For the Archives-2025

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 Hispanic community that ICE is not taking any verification of citicenship. They arrest first and check later. It seems that those people that are brown skinned should be afraid. The whole process is such an unknown. Bad things happen to good, honest people in spite of the effort to keep them safe. I don't suppose any of us would want to be in their shoes.

I read that a lot of illegal activity has been stopped  Its a trade-off I suppose  

The inauguration of Trump in January has somehow made time stand still. The media will not let it go and the truth is elusive.The weeks and months drag on, and watching the news is harder and harder. Even though I watch middle-of-the-road news casts, it seems that every time I want to check on social media, there it is. I can't hide in a hole, no matter how tempting that is.

Brick and motor stores here in Hillsboro are closing. Our Macy's is gone, as well as JoAnn's Fabrics. Walmart if not one of my favorites.  Choices shrink, but we are reminded that small businesses are the bread and butter of our community. Finding what I need has me using a "big box" online stores which is not any better...Amazon, Etsy, Temu and eBay are on the radar. Small online businesses are having a hard time too I think...I am always asking, "Is it a scam"? Etsy is supposed to be small business, but who knows.

The internet serves me well. I order groceries and then just pick them up at the store. I like Uber Eats a lot. I have put "gluten free" in the app. and it helps me find good food.

NOTABLE IN 2025

• Ethan and Mikaela bought property in the country. They had been wanting it for so long. 
• Elena dn Micheal moved into a better appartment.
• Susan and Doug are going to Spain next fall.
• I turned 84.
• Donald Trump took office.
• I sold my Arizona house and am back in Oregon fulltime now.
• Brayden and Brycen are helping me with my house and yard.
• Doug finished and installed a new front door and screendoor.
• We drew names for Christmas (Tuesday gift are anew thing.)
• We put Earl to rest. 
• I have rejoined PEO. 

My last crop of grandchildren are growing. Three of them now. The other nine are grown or off to college. I am 84 years old so it seems appropriate that family grows older too. One is graduating from Oberlin in '27 and one is entering University of Arizona in the fall of '26. 

I sold my house in Arizona. Andy and Amanda bought it. They are remodeling the two bathrooms. The house was built in late 1970s so it needs some updating. Earl and I did a lot but still....

Now 2026 is looming. A quick Thanksgiving then Christmas. I love to be near to my family this time of year. The choice to move back to Oregon is feeling really good. 

I made bread/cinnamin rolls today. A neighbor takes my garbage can in and I share homemade bread with he and his wife. My neighbor, Clementine, turned 93 or something this week so I took her some too. I still love to cook. I'm not a good eater so I eat sporatically...twice a day with no thought food in between. When I get hungry I want to eat NOW! Sigh. 

My health is ok and my brain workss better than ever. I am grateful for that.

How are you doing? Leave a comment please.

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What to Do, What to Do...back to China, Small Businesses and More!

Has it really only been 3 months since the Chinese notifies WHO of the Coronavirus outbreak? It seems like a lifetime to my family. Here is where we are now.

I try not to think about the past too much...yes I know, if we don't remember the past we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. The mistakes, of course, are the problem. They cannot be undone. Words cannot be pulled back into our mouths unsaid and we cannot un-know what we know.

I think that is the problem right now...the un-knowing. Wouldn't you agree? For example, can we un-know that press conference where a NBC reporter asked our president to comfort those that afraid and was told what an awful person he was. I cannot un-know the last presidential debates nor can I even wrap my mind around how to make the foreboding go away.

These incidences are a snap shot of what our leadership is like. Scary, huh?

So, just finding a way to move forward is the best answer I guess. But what to do...what to do.

My oldest son has just returned to China and in living in a Hong Kong 4 star hotel in a room that he describes as a cell. He will stay there for 2 week in quarantine until the China official decide that he is not sick. Then, hopefully he will be allowed to re-enter Shenzhen where he works. He has two dog, an apartment and an organization with employees waiting. I keep my fingers crossed for him. His wife and our two granddaughters remain in Portland.

