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SHARING SPECIAL DAYS, EVERY LAST ONE

Special days have special meaning which don’t hit the same for everyone.
For some it’s repeating, “Why bother,” for the fortieth time.
Others like to say, “I thought we’ve moved past all that.”
But you still find those looking for something special in every day, and keep looking until they find it. Hell or high water.
The last line is the bell ringer.
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OLD PORTLAND, YOUNG PARENTS

Make that old Portland, youngish parents.
Or not so old Portland, and not so young parents.
We weren’t teenagers, but if you ever want to feel like one push a stroller around downtown.
With two kids it’s like a double punishment, like sent to your room AND missing dinner.
What else?
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LET THEM, LET YOU, OR LET ME?

The Let Them Theory book has a lot of lets in the letters.
My favorites are the parts that address my problems, which come with a writing habit from what I can tell.
Will I discover why I’m not a better writer?
Learn what I should have done by now, or find a lingering message to get over myself already?
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NORTH BEND HEROES START HERE

 Calling North Bend a small town is a disservice to real small towns everywhere.
Driving south on 101 and crossing the North Bend Bridge takes you under this sign.
If you’re not paying close attention and keep going the same direction, the entire area of the largest metro complex on the Oregon coast feels like it’s all North Bend, especially if you miss the little coos bay sign.
How can the biggest city on the coast be a small town?
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READING HISTORY LIKE IT MEANS SOMETHING?

Reading history is the same as reading a story, but it comes with a bonus:
You can check the validity of the history story, check the sources, visit the places history happened and is still happening.
When old people check sources it’s because they have nothing else to do?
Baby boomers visit historical sites not to learn anything new, but to confirm their already established believes?
If this sounds like a load of crap, you are correct.
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toughen up

NATUROPATHIC PHYSICIANS KNOW NUTRITION FIRST

  My wife shared a joke with me. She’s a naturopathic physician, Dr. Gillaspie. It had nothing to do with the old television show with young Dr. Kildare and his colleague Dr. Gillaspie.   “Early in our practices doctors from my class would talk about what it must be like as an RD, a real […]

NORMAL TO NEW NORMAL A SHORTER WALK

    Exercise geeks always have something wrong. Not the biggest complainers in any room I’m in, but it’s always something. Why? Because small nagging aches and pains are proof of a finely tuned machine.   Like a racehorse where every muscle glistens down the backstretch. Or a fastball pitcher, guys who look like their […]

WHAT PEOPLE NEED AND WHAT THEY DON’T SAY

What people need is a break from their trials.   An old joke goes like this: How do you catch a unique rabbit? You ‘nique up on it. How do you catch a tame rabbit? The tame way, you ‘nique up on it. It’s pretty funny if it’s the only joke of the week. More […]

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boomer years

WHAT IS THE BABY BOOMER BOND, YOU ASK

    3 Shortcuts to understanding a baby boomer bond   If some bright-eyed middle aged face pops up in your life, you know what it’s there for. You need to shop smarter, invest better, learn the art of kindness. But you’ve already bought more than you need, are happily invested. People know how kind […]

GILLASPIE LOVESEAT TO HONOR AMERICA. IT’S FRAGILE

    Who hasn’t been accused of making last minute presents? My specialty is carving names in oak with a router.   It takes practice, at least more than a last minute panic to produce something meaningful on Christmas morning.   I’ve been the object of such accusations, and while correct, there is a bigger […]

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 […]

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buckle up

CATCH PORTLAND FEVER

Once you catch Portland Fever you’re doomed. Drug stores don’t advertise shots in case you catch Portland Fever. It’s not shingles, pneumonia, or the flu. On the other hand it’s not polio, malaria, of tuberculosis. While not fatal, if you do catch Portland Fever, your life is ruined. After a few years in Portland, maybe […]

PORTLAND FEVER CHILL TONIC

What Would Tom McCall do about Portland Fever? Portland, Oregon, more than a map point, destination, or cultural reference, is an infection. And it’s spreading. Once you catch Portland Fever, you see Portland everywhere. Pop a craft beer in the middle of no where and it’s The Portland of No Where. People who’ve never been […]

BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN HUG FROM GROVE PARK INN

Or, How the Grove Park Inn cures your ills without pills. The Omni Grove Park Inn, GPI, comes packed with the sort of history that ties people to places through material anthropology. And it’s a clever knot. With an original main lodge dating from 1913 flanked by wings added in the ’80’s, the property sits […]

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