by Judy Handley | Jun 7, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 158: The Having of Wonderful Friends
Date: Sunday, June 7, 2026
Weather: Partly Sunny and Warm; High Temp 76, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
In 2017, a few months after Mark died, I joined Newcomers of Falmouth. I resisted joining a club, but I really wanted to be in their biking activity group. I joined Newcomers, and I signed up for the biking activity group. Then I signed up for a dining-in group, the members of which have become my best friends. Then I signed up for a Newcomers book club which I am still in, and I cherish the friends I have made in that group. Then I signed up for a wine group, not because I drink wine, but because I wanted to learn more about wine. And I am still in that group and cherish my wine group circle of friends. And then I joined the Field Trip and the Exploring Public Policy groups and have become co-leaders of both groups. All of this means I am way too busy, but there is no way in the world I would give up being a part of any of these circles of friends. And because Newcomers made such a positive impact on my life after Mark’s death, I took on leadership roles once I moved into Encore, Co-President for two years and now VP of Programs. All of this has taken a lot of time and been a lot of work, but that work was my way of giving back. Next week I step down from the Board leadership roles and can just focus on my activity groups. I’ll drink to that!
Tonight, the best wine group ever had a ‘Red, White, and Blue’ celebration. We were all decked out in red, white, and blue in anticipation of the 250th anniversary on July 4. We have been together for 8 years, and tonight we celebrated our years together along with the upcoming birthday of this country that we love.
by Judy Handley | May 28, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 148: Lunch with Birthday Group and Trip to the Farmers’ Market
Date: Thursday, May 28, 2026
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds plus Sprinkles; High Temp 70, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Actually, the title of this log is deceiving. I did have lunch with my birthday friends, and I did go to the Farmers’ Market, but I spent the entire rest of my day continuing to work on assistant living placement issues for my sister. I woke up to an email requesting I come sign some medical release papers, followed by a call from Patsy’s Power of Attorney. Then a walk with Shadow, a trip to Heritage to sign papers and answer more medical questions, then off to lunch.
Lunch was a nice change of pace. We met at The Flying Bridge and, at first, sat out on the deck in the sunshine. Then we had to go under cover when it rained for a bit. After lunch, a few of us walked over to the Friday Farmers’ Market. This was my first visit to the summer market, and I bought a few more plants for the garden. Not sure when I am going to have time to plant, maybe tomorrow afternoon, maybe Sunday. Jed is in Canada until next Friday, so I am pitching in to help when Heather has evening meetings. Tomorrow she is in Boston all day, so I offered to fix dinner for the boys. Then, before the crack of down on Saturday, I head to Worcester to the Massachusetts Democratic State Convention. I am an elected delegate and will do my duty there all day Saturday. Most Falmouth delegates are going tomorrow for the Friday party night, but that just did not sound like fun to me.
by Judy Handley | Apr 18, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 108: Saturday Rally, Honor the Earth Fair, Dinner with H, J, and O
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026
Weather: Overcast, Back to Cool; High Temp 50, Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Since I didn’t get to bed until 1 am this morning, I slept in until almost 10 am. This awful cough is still with me, but it is improving a bit. But I know I need to get a good night’s sleep each night in order to have any chance of getting better. I am going to really try to get in bed a little earlier going forward.
Weatherwise, today was back to overcast, cool weather. By day’s end, I wearing my winter coat. The few days of really warm weather spoiled me. But this is spring in this part of the world. If the past few years are any guide, we will continue to have warm, then cool, then back to warm days until July and then overnight it will get hot and humid.
After taking Shadow for his morning walk, I headed to the Green for our regular Saturday rally. As usual, I had some wonderful conversations with people and then headed to Mashpee to attend the Wampanoag Honor the Earth Fair. On my way home, I stopped to buy some pansies, lettuce, and kale to plant. But no planting today because it was just too cold to want to be outside. But soon. And then tonight I got invited to join Heather, Jed, and Ollie for dinner. It is school vacation week here. Jonah has been in Pennsylvania since Thursday with the high school concert and jazz band. They were in a band competition and then had fun at Hershey Park. They will return tomorrow, and then during the week off school, Jonah will do a couple of college visits. Ollie leaves tomorrow morning for Cape Canaveral, Florida, with his Scout trip and he doesn’t return until next Saturday. He wanted to have grilled marinated veggies and chicken as his going away dinner, and I got invited to join in. Sam is still in the Netherlands, but he will return the end of the month, be home for two days, and then he is off to the west coast to do some traveling with a friend before heading home for the summer. Busy Goldpebbles.
by Judy Handley | Mar 20, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 79: All Work and No Play
Date: Friday, March 20, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny Day, Rain Tonight; High Temp 408 Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I literally sat at my computer for more than 9 hours today, only taking breaks to take Shadow outside and eat a quick lunch, so literally nothing to write about. But I will wish Jed’s mom, Marti, a happy birthday, and look forward to having a sushi dinner with Ollie tomorrow for his birthday. And tomorrow is going to be a little warmer. Maybe it will actually feel like the first day of spring.
by Judy Handley | Mar 12, 2026 | Cape Cod, USA |
2026 Life Logs, Day 71: Getting Organized for No Kings 3, March 28
Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026
Weather: Cloudy, a Litte Snow Tonight; High Temp 50, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today it was cloudy and not too cold according to the thermometer, but because of the moisture in the air, it felt colder than it was. It is not winter coat weather, but it is jacket weather. Tonight we got a little snow for an hour or so just to remind us that winter is not done with us.
I am spending much of my time right now organizing the March 28 No Kings 3 protest. We are hoping this is going to be the largest one-day peaceful protest ever, anywhere, but if it is just the largest one-day peaceful protest in the history of this country, we will be very happy. Tonight, Indivisible held our marshal training for the protest and Monday night is our de-escalation training for the general public. Since I organize all the training sessions, it is a busy time right now.
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.