My youngest son is a small businessman. He and his wife are experts in photography...in the Portland Oregon metro area. The governor in that state has ordered the population to shelter in place. The mortgage must be paid as do the utilities. They have three children at home and three grown children that are struggling themselves. My husband and I watch and wait to see what we can do for them. The mortgage must be paid. Banks will do the worst in this type of situation. But if there is no declaration of emergency, no financial aid is available from our state or the feds.

In the case of our government not taking action, what I see is that corporations need help or our economy might collapse. But most importantly, if my past experience serves me right, bank will foreclose, people will loss their homes so we will see an already burgeoning homeless population grow even more. The little guys need the most help short term.

So even as we look to the future, it is not good.

BUT, what if a miracle happened, a vaccine could be found sooner rather than later and within a short period of time we can go on with our lives. China is reopening schools now. The epidemic is receding and those that have recovered must be going back to work.

In an article published in the Guardian the evidence pointed to December 31, 2019 as the date that the Chinese notified WHO of the outbreak of a pneumonia in Wuhan. The disease was identified as Disease X at that time. It has since been identified and Coronavirus Disease. That was less than 3 month ago.

So I am hopeful that we can do what the Chinese did....shelter in place. SHELTER IN PLACE! If your city does not feel like a dead space, you are not doing it. Stay at home.

Ok, I have a confession. We are having a hard time doing that here in Arizona. Other than restaurants closing it is pretty much business as usual. People are afraid (sorry President T.). Hoarding is terrible here and nationwide. We need some leadership and reassurance.

But SHELTER IN PLACE IS WHAT IS NEEDED. If we don't do what the Chinese did and close the world down around us nationally, what is the point. There is no "wall" between states and viruses do no respect borders.

Just saying. Any thoughts?

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Out of China: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and Me

My husband was very concerned about the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the very beginning. I didn't want to talk about it! That was back in January. We had ordered visa's for a trip to China and we were to leave next week...March 19th. Tickets were purchased and we were making plans from a side trip to Bali. Needless to say, we changed our plans. As we all know, this disease is about to change more and more lives. It certainly has had an effect on ours. And the beat goes on.

My son and his wife plus our grandchildren live and work in China. Thankfully they are back in the states now.

We are grateful that they are out of Shenzhen and living temporarily in their condo in the Portland, Oregon. But the battle they had getting here was not easy. Getting out of the China without contracting the Coronavirus disease was the big victory. It was very much a worry for all of us.

Chinese back street. by b

I cannot tell you the full story because I honestly do not know it all. But from our end, this is what we saw.

When Chinese New Year came around, one of the
granddaughters went away with a group of her classmates to go skiing. The rest of the family went to Thailand for a break. It seemed as normal as their life can actually seem to us.

They were all good and then all "hell" broke loose. The Coronavirus reared its ugly head in Guangzhou to spread across China and the family was spread to the four winds.

My son flew to New York City on a job related trip.

My daughter-in-law and our oldest granddaughter went back to China. But the youngest was still in Switzerland.

And China shut down...period.

A couple of days later he youngest granddaughter got off the plane from her trip and was held in quarantine because she had caught a cold on the trip. Even though her mother was at the airport to meet her, they could not connect immediately. The experience scared the child half to death.

They live in very large city that bustles as only China can and suddenly the streets were totally empty. My daughter-in-law who was alone in China with the girls said it felt like Chernobyl must have felt after the nuclear accident there. Total isolation and all that entails with the two girls was mind bending.

Fast forward a week or so. After hunting down plane tickets, they caught the "last plane out". They left the dogs with an ayi (Chinese "auntie") and came to us in Arizona. My son came here from NYC so he met them at the airport. We just hugged the stuffing out of each one of them and breathed a sigh of relief. In spite of colds and exhaustion from stress, they were fine-ish. Sorta! We were elated at the miracle of having them all under our roof. It was wonderful. They were with us a few days before they returned to Portland.

