I'm a Wannabe New Yorker!

I wrote this post back in 2010. I still double spaced after sentences and was quite new to blogging. But memories are memories and many are worth revisiting. This is one of those posts!

I am not from the city. Not even close. I am from a very small village in eastern Oregon. I grew up fishing, digging holes in the dirt and hanging out with friends. I did not work in the summer...well unless you count painting fences. I loved girlie stuff and shopping. And I always wanted to be from New York City!

When I was very near my 40th birthday I managed to score a trip to the Big Apple...all I had to do was escort a plane load of teens to the city. Six of those teen were my personal responsibility. After we got there all I had to do was make sure none of them got broken or lost. I also needed to make sure I came back with all of them. Parents are funny that way. If I promised to do those things, my plane ticket and room were giving to me at a reduced rate. It seemed like a really good deal!

We were traveling with a tour company that arranged our meals and hotels (yikes). We were given chits to eat breakfast with and the restaurant we were pointed to the Howard Johnsons. Even all those years ago HJ was very old and greasy. It may still be in the same place on or close to Broadway. (I did find a picture on flickr.)

The first morning we headed off for a breakfast of champions so we could use out chits. We found a counter stool, had a look at the chit limited menu and decided to order pancakes. We would not eat again until the evening unless we ate at a food cart...we were going to take on a carbo load!

What do you want? the waiter asked gruffly.

We would like pancakes, we answered in our polite Oregon style.

No you don't...you want eggs, just eggs.

See, I didn't know I wanted eggs...not even a little bit. But the guy was big, busy and not fixing pancakes.

It turns out I like eggs...a lot. I also discovered that food carts have some of the best eats available. Who knew! And I still want to be from NYC.

Now we live in Portland, Oregon and life in a small city suits me perfectly. As I get older I am satisfied with watching from afar. Maybe New York would be easier for us now that we have "been around" a little more. But for a small town girl it was very difficult, expensive and a little frightening. Still, I would not trade that experience for anything ... Saturday night on Broadway is like no other place in the world.

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hometown: Huntington, Oregon

Five Little Ducks...stories played out!

The children's song about the little ducks leaving the nest to fly away has always been one of my favorites. Every mother has seen their babies fly away and rejoiced. Life comes full circle. Animals live that same cycle. Babies grow up. Birds leave the nest. Life goes on. So when the three ducks show up every year near my patio I am not surprised. But I am puzzled that it always seems to be the same three. Something just doesn't seem right. It appears the one did not fly away at all. Five little ducks Went out to play Over the hills and far away. The mommy duck went "quack, quack quack," Four little ducks came swimming back... And then Three Two and One. A drake, a female duck (a hen) and a not quite a drake but still not a hen gather here on the 5th green of the golf course. She leads and the other two follow along obediently. They eat, sleep, and guard each other. Each and every day this time of year they come. I have not named them. Jinxing them would be very pos...

How to be a 12 Month Snow Bird

Vacation Rental in Mexico I live around snowbirds 6 months of the year. I have heard those people say that they all want to live the "snowbird" lifestyle when they go home. But it just is not possible. They are isolated and cold. Social activities with friends and beautiful weather are greatly missed when they return to the realities of their "real" life. One couple I visited with lately returned to Florida this morning where they own a home. The woman is a nurse and works in the summer. They are not going home until May this year. It is too cold in Michigan in the spring so they are hoping to extend their good weather season by simply staying away. Besides that they love their Florida lifestyle a lot. Last week I visited with a woman that lives the snowbird lifestyle year around. No going home to the Midwest in the spring. They essentially vacation 12 month out of the year. And I thought their solution for avoiding unpleasant weather and keeping their lifestyle in...

If You Build It, They Will Come...Maybe!

It all began with a antique window in front of a local shop. It had been painted yellow, the glass was loose and all of the hinges and latches were gone. My old friend Betty would have approved...she would tell me it was just broken enough and damaged enough for me to drag it home. When my dear husband saw it, he wondered what he was meant to do with it. Imagine his surprise when he was presented with the plan to build a small neighborhood library exchange. It wasn't the first time he had heard me ask "How hard could it be?" Now it is six weeks later and we mounted the darling little library exchange on two posts in our front yard. I love it. Now the question is, will they come or has the time passed when people actually read something made of paper? Our association president stopped by and admired the box but left after telling me that he only read books on his Kindle. We will see. Would you bring a book and take a book? b+

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