Retire In Style Blog Too

My greenhouse.  Our chickens.  We gathered together to inter Earls ashes at Willamette National Cemetery.  Seriously, I am being very realistic about the times, this year, and you. It seems to me that things do not make you happy. A shadow is hanging over all of us. Bad things happen even to us.  There is ice in Hillsboro ...not the frozen kind. You know what I mean. I have not seen them. Is it true?  I belong to an organization that is simply asking for the delivery of groceries because people are afraid to leave their homes to shop. Children are so scared to go to school. It must be so hard for those people. Instead of feeling total indignation, I feel torn. One side of my head is thinking that if I were those people, I would want to go back to Mexico and home. I also know that they fled their country to seek a better life, and there is nothing to go back to. I ask myself, "What would I do?"  I am told by a pediatrician in the area that serves the Hispan...

  Opening day for the box in 2006 Did I mention that a woman drove through my library box in the middle of the night? It was the first "get out of my way" moment this week. There was a big bang, and when I looked out my front window, books and puzzles were strewn down the road. The fire dept, police, and paramedics showed up. My dog about had apoplexy. Everything is now cleaned up, and we are in recovery mode. It was way too much excitement for a retirement community. Debris from the box. My beautiful husband with his library box. Cow Paths I was raised in rural eastern Oregon, in a community of fewer than 800 people. It was a railroad town that served several large ranches. We bragged that one of the daughters of a rancher was a Pendleton Roundup Princess. Her father drove their Cadillac slowly through town each day when he picked her up from school. We did get out of the way when that car came driving through. No Ford pickup for her. Cattle were allowed to be free range wit...

Annie and Barbara (b+)  I have noticed that as people age, they inspect all their body parts every day. It is a waste of time because it is almost certain that the body parts you went to bed with are in the same condition as when you slept a few hours earlier. My late husband put broken things in a drawer in the hope they would heal and become useful again. Like that broken tool or low battery you put in the drawer, generally, things do not heal overnight.  It is possible that you think too much.  Although there are people who claim to be in perfect health, such individuals are rare. In my case, I go about my day blithely, ignoring most things. I sit when I am tired, and I read or do a puzzle to pass the time. But best of all, I work hard.  Do I have a list? Well maybe. Let's see. 1. Look up!!! It improves your posture , and you will notice things you haven't seen in years. I promise. 2. Make the obligatory appointments and KEEP THEM! Check-ups and body mainten...

Here I am, right back where I started! current stats: single (widowed and living in Oregon), aging...next birthday I will be 84 years old, health is passable, and it is fall-rainy, chilly. The people I need are very busy. Andy and Amanda are both in Abu Dhabi, Susan and Doug are here in Hillsboro (both working), and Larry and Kim (running a business and working) are close by in Cornelius.  This is the time of year when we would typically return to Arizona , but I don't miss going there at all. The decision to move back to Oregon permanently was the right one. I feel content and happy. For anyone who has done that thing, it is simply normal. When I was much younger, I noticed that old people would turn on the light outside, turn down the bed, and even put on their jammies at around 7 in the evening. The top of their fridge held liquor bottles and pills. (Yes, I did love to drive by park models in Arizona after it was dark. Sorry!) In fact, when we were in Green Valley in the winte...