Then reality began to sink in as it continues to do to this day. The girls continued with online learning because they had already begun in China when their school did not reconvene after their bread.  Teachers teach at a distance and the girls are spending endless hours learning on the computer discovering what would have taken a short time to learn in the classroom.

With each news cast we are beginning to wonder if this is the new reality of life for the foreseeable future.

It is not apparent yet if they will ever go back to their home in China. Eventually someone will have to go to to Shenzhen to direct the move to their next job. (Yes, there is a next job.)

The reality is the girls may never connect with their friends again. In the meantime, my son who is school head for Avenues of New York Shenzhen school and my daughter-in-law who is working for an international school in Shenzhen are now working from home. All day, 5 or 6 days a week.

After the shock wore off, we are all back in step with what is real now. They have gone back to Portland where they own a condo. We remain in Arizona doing what we do. All is well...almost.

My daughter-in-law broke her knee skiing on Mt. Hood but other than that....sigh. We are beginning to be a little jumpy as you can well imagine!

But, life goes on and what is, is! I feel very grateful at this particular point in our life. They are healing and we are fine. Life is good!

Enough already! Any drama in your life?

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20 Awkward Steps to Our Happy Retirement or There Was Not a Guidebook

I first published this article back in June of 2014. A lot has changed.

• Two grandchildren are married and we have 2 great-grandchildren (both girls). 
• The cat disappeared on Halloween one year and we are not getting another. 
• We sold our park model in Tucson and moved into a townhouse last fall. 
• We bought a dream car...Mini Cooper is now in the Oregon house garage.
• We have two cars again and fly to Arizona in the fall and back to Oregon in the spring.
• We both still golf with friends and we joined a club in Tucson that we love. 
• I still blog but not as much as I did. My husband gets a little more of my attention. He had his 80 birthday last winter.  

The message is the same...change has kept us mentally young and healthy. Life is good!

Arizona Townhouse

Hillsboro Home

Remember that very first child...the one they let you take home without a guidebook or a test drive? Retirement is a bit like that. One day they just say "Good bye, good luck and let us know how that works out for you." It is probably one of the most challenging things you will ever do. Even enough money does not make it any easier.

Don't get me wrong, I love being retired but it has taken my husband and I 17 years to find smooth sailing. In that period of time we have invented and reinvented our lives so many times I have lost count. We love the adventure and I suppose that is why we have found ourselves changing direction so many times. If you just want to stay where you are and do what you have done all of your lives, it may be easier. I don't know how to talk about that. (Leave a comment to let me know.)

It seems to me the thing that has given us so much joy is the fact that we have never ever thought we had arrived at our "forever" place. We are a lot closer now but even so, we keep our options open. Here are the things we have done or considered doing:

1. We moved from rural Eastern Oregon to Portland a year after my husband and I retired. 
2. We bought a 4 bedroom home because we didn't know how to live in a smaller space.
3. We joined a country club and learned to play golf a little better. 
4. We moved from the 4 bedroom house with a big yard to a 2 bedroom condo with no yard and our youngest son moved back home.
5. I took up multi-media art and spend several years immersed in that form of creative projects.
6. We bought an RV and began to travel. Our youngest son took care of the condo and the cat.
7. Our youngest son married.
8. We made plans to sell our Oregon home and moving to the Southwest. The only thing that stopped us was the recession.
9. My husband and I played golf together when we traveled.
10. My husband found a mens group to golf with and I began spending more time at home.
11. I became the summer nanny for 2 of my grandchildren.
12. I began blogging and abandoned the art.
13. We traveled for 3 months to begin with and later stayed away for 4-5 months.
14. We sold and bought several RVs.
15. We bought a park model in Tucson and moved into it for the winters. The RV was gone forever (maybe).
16. We sold that park model and moved to a better location in the same RV resort.
17. We moved from our condo in Oregon into a 55+ community near our daughter. We had a yard again.
18. We became a one car family.
19. We plan to fly back and forth to Arizona one year soon.
20. Now we stay 6 months in Oregon and 6 in Arizona. The cat travels with us.

