Retire In Style Blog Too

Fall is here. The calendar Tells me so it must be. But even if it didn't, you would have known this morning. The air has that nip, a few of the sycamore trees are turning yellow and the birds are becoming restless. The smart birds figure out what to do next before the flying day arrives. Geese are gathering as we speak in staging areas and even the hummingbirds that hitch a ride on those geese backs will be looking around for transportation. My feeder is emptying slower and slower. Humans even have that urge to fly away south and those that are serious about it have already made reservations for the winter. But late comers are always welcome. As it turns out, there is always room for one more. Over the years this writer and snowbird has posted thousands of words on the subject. Financial questions, retirement issues, locations to consider and even tips on locking up the house for the winter. I thought you probably would like a list to help you out. If I don't cover what you wan...

My husband and I live the life of that famous children's book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie . I am sure you remember the book from childhood or from the childhood of a baby in your life. The story goes like this: If you give a mouse a cookie, he is sure to want a glass of milk... If you give the mouse a glass of milk he will want a straw... The story is about how we get lost in our thoughts following streams of consciousness as we wander endlessly from one task to the next never completing anything. And so it goes... Only 7 years ago my grandchildren and our children  watched the swifts go down the chimney of a school here  in Portland. I had forgotten that beautiful late summer evening. My husband went to a local hardware store and bought a set of shelves so we could try to get organized...again. All of the crates that has been stacked against one wall in the garage were placed on the garage floor. I had not actually seen what was inside those boxes since we moved into this ...

Our small town grocery store closed a few month past and we are still reeling. A local college (so rumor has it) made the owners an offer they could not refuse. That is a rumor too. But, if you believe money talks then you can see how it all seems to fit. We miss that grocery store a lot. It had almost everything we needed and the best selection of beer in the region! What was not to love. But the final straw is the removal of a state owned liquor store (we live in Oregon you know) that is housed in the back of the same building. It has not moved but it will have to and probably soon. Everyone I know is sad and inconvenienced by the loss of the grocery store but the liquor store??? Oh my goodness. Not the liquor store. We have laughed so hard about this. So we are traveling further to a big box store to get our groceries. The beer selection is horrible AND there is no liquor store in the back where no one can see you go in and out. It is not a good thing. I am just saying!!! b+ The sad...

One of the thing that fascinates me about this whole blogging experience is the  social media  and its influence.  So, when I saw  # DoesBetterMatter? trending on Twitter just now, I wondered, if I write a blog post using those words what would happen. Would it make any difference at all. We are about to see. Do you suppose it would still run if it were in a car? Or is there something much, much better? Deutsches Museum   Munich, Germany I am here to ask you, "Does better matter?" See, I only started blogging all those years ago to start a conversation with my then 4th grade granddaughter. I was in China and she was going to school in a classroom crowded with almost 40 students. Technology was creeping into the schools but was still feared because it was so new. After all, it was a better way of communication. But did it matter? No not really. My son lived in Shanghai and my husband and I were taking advantage of him so we could see a part of the world not...

According to Cambridge dictionary brainwashing is a method of altering your way of thinking. Is it good? I am beginning to think it is...sometimes.  Portland, Oregon has joined The Joy Team sign company and is putting up billboards with a positive and, according to the news, effective way to influence people's state of mind. One sign here in PDX is located on Sandy Boulevard . It says, "You are freaking awesome!"  I love that one so much. The Joy Team  uses this one on their website. Seeing this sign every morning on a commute to work would have to make you smile and feel good about yourself, even if you didn't know why. I took this picture of a cigarette display as I was walking through the airport in Denmark this spring. It stopped me in my tracks. EVERY package across that country has a warning like this. The user is prevented from seeing a different massage no matter where they go. That my friends is the definition of a brainwash. In this case, I ...

I began blogging back in 2006 (I think). In the beginning I wrote but the world didn't rush to me door. I was a good thing for me because that silence gave me years to practice writing and to also work out some things in my life that needed resolving. Since those early years a lot has changed. I have moved on in my blogging life and so has everyone else...well almost. What amazed me as I began this blog post was how much I  thought  I knew about each person. See people reveal themselves over a period of time without even realizing it. Honestly, reading a blog faithfully is a bit like being a peeping tom or a stalker. If there are people that have that type of personality, that might be where they hang out. I suppose we should all be a little careful. But what I loved about this world is the connections with such interesting people. In the beginning I worked from prompts for writing stories or observations. One such site as called  Sunday Scribblings . The two women that...

Resource here:  Faceless Killers: A Mystery (Kurt Wallander Mystery Book 1) . Henning Mankell in Bethlehem (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The New York Times is all about the migrant crisis in Germany right now. Families seeking asylum from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria are fleeing war and poverty. Germany is struggling with the question of what is humane and possible. While it is big news it is not new news. Books like the mystery written back in 1991 by Swedish author Henning Mankell called Faceless Killers tells about the beginning of the refugee problem in Sweden. The Faceless Killers was the first of the best seller Wallander series and a blockbuster TV series  of the same name featured on Netflix. I am a great fan and have watched all of the episodes that were filmed both by the British and in Sweden. Now I have begun reading the books. I finished the first book this morning. Reading Faceless Killers against the backdrop of the news events made it take on a meaning I was not l...

Travel.  As much as you can. As far as you can.  As long as you can.  Life’s not meant to be lived in one place. Gentleman’s Wisdom Found on 101 Inspirational Travel Quotes Arno River, Florence Italy Dubai, UEA Dubai, UAE The Bavarian Alps, Italy/Germany Deutsche Museum, Munich Germany  When you think you've seen it all or you are full,  rest and do it all again in a different place. b+