by Judy Handley | Sep 1, 2025 | Cape Cod, USA |
2025 Life Logs, Day 244: My Favorite Month
Date: Monday, September 1, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 72, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I know it makes no sense that my favorite season of the year is summer. I love warm, sunny days of summer. But my favorite month of the year is September. As a child, I loved the beginning of school on the day after Labor Day … but don’t tell my grandchildren that. That love of the first day of school followed me into adulthood when I became a teacher and found the first day of school each year to be the beginning of a wonderful adventure with a new group of students. When I was in junior high school, I loved the fall nighttime football games with just a bit of chill in the air. And I loved, and still love, the beauty of the changing colors of fall leaves. “The falling leaves drift by the window. The autumn leaves of red and gold.” As a child, I would find pieces of colorful material and wave them in the air as I danced to that song first made popular in 1945 before I was born. As I grew into an adult, I celebrated September by having both of my children in that month. It was always a happy month for me. Then in 2016, Mark died on September 11. That could have taken away my love for September, but I did not let that happen. Every September 11, I celebrate his life and the wonderful life we had together, making September a time of remembering, a time of contemplation on what comes next in my life. Welcome September!
This afternoon we had a Workers Over Billionaires Labor Day rally on the Green. It was well attended, and the speakers were good. I was so happy, but surprised, to see Heather there. The weather was overcast, and they decided not to go sailing but to just hang out on the boat. That allowed her the time to come in to check out the rally on the Green. I drove to the Green with friends Jane Woodin and Joanie Thompson. I caught of photo fo Jane holding my favorite sign–Democracy Requires Our Participation. Join Us.
Then tonight I fixed dinner and delivered it to the Goldstone’s. It was our annual dinner on the night before the first day of school. But school started today for Sam in Groningen. I sent him a text this morning wishing him a good first day of classes. He texted back that his first class was in 45 minutes. I hope he had a good day, but I found out from Heather tonight that he has come down with a fever and sore throat like so many of the other students in his housing unit. Hopefully it is not Covid, but just a common cold.
by Judy Handley | Aug 23, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs, Cape Cod, USA |
2025 Life Logs, Day 235: Saturday Rally, Groningen Update, Tomatoes, and MV
Date: Saturday, August 23, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 74, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Across the pond today, Heather and Sam explored the North Sea coast just north of Groningen. They visited National Park Lauwersmeer where the sea comes inland a bit. This was the site of the last battle of World War II on Dutch soil was fought and Sam was delighted to find WWII bunkers. There were also a lot of sheep.
Later they ended their day with a sunset cruise on the Lauwersmeer which is a man-made lake on the border of the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. Heather also took photos today of the outside of Sam’s dorm, the courtyard, and the fields beyond. She said her photos don’t give us the real feeling of the area, but at least we know where he lives now.
As for me today, I attended the weekly rally on the Green, deseeded 30 pounds of tomatoes for making tomato puree, and went on an Encore trip to Martha’s Vineyard to have dinner and see the Illumination Week fireworks. The boat accommodated 40 of us and those of us sitting outside on the port side of the boat got duly soaked on the way over. But once there we had a great time, and I am happy to report that the trip home was . There were mostly couples, but five of us that were singles banded together and had dinner at the Sand Bar, walked through town, and returned to the boat to watch the fireworks from there. Fun evening.
by Judy Handley | Aug 7, 2025 | Cape Cod, USA |
2025 Life Logs, Day 219: One Million Rising Community Resistance Gathering
Date: Thursday, August 7, 2025
Weather: Still Perfect Summer Weather; High Temp 76, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
My morning was spent in a Newcomers board meeting. As Past Presidents of Encore, Christina Brodie and I have to serve this year as the Encore liaisons to the Newcomers board. We share the job, and this was my month to attend. Once home, I got to work on the PowerPoint presentation for the Indivisible Community Resistance Gathering I was hosting tonight. There were eight of us, which seemed to be a perfect number for an informal living room meeting. It was a wonderful mix of people and ideas. I felt good about the meeting and think I will host another one next week.
Sam and Jonah headed to Maine this afternoon, so all the Goldstones are together again tonight. Heather returns home on Monday, Sam and Jonah next Thursday, and Jed and Ollie the following Sunday or Monday. I miss them already.
by Judy Handley | May 13, 2025 | Cape Cod, USA |
2025 Life Logs, Day 133: Hodge Podge of Activities
Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 65, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
This was a fast-paced day, moving from one activity to another. I started my day by taking bags of grass clippings to the town yard waste facility, doing some Encore work, having a friend over for coffee/tea and conversation, and then heading to a meeting with the woman who will be the Assistant Vice-President of Programs with me next year to review the programs we have booked to date. I left just in time to pick Ollie up after school as it is the day Ollie has to bring his saxophone home for his private lesson, rushed to a friend’s home to water plants while they are out of town, took Ollie to his sax lesson, rushed home to change clothes and then attended my first meeting of the Library Trustees. Too busy, even for me!
by Judy Handley | May 5, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs, Cape Cod, USA |
2025 Life Logs, Day 125: Cinco de Mayo
Date: Monday, May 5, 2025
Weather: Overcast with Dibble Dops; High Temp 62, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today was Cinco de Mayo. I realized that I really don’t know why that is thought of as a day of celebration. So, I asked Wikipedia and was told that on May 5, 1862, Mexico won a battle against the Second French Empire. I also learned that in Mexico, it is not a federal holiday, and that life goes on as usual. In this country, however, it has been a day to celebrate our Mexican-American culture and heritage. But due to the current political climate, some celebrations were cancelled this year. Reading about that made me think of the speech Mike Pence gave yesterday when he received the JFK Profile in Courage award for certifying the 2020 election on January 6. I read that during his speech he repeatedly invoked the Constitution saying that it is what “binds us together.” Tonight, I saw a clip of his speech where he said, “ … whatever differences we may have as Americans, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand.” Compare that to Donald Trump’s interview on Meet the Press yesterday. When asked directly if he as President feels he needs to abide by the Constitution, he replied by saying, “I don’t know.” That comment got my Profile in Ignorance award. The problem is that he does know, but it is not in his interest, so he feigns ignorance and says the very brilliant people around him know what he needs to do. That way when someone needs be held accountable, he can just say he didn’t know. Poor Donald. It is amazing how much he doesn’t know these days.
What did I do today? I followed the progress Jed made in the boom search. I got a return email this morning from the rigger in Maine that repairs the type of in-mast furling that Ardenna has. He said he was willing to work with us on this, so Jed responded to his email with a lot of the technical information he has on the boom we are considering. Now we wait for the response. I also dealt with some Encore communications and then turned my attention to the photo project I have been working on. I picked Ollie up after school, canned chicken broth, and switched my bedding from winter mode to spring. The comforter I have been sleeping under has become too much, but I’ll probably freeze without it tonight. We shall see.
by Judy Handley | Apr 20, 2025 | 2025 Sailing Logs, Cape Cod, USA |
2025 Life Logs, Day 110: Celebration of Sam’s College Decision
Date: Sunday, April 20, 2025
Weather: Sunny, Warmer; High Temp 63, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Sam has been waiting to hear from Groningen University in the Netherlands to see if he made it into their International Relations program. He got into their history program, but the International Relations program admittance is done by a lottery system. This was his first choice, so we are all so happy for him.
Before I knew about this, I invited Heather and family over for Easter dinner. Sam’s college decision just gave us an extra opportunity for celebration. Congratulations, Samuel Ellery Goldstone! I am a proud Oma.