We love the lifestyle we have now. My husband still golfs with the guys. Five of our 12 grandchildren are grown. One granddaughters will marry in September. I have a beautiful flower garden that gives me great joy. Blogging gives me an outlet and I still have a wonderful time doing artwork with my younger grandchildren.

Is there a guide book for any of this? I would never have dreamed that we would have changed our directions that many times. I don't think any book could have guided us through all those changes. I could write a great book that gave the reader a general idea of what they were in for but I could not lead them. One of the central issues in the retirement like mine is actually living full time with your spouse and finding a way to compromise your way through life. Compromise the the key. The "how" is entirely up to you.

I would be interested in having you add your thought about your retirement list in the comments. How is it working out for you?

Oh, and do stay tuned...it is not over yet!

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The Last Hurrah #2 (2018)

Has it been over a year since we watched the eclipse from a meadow in the Cascade Mountains here in Oregon? I cannot believe it! It was a lifetime experience that we shared with some very special friends. (If you are not apart of this group or follow this blog read The Last Hurrah written on August 23, 2017.)

In the year since I wrote that story, not much has changed really for my husband and I. It is true that we are a year older so there is that. As for the others, children have graduated from college and high school. Some of the friends are retired or getting ready to retire. Oh, we also have a new baby, our great granddaughter. WOW!

As for my husband and I, we feel the consequences of aging but we just plug along, fighting through the less than perfect so we can revel in the awesome.

Awesome is what Labor Day Weekend has been about for my daughter and her friends for a very long time. They have gathered in a meadow near Elsie here in the state of Oregon where they played for three beautiful days.

The privilege of watching these people and their children grow up is a treasure that I hold near to my heart.

So this year when we were all gathered very soon after my husband and myself returned from Tucson, I asked if we could come for just one day and see what my daughter had been talking about all these years. We were invited.

Oh my goodness, it was so wonderful to be a fly on the wall (and buzzing around everyone). Not part of the generations gathered yet feeling so much at home.

There were Corn Holes boards (5 or 6 I think), an outhouse and, best of all, a Redneck Swimming Pool. (No river float down the Nehalem this year. Just the small creek that runs through the property where the dogs played.)

Dewey and Earl, aka Cribbage Champions

A Cribbage Tournament took up the best of the afternoon. My 80 year old husband, Earl, and Dewey, the 79 year old father-in-law of our hosts who along with his wife provide the meadow, beat all of us!

There was talk of large print cards and new hearing aid batteries for the really old guys...these young people should learn to not trash talk an old person. The old guys just shrugged and set out to beat them all. With a smile on their face they did just that. We have the prizes to prove it!

Mikaela (hair stylist) and Addie Jo 

Addie Jo, my great granddaughter, was passed around for two days. She loved that a lot.

Dan (Joann's husband) and
his redneck pool cooler!

Cutie Joann, 2nd grade teacher

Smiling, funny, baby lover
Lisa and Addie Jo

Ethan (grandson
just out of the Marines
and beginning
college this fall)
 and his wife Mikaela
are Addie Jo's parents.

Daughter, Addie's
Grandma Susan 

Lucas (Jill's son and the dog!
Oh, did I mention that
there are dogs...lots of dogs!
I think this is Cordelia.)

My friends from L to R.
Lisa (pre-K teacher), me,
Joann (2nd Grade teacher),
Kristine (physical therapist),
Jill (business owner),
Susan (retired State Police).
Kathy the librarian, Paula and
Jacquelyn the hospice nurse,
are missing from the picture.

Grandpa Doug (retired county
 Deputy Sheriff) with Addie Jo

I just poured myself a glass of wine and watched it all. The swim in the Redneck Swimming pool demanded an audience so we pulled up a chair. The outhouse in the background supplemented the "no nudity" sign.

