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GARDEN PARTY REMINISCING

Remember your first garden party when you invited people over to the house to see what you planted, what you’ve grown?
It’s a touching moment to behold after years of planning.
You build a raised bed like the picture here, and buy plants you just know will grow.
And they did.

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“CALLS OUT” PUT ‘ON THE SPOT’

What does “calls out” mean other than another way of saying “Hey You?”
““Why Do You Have To Leave Practice?”: Michael Irvin Calls Out Justin Herber.””
If you’re ‘calling someone out’ it’s most likely about something that’s none of your business.
Calls Out = Nosey Nellie? For example:

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NATURE SIGNS TO WATCH FOR

When you make a plan to see nature up close, expect nature signs.
Follow the message of the signs for best results.
Do that and you’ll return home with sweet memories and solid experiences with exciting pictures to share.
If it’s your first time out in the wild, pay extra attention.
You can thank me later. Or now. This nature sign was in the cabin:

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OFF GRID, NO PHONE SERVICE, BUT . . .

I’ve had mixed results with off grid peace and quiet.
Once I stayed in a place the had no telephones in the rooms for just that purpose, peace and quiet.
Sounded very thoughtful until a road grader started grinding across the parking lot pavement the next morning.
It couldn’t have been any closer if it had come through the front door.
My wife and I both chuckle when we talk about our honeymoon. One of us does.
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TIME TRAVEL INSIDE A LUMBER BARN

It’s just a barn, a lumber barn in the middle of nowhere, but so much more.
It’s an historical record, an archive of sawdust, splinters, slivers, and work. Hard work.
The main attraction is a train engine used to move big logs out of the woods, along with other man-killing machinery.
For me the big deal was the barn itself.
What a barn:

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toughen up

CANCER ROOM: BEST OF TIMES, WORST OF TIMES

The biggest motivation for writing a cancer room memoir like ‘LICKING CANCER, The Full Response’ is paying tribute to the people I met in there.   From staff to patients, it’s a team focused on the same goal, until it goes off the tracks, and it does in one way or the other for everyone. […]

F CANCER WALK DOWN PORTLAND SOUTH PARK BLOCKS

  If holding paper from an institute of higher learning means anything, it means exposure to civil discourse.   I hold paper from Portland State University, so F Cancer.   Can I get a, “Hell Yeah!”

Neck Cancer … What Is It Good For … Absolutely Nothing

A reader left a comment recently that moved me to respond in a universal way.   Hey Patrick,   Thanks for coming over to boomerpdx. A quick question: How did you find me and this topic. I write about it a lot, but not too many show up in comments like you. I’m glad you’ll […]

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boomer years

BOOMER FAMILY AND PAT CONROY

If The Great Santini Couldn’t Break His Family, What Broke Your Boomer Family? The author Pat Conroy, one year older than the first baby boomer, had a traumatic childhood by most accounts. He’s a good boomer spokesman for the voiceless masses who wonder why things go wrong. Call him a senior boomer. He mined his […]

HOW HARD? BOOMER HARD

Growing Up During Baby Boomer Years Made You Hard. The last thing you want to be called is soft. Soft in the head, soft in the gut, soft arms. Part of living a sedentary life, not a lazy life but not active, is how it leaves a body. Soft. Soft and lumpy after too many […]

Willie Nelson Brings More To Portland Than His Band

The old guitar picker takes the stage tonight at McMenamins Edgefield. Willie Nelson, all eighty five years of himself, takes the stage after opener Allison Krause.   More important, he’s on the cover of AARP magazine. Why is that important? How many public figures don’t want to talk about age? In a youth motivated culture, […]

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buckle up

KITCHEN TABLE BEER TRAVEL: OREGON TO GERMANY

  Beer travel starts at John’s Market in Multnomah. Culturally aware types emphasize art and architecture for reasons to travel. They love the history, the land, the people. And they can’t stop talking about all the new stuff they learn. If it’s someone you know, you listen like you’re not hearing an endless variation of […]

LIFE REBOOT IN OREGON STARTS WITH A COLD SHOWER

      Finding water for an Oregon life reboot cold shower is not problem. Fourth biggest river, rains half a year, and this stuff cascading down cliffs. If you need a life reboot, be chill.

Walking Portland Memory Lane One Alley At A Time

As much as you hear about people moving to Portland, loving Portland once they get here, it’ll never be their home until they’re walking Portland on memory lane.   Like, “This is where I used to play basketball, where I got beat by a five foot six opponent,” didn’t ring up the oooos and ahs […]

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