by Judy Handley | Nov 10, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 314: Book Club and Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Windy; High Temp 55, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth MA
Try as I May, I cannot seem to get back to that ‘to do’ list. It has grown over the past few weeks and some of the items I need to get to for my sister are time sensitive. I keep saying that maybe I’ll get to it tomorrow, so I’ll say it once more. Maybe tomorrow.
This morning I had a book club meeting. When I got home, it was time for lunch and then I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for tonight’s Library Board of Trustees meeting. We were interviewing another candidate for the position of Library Director. We did that last month but the candidate did not take the position. Tonight we were successful. We had an internal candidate that will move from Acting Assistant Director to Director. I was not happy with the process, but I do believe we have good person for the job.
I am still struggling with my sister’s medical insurance. I switched from Medicare advance in North Carolina to Medicare with a Blue Cross Blue Shield supplement here in Massachusetts. Everyone was notified in July numerous times. But still some things here are being sent to North Carolina and they are processing the claims. But I am in the fourth month of paying for her supplemental insurance here. I think they are also still deducting form her Social Security for the North Carolina insurance. What a mess, especially since I am not her Power of Attorney. No one can talk to me about her finances, but her POA wants me to deal with all of this. Ugh..
On a more update note, there was a great photo from last night’s game of Jonah in an online Lowell news edition, but I can’t get it to insert here. I’ll try again tomorrow night.
by Judy Handley | Oct 25, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 298: A Beautiful Day with Heather and Sam
Date: Sunday, October 25, 2026
Weather: Beautiful Day; High Temp 65, Low 36 degrees F
Location: Visiting Sam om Beach Hill Road in Glover, VT
What a beautiful fall day in this part of the world. The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue, it was warm, and I got to be with my daughter and oldest grandson all day. We spent a relaxed morning and in the afternoon, we set out to do a little exploring, a little shopping and laundry for Sam, and to have dinner in Stowe before heading home. We drove a circular route to Smuggler’s Notch and took a little walk in the woods.
We drove on to Stowe Mountain to see the different lodges, the maintenance building Sam will be working out of, and the resort, drove on to downtown Stowe to see the Airbnb that Sam will be staying in starting tomorrow after work and through next weekend, and then on to Morristown to shop and do laundry for Sam.
We had planned to eat dinner in Morristown, but we couldn’t find a place we liked. So, we drove back to Stowe, had dinner at the Green Mountain Resort, and walked through downtown Stowe with the almost full moon looming above us. It is a full hour from Stowe back to the cabin in Glover. Once home, we spent an hour packing up everything that Sam has to move to the Airbnb after work tomorrow and making sure the cabin is in order to leave. Sam has to get up at 5 am in order to get to work on time, so while he is getting ready, Heather and I will pack the car. It is already totally full with all of the winter gear, but I am sure we will find a way to pack it in. He leaves here no later than 6 am and Heather and I will leave shortly after to drive back to the Cape. Getting here and getting home involves a lot of driving, but I am so glad I came.
by Judy Handley | Oct 1, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 274: More ‘To Do’ List and a Great Evening at Coonemessett Farm
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026
Weather: Still Mostly Cloudy but Warmer; High Temp 70, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
One of the easy tasks on my ‘to do’ list was to go get blood drawn for my annual physical exam. Last year I got this done at the Falmouth Hospital because the Quest Lab that is just down the street from me had closed. I learned today that actually it was probably reopened last year, but I didn’t know that. Same for today. I did not know that it had reopened, so I went to the hospital lab again. That was a two-hour mistake. It literally took two hours of waiting to get blood drawn. But at least it is done.
For the rest of the day, I did everything from writing and delivering checks to the library, doing the research to find the just right place to get a massage gift certificate for Heather for her birthday. I gave her the promise of the massage last night at her birthday dinner and asked for her preferences. She suggested I check with her chiropractor, so I did and got the appointment made. I did some editing and printing of things for Indivisible, walked and played outside with Shadow, picked Ollie up from golf practice, and tonight I went to a Newcomers social event at the Coonemessett Farm.
I used to take the boys there when they were younger, and I buy my Christmas tree there some years, but I hadn’t been back to see the animals and walk through the farm for quite some time. I enjoyed that while listening to couple playing the fiddle and a guitar with music that instantly made you want to dance.
And after a great dinner provided by West Falmouth Market, people did dance. Doris Lachapelle, Encore’s line dancer supreme, led anyone interested in an evening of line dancing while others sat around a fire and toasted marshmallows for s’mores.