Crowd watching the redneck
 swimming pool action. I am at the far end.

Pool and the outhouse

My good friend, Kristine,
in swimming gear
with Barbie towel!

 I visited with Marissa (Paula's daughter) who will be a senior at Oregon State majoring in Nutritional Studies. Sweet Katie is in her senior year at University of Portland and is majoring in nursing. Jack, Katy's brother, was there with his girl friends. He is at University of Portland in the ROTC program. AND he knows where Spray, Oregon is. I was impressed.

I met Miranda's (Lisa's daughter) fiance. They will be married in December and we will be home so we can attend. Miranda's mother, Lisa, ran Ethan's day-care. Miranda is Ethan's age. Lisa and I bonded over that experience. Ethan is 25 I think and he is my grandson.

Lovely Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn is a hospice nurse and her husband, Sean, is on the police force here in Hillsboro. They are all about traveling.

Susie and Dewey (my husband's Cribbage partner) host the party. Susie still works in the bakery at a local store/restaurant and is Lee's mom. Dewy is retired. They have built a covered bar/dance floor space and a cute little cabin with a composting toilet and bunk beds. A redneck swimming pool was added this year. Built with hay bales and lined with blue stuff, this pool was not easy task for the two of them.

The youngest in the group gets to sleep in the cabin. Addie Jo trumped everyone so she and her parents slept there. She is almost 8 months old.

Dear Sweet Jill

Kathy is the librarian at my grand children's school. Jill and her husband, Charlie, are in the nursery business.

And Kristine and Lee (Oregon State Police)...well they are the stars that everyone circles around. They provided the setting for both the Eclipse party and the yearly Labor Day gathering.

Golly, I do love these people!

Did I overlook anyone? If I did, please know that I try but, as you all know, I am not to be held responsible because of my age. :)

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It's All About the Girls!

It's all about the girls this week. Babies, mamas, grandmas, great-grandmas and granddaughter.

Addie Jo is a character but then, that is expected.

Daughter (Auntie) Grandma Susan and Great-grandma Barbara.
Susan is the grandma to all our babies
when my husband and I are in the desert...hence Auntie Grandma Susan.

My granddaughter on her 21st birthday...she is so pretty and don't you just
love her glasses?

Mikaela is the baby-mama! Lucky us!

This last Friday my two great-granddaughter met each
other for the first time. Embrey is 18 mo. and Addie is 4. Alysia is Embrey's mom and the angel in our family!

Have a wonderful day!

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2K17 Solar Eclipse Party: The Last Hurrah?

I had a friend that began every occasion with a declaration that it was her "last hurrah". Her name was Anna Mary. She was very old and yet she seemed so young mentally that it was hard to even recognize what she was enduring physically. She was a widow and lived alone. I think of her often these days. I remember telling her one day, "No it's not your "last hurrah" Anna Mary...you are not even near to that time." 

We were invited to a Total Eclipse 2017 Party this weekend and as those few day unfolded I was reminded Anna Mary's eventual "last hurrah". I am drawing closer and closer.  Here is the story.

Total Eclipse 2017 hosts...Lee and Kristine (from their Facebook picture)

I was given the royal treatment...a ride up the hill! (from Lee and Kristine's Facebook picture.)

We have friends that are younger than we are...perhaps a lot younger although it is hard to tell. Almost all their children are graduated from high school and some from college. Still, most of our grandchildren are about that age so there is that.

I became acquainted with the women at the swimming pool when my grandchildren were in grade school and I was those children's stay at home babysitting Grandma. That was so many years ago. My grandchildren are 24 and 20 now. As it turned out my daughter shares these friends with me so that is wonderful.

Kristine was one of those women. Her husband Lee coached my granddaughter's baseball team.

When it came time for Lee and Kristine's "Total Eclipse Party 2017" my husband and I were invited and our daughter/husband let us sleep in their camper. All of the guests pitched tents in the pasture of Kristine's country cottage located near Lyon's Oregon. Quite a crowd had gathered by Total Eclipse 2017 Eve. 

