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BASIC APPRECIATION OF COMMON THINGS

A basic appreciation is important for context.
Things are usually more complicated than they seem.
A brick is a brick, just some fired up mud, until you see them working together.
In the hands of a skilled craftsman, a brick is a jewel.
What else deserves a second look? A towel rack.
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TALKING DOWN TO SOMEONE? WHY

How can you tell when someone is talking down to you?
It might be the clarification questions you ask that gets them annoyed to the point of explaining everything a few times, very slowly.
Or it might their regular way of communicating.
Which leads to more questions, like, “Why be a jerk?
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FALLING LEAVES OF AUTUMN

Falling leaves are the rule of the season.
The only place without a carpet of leaves is a parking garage.
But that’s Oregon, famous for trees.
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toughen up

IF YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT, LOOK WHERE FOOD COMES FROM

Small print shows where food comes from. Smaller print explains what food factories add to improve shelf life. You need good shelf life when you ship long distance. A three year expiration date on food might be something to skip for dinner. If you know people who identify as ‘foodies’ you’ve heard about the fresh […]

AUTHORITARIAN PARENT? WHAT OTHER KIND IS THERE

    A scene from the movie Vision Quest shows Louden Swain’s buddy Kuch at home with his dad. Instead of a bonding moment of shared struggle, the dad slaps Kuch around, telling him he’ll never be nothing.   Nothing. Wrestling might make him feel like a big shot, but he’ll still be nothing.   […]

YOU HAVE FEELINGS? DO THEY SAY HAPPY?

  HOW TO TELL IF YOU’RE HAPPY You’ve heard it before, whether you’re ten, thirty-four, or seventy-four years old. Balance. Say it like they said, “Plastic,” in The Graduate. Life, or a good life, depends on balance. Think moderation. Most of the time you hear this and nod and agree like the fat man who […]

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boomer years

OBAMA FAREWELL SPEECH, OR CITIZENSHIP CLASS

President Obama farewell speech a study in civics.   At the crossroads of history, President Obama gave his last big goodbye. The heart of his farewell? The Constitution. You’d expect different from a Constitution scholar with twelve years in the classroom? Like a great politician, a showman for the ages, he did it in Chicago […]

HOW A BOOMER HEART BREAKS

Which generation has the best broken hearts? Baby boomer heart breaks lead the pack. Remember the first time your boomer heart broke? Something went wrong. Someone said the wrong thing. Was it a mistake, a misunderstanding? Don’t get the shovel and start digging it out. Don’t check your high school year book. If you cut […]

HIGH GROUND TO VIETNAM VET MEMORIAL: a photo essay

“The high ground is good.” That’s what the old timer said. “And there’s not so many people.” I found him under the Vietnam Veterans of Oregon Memorial bridge, sitting in a lawn chair and handing out pamphlets on Veteran’s Day. Had his car parked on one side of a flowerbed and a walkway without a […]

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buckle up

NW Boomer Cruise

Finding Fun In Your Backyard River The next time you bike or walk, drive or fly, keep an eye out for bridges. They show local rivers to paddle. If you lived in the same town a while and never been on the water, the time is ripe. This is baby boomer nirvana.

The Fishing Baby Boomer

or, Why Does The Columbia River Like My Wife Better Being a Portland baby boomer means you’re an outdoorsman. Being an outdoorsman in Oregon means you hunt and fish. You just can’t go to your backyard and stand around and call yourself an outdoorsman. That’s not how it works, so get your fishing pole.

INSULTING ENVIRONMENT CLOSES ROADS, MINDS

  Keep an open mind to insulting environment. Global warming, from either man-made pollution, or natural cycle of atmospheric anomalies and melting ice-caps, is still about the environment. You can’t hide from that old environment. It’s all over the place; we all share that one. And we’ll share the insulting environment after it changes. Whether […]

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