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ARMY ENLISTMENT? HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Me: Today is my Army enlistment anniversary. Did you remember.
Wife: It’s also the day my Mom died.
Me: It is? I mean, yes, it is, and also my anniversary.
Wife: I’m glad you remember it.
Me: And there’s another thing to celebrate on the same date.
Wife: What?
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BOOMER BLOGGERS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. TOO CLOSE?

As a cohort of boomer bloggers, I read all about them.
From posts and opinions, to ABOUT pages, we’re all about challenges and adventures, the places we’ve been, places we’re going.
Take this picture for example. It’s from the Portland Art Museum page.
Does that big golden ring look like an adventure, some kind of portal? Yes?
What do you do when you see a portal? Jump in.

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WANTED MAN vs NEEDED. THERE’S A DIFFERENCE?

If you’re waiting for a wanted man to make life better, you’ll be waiting a minute.
This man was a one-float parade around Silverton during my last visit.
You could hear him from blocks away with his booming sound system blasting AC/DC.
When I left, he followed my car out of town, then turned back at the city limits.
He was either a one float parade or a motor escort service.
Either way, I asked myself: Are there town characters everywhere?
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ONE PORTLAND JOURNEY: MINE

I got off the bus at the end of my Portland journey, only to begin the real deal.
This is where I lived after breaking up.
My usual move after a break up was moving to bigger and better.
For instance, I broke up in Delaware and moved to Brooklyn, NY.
Here, I broke up in far SE and moved downtown Portland.
This building had a lot of break up apartments, so I was in good company.
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CLASSIC PORTLAND RIVALRY

Social media Portland isn’t for the weak of heart.
It’s either heaven on earth, or a hell hole from the underworld sticky goo.
If you showed up recently, things are looking better; if you’ve been here a minute you’ve seen the ups and downs.
Lastly, if you’ve lived here your whole life? Uh oh.
[Read More…]

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toughen up

CANCER IN THE CANCER CLOSET: GROWING TREND

  “The first time we got cancer we told everybody. We gathered the team and cheered.” It’s a good idea to rally the troops, focus the force. Then cancer-time sets in. One day. The next. Weeks. Months. “How do you feel?” “Are you feeling better?” “You must be exhausted. Are you exhausted?” You don’t want […]

WRESTLING WITH CANCER via Coping With Cancer Magazine

      (The following is the text from Wrestling With Cancer. The article appears below.)   Cancer and the sport of wrestling have at least one thing in common: there are situations you get in that you can’t easily get out of. At least wrestling has a final whistle to end the match. Cancer […]

MILLENNIAL SELF CARE = SELF RESPONSIBILITY

  You know it’s not pledge week when NPR rags millennials about ‘self-care.’ Instead of pledging money to them, they’ll buy an ‘experience’ instead. Cue Jimi Hendrix? Gracy Obuchowicz says it’s more than just social media that has pushed millennials to the forefront of the self-care discussion. “Our generation has seen enough,” she said. “People […]

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boomer years

NATIONAL VIETNAM VETERAN DRILL SERGEANT DAY

    By the time of September, 1974, people joining the armed forces knew they wouldn’t go to Vietnam. At least the people who kept up with the Vietnam War knew, and keeping up was as easy as watching the six o’clock news.   Back then joining the Army wasn’t the same as being drafted, […]

THE SOUND OF CIVIC DUTY

Ask An Academic Professional About Civic Duty And Listen Hard. You won’t hear about their civic duty or your civic duty, but the shared community. Might not be your community either. Keep listening. Civic duty is more than boundaries and lines drawn on a map, they say. An academic pro, the teacher, counselor, the administrator, […]

BOOMERPDX ‘TRUE OR FALSE’ ON FOOTBALL

Any excuse to avoid something is good enough at some ages. So is any reason to do something. Which has the stronger pull? The following are a series of questions to ask yourself about high school football. Though they are true or false in nature, there is no right or wrong. You will be graded […]

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buckle up

PODUNK TOWN, OR YOUR HOMETOWN

Nothing Explains Feelings For A Hometown, Your Hometown, Than Traveling Though Others. Drive down I-5, Highway 99, 101 down the coast, or 97 east of the Cascades, and you roll through one podunk town after another. You don’t even have to go far off the road to see them. Just drive by, take a look, […]

NW Boomer Travel, pt.1

The Oregon Alps If you look back at Portland from LaGrande, the miles pile up. But you’re not done. You can’t drive to the Swiss Alps on Interstate 84, but the Oregon Alps are a tank of gasoline away. Look for highway 82 and read the signs to Joseph.

SHARING EARTH WITH LIVING THINGS, EVEN THE CREEPY ONES

    “Quick, where’s my camera?” he said. “What?” she said. “Birds.” “Camera? Here it is.” “These birds are huge. Look at that formation.” “What are they?” “Birds. Really big birds. What are they?” “I don’t know.” “You don’t know these birds? Since when would you even admit it?”

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