The barn where we danced, ate and gathered. The trailers are where we slept. The pasture filled with tents the on eclipse eve.

It was a big party that lasted for several days. People hiked, talked, ate and danced in Kristine and Lee's barn. Music played until late in the night. 

As the sun came up on Monday morning, August 21, 2017, we all put our perfectly safe eclipse glasses on to watch a miracle unfold. With no camera capable of capturing it, we were forced to capture the images in our minds. As the sun disappeared from sight and only the corona around it glowed, we stood and cheered. The stars emerged and it became cold instantly. What we had all waited for was gone in such a short period of time I didn't get to notice everything I had planned on seeing. The air warmed, the stars disappeared and the pasture came back to life. It was almost a religious experience.

So here is the "last hurrah" part. I know that most of those people and their children will be alive to witness the next eclipse on April 24, 2024. That is only 7 years away. I am almost 76 and my husband will be 80 in February. I was tempted to repeat Anna Mary's "last hurrah" speech but, like her, we may be around to see a lot more than we can dream. Who knows how many "last hurrahs" will pass in years to come.

What a privilege the whole thing was. I took a hike a 3 mile hike with my daughter and my husband outdid me on the next day by going with her a lot further. I talked to a bright 9 year old (Lucas) who explained to me why he didn't like being in a mixed age classroom.

Children that were in the classroom I volunteered in 15 years ago were there and I met a boyfriend of one (sweet Katie) that is rumored to like grandmas. We sat and talked with Kristine, Jill, Lucas, my family and Kathy and her husband Bret after everyone else had left. It is hard for me to find that one single moment that touched me the most. See, eclipses are wondrous but people just wonderful.

So, I need to thank them all:  9 year old Lucas and his mom Jill, Katie, daughter of Kristine and Lee, and her boyfriend, and Kristine and her wonderful husband Lee for making us feel so very welcome. I need to thank my daughter and her husband for consenting to take us along on that beautiful eclipse ride and granddaughter

Yes, I did say this and my darling sweet granddaughter posted
it on Facebook. But stop....I can explain!

Elena for not laughing at me too much. Thank you for the hugs and the talk and most of all the laughter. 

How did we get to be so lucky.

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Sweet Katie (left) and Marissa. 

Pano of everyone just after Kristine's beautiful prayer
and before a good old fashioned potluck. The crowd spilled out of the barn door into the field.

We were so ready for the event. This picture reminded me of the people
watching the a-bomb tests

Fabio has been following this group around for years.
He has been to Mexico, Las Vegas, anniversary parties, birthday parties and Jewel, Oregon ( the best place of all).

My daughter and I hiked to the falls. 

Our cute outhouse Lee constructed for the event.

Because we had to wait so late to go home to avoid traffic, we were left with our Mini Cooper. The giant dog, Moose, (a Rottweiler) helped my husband drive every mile of the way! My granddaughter Elena and her mother rode in the back seat with the giant dog. :)

See you all in 2024!!!! We will do it again!

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When A Picture replaces a 1000 Words!

Summers are all about family, baseball, grandchildren and so much more. Ours has been so full that I think I need to post it in installments. 

My husband and I laugh a lot. If I could remember
where this was taken we would go back!

Baseball has been so much fun this year.
We have a local team that has turned out to
be winners. Wowza!

When coloring turns into a race

but they are competitive or anything!

My beautiful greatgranddaughter!
Sweet Embrey

My husband HAD to build a fire...it was 97 degrees outside.

My family went whitewater rafting. I am
on shore with the giant dog.

Dog sitting for the granddog is
part of the summer fun. This
little block of a dog is so much fun!

Getting the picture is hard
when the picturees are
not cooperating.

It's all about the hats!

What the heck?

Then, when it is all done, we call in the street
sweepers to clean up.

 I hope you summer is going perfectly. If you have a post about summer, leave a link in comments!

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