There were even hayrides. It was a really fun evening. And I cannot believe it is already October! Where did September go?
by Judy Handley | Aug 30, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 242: Morning with Ollie, FIRC Training, Dinner with Friends
Date: Sunday, August 30, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy, Rain Late; High Temp 79, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Ollie and I had a relaxed morning featuring a breakfast of crepes with fresh fruit, chocolate, and whipped cream. Not so healthy, but totally yummy. This afternoon I attend a Falmouth Immigrant Rights Coalition Community Watch training—what to do if you see ICE. And from there, I went to dinner with new friends who live right around the corner from me. They are sailors and they have a daughter and grand children who live in Madagascar. They invited me to dinner in return for me doing my Voyage of Windbird presentation featuring Madagascar as my favorite sailing destination. They invited another couple from Woods Hole and we had a delightful evening.
by Judy Handley | Jul 27, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 208: More Dealing with Sister Issues
Date: Monday, July 27, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 79, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I met with the Executive Director at Bridges today and I think we made some progress in coming up with solutions to some of the issues I am dealing with for my sister Patsy. Right now, it is a wait and see game. And then I had a nice, long visit with Patsy. These two things took my entire afternoon. I got a little reprieve this evening when I took Ollie to his golf lesson. While he was in the lesson, I ran a few errands nearby. That was about it for my day. Unfortunately, nothing new and exciting to report.
by Judy Handley | Jul 4, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 185: A Day of Celebration
Date: Saturday, July 4, 2026
Weather: Sunny and Hot, again; High Temp 87, Low 67 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I hops this 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was a day of celebrating democracy for you, as it was for me. I started the day standing out at a busy intersection in town with my sign with a depiction of Lady Liberty and the words, “Democracy Has No Kings.” Just a little reminder! Heather came by and we got a selfie of the two of us wearing our US soccer team jerseys, making us 
look like we were wrapped in an American flag. We were definitely ready for a day of celebration.
We left the standout and headed to Heather’s neighborhood for their annual 4th of July parade, this year led by Ollie on his lawn tractor, hauling his business partner’s wagon of landscaping equipment. They were followed by children and adults from the neighborhood. Afterwards, everyone was headed to the neighborhood swim party.
But first, Heather and I went to the Green for the weekly standout for democracy where Heather spoke briefly about the importance of celebrating this day.
Then it was back to the Grasmere party for lunch. After lunch I headed to Mashpee to visit with Patsy. I was almost there when I seemed to lose power steering. It was very difficult to turn a corner and then every warning light imaginable lit up on my dashboard. I made it into the Bridges parking lot, backed into a spot, and turned the car off. I had forgotten to roll up the windows, so I tried to start the car, but the battery was dead. I knew I had to get the car towed back to Falmouth to a garage, so I called AAA. While waiting, I had a short visit with my sister but the tow truck came sooner than expected. He opened my hood and said that the problem was that there was no drive belt. Hopefully that is the only issue, but I will have to wait until Monday to find out. I had asked to be transported back to Falmouth in the tow truck, but the man driving asked me who was picking me up on the other end. I said I would figure that out when I got there, maybe take a bus into town. But because of the extreme heat, he was not going to let me get in the tow truck until I called to make sure I had a ride on the other end. I tried to convince him that I would be just fine, but he wasn’t having it. He said his grandmother would roll over in her grave if he ever dropped a customer off in such hot weather without having arranged for a ride. I made a few calls and found Karen Baranowski at home and willing to pick me up, so off we went. But then he wouldn’t let me get out of the truck until Karen had arrived. Part of me was infuriated, but part of me was very grateful that this man takes his work so seriously. Thank you to Marc’s Auto in Wareham and thanks to Karen for coming to my rescue!
The evening celebration began with having smoked baby back ribs for dinner at Heather and Jed’s. Then we were off to the beach to watch the town fireworks display. Sam and his friend Ethan were going to watch the fireworks by boat. Jonah was off to Falmouth Heights Beach to watch with friends. So Heather, Jed, Ollie, and I met up with Ollie’s friend Seton and his family to watch from the beach off Surf Drive. I love listening to the waves lapping ashore while watching fireworks. It is one of my favorite things to do. And this year it was so hot, Heather and Jed went for a swim before the fireworks began. Happy birthday to the United States of America!!!
