 338: There’s a Moon Out Tonight
Date: Thursday, December 4, 2025
Weather: Sunny, Windy; High Temp 41 Low 13 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
That beautiful full moon tonight is going to bring us the coldest night yet. The forecast says it will get down to 13 degrees F. Now that really is cold.
My day today was a series of meetings, plus taking Ollie to his saxophone lesson. And in between the meetings, I worked on the presentation for Monday night’s workshop. More presentation readiness work tomorrow. But for now, that’s it for the news from here.
by Judy Handley | Dec 3, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 337: Visiting Day and Holiday Decorating
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Weather: ; High Temp 48 Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
A day with nothing on your schedule is a little like a cleared surface. It quickly fills up. Friends, Midge and Karen sent texts asking if they could drop by this morning to exchange gifts. Who can say no that? After they left, I headed outside to finish getting the garland on the rail fence out front. I have never measured it, but I think it is at least 60-70 feet of rails. Once the garland was wrapped round and round, I then had to wrap the Christmas lights. And then finally, attach the red bows to each upright post. And I forgot, I had to drag the extension cords out of the basement. It is a long way from the house to the street!
Then I got a text from another friend who needed to talk to me about some issues, so she came over late afternoon and then I had invited my new neighbor, Billy over for dinner. That’s how you fill up an empty schedule. It felt great having the time to visit with friends. I still have piles of papers that need to be filed and put in notebooks, and I need to get ready for a workshop I am doing on Monday evening. Hopefully I am more productive tomorrow than I was today.
by Judy Handley | Dec 2, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs |
2025 Life Logs, Day 336: Rushing to Beat the Rain
Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Weather: Overcast and Rainy; High Temp 48 Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I spent my morning rushing to beat the rain. I didn’t get everything done, but I did get the outdoor holiday greenery planters completed. One on my porch and one delivered to Heather’s front porch.
Once the rain started, I switched to indoor activities. I did some house cleaning and rearranging all the plants that I have brought indoors. Now we will see if I can keep them alive. Then tonight I offered to take Jonah and his two friends Kaiden and Jean Luc to Hyannis for winter soccer practice with the ACI travel team. Heather was going to take them, but I really needed to go to Trader Joe’s for some things I can’t find elsewhere. We got home a little before 9:30 pm and then I caught up with emails from the day.
