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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 STORIES: FEEDING PUBLIC FEAR AND PRIVATE WOE

Things you’ll never know until you get cancer, any cancer:   You’ll either be an object of sympathy, or an antenna of sympathy. Or both.   “Keep up the fight,” or, “You’re a fighter,” or “You look like you’ve got this thing whipped.”   That’s what I heard after running Hood To Coast at 49 […]

HOW TO COACH CANCER SURVIVORS

    The impact of cancer news hits far and wide, but it is a fastball to the face of the patient and they have no defense. Imagine getting clocked in the head like Tony C and waking up to that ‘new normal.’   Watching it happen in 1967 made a lot of Little League […]

BOOMERPDX DIET TIP

Five things to stop eating? Or zero? That’s A BoomerPdx Diet Tip. C – carbonated drinks R – refined sugar A – artificial sweeteners &colors P – processed foods Why stop eating anything? White bread, white rice, pasta. Sugar and cream. Stop eating that? Too controversial. Food is nutritional, cultural, and historical. Bread means farming […]

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boomer years

BOOMER BUCKET LIST: SNOW MACHINE

Be Careful Or You Might Ride Your Boomer Bucket List Right Into A Bucket. Have you made your bucket list, the things you want to do and see before you kick the bucket? If not, you’ve got time. What’s the difference between a normal bucket list and a boomer bucket list? Call it age. Call […]

THE BIRTHDAY BOY: HOW TO CELEBRATE YOUR DAD’S DAY

The Gillaspie children Wayne, Cleo, and Rex, c. 1948. This May 8th my Dad would have been 84 years old. Birthdays are important. To all baby boomers: Call your parents on their birthday. To all hipsters: Get off your scooter and show your parents you were raised right. Call them. To all millennials: Follow the […]

Wild Life And Life In The Wild Not The Same

  Wild life is what you might see on a safari, or a drive from Portland to Bend. Or your front yard if you live in the woods where deer come to the door.   Living a wild life is not the same. Living wild takes so much energy. Being wild is a tiring option […]

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buckle up

Music Fills The Air, Joy Fills The Body, Repeat

    Music in the Floyd Country Store is more than a radio station. The old time music jams on Sundays bring young and old with fiddles, guitars, mandolins, and banjos.   A big circle passes the song from one to another; new player, new song.   It’s American roots music at its finest and […]

BOOMER STREET

    Baby boomer gets the message. We’ve heard the message all of our lives. It goes like this:   Move over little dog, the big old dog is moving in.   We were once the little dog and moved over for those who knew better. We did what we were told. The idea is […]

THOMAS WOLFE PACK ON THE PORCH

If you don’t live in a state with a celebrated novelist, go to North Carolina and Thomas Wolfe. This is dark suited Thomas Wolfe, author of Look Homeward Angel, not white suited Tom Wolfe, author of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Same neighborhood, North Carolina and Virginia, but different eras. That Thomas Wolfe was such […]

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