page contents Google

MAY 1986, THE LAST WEDDING

It was a cloudy, wet, day, in May 1986 for the last wedding.
Like so many raised on the Oregon coast, a cloudy, wet, day, is good luck no matter where you are.
Everything was done, everything set in Sandy, from rented morning coats to a rented preacher.
The preacher was a second choice.
[Read More…]

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.
[Read More…]

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?
[Read More…]

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?
[Read More…]

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?
[Read More…]

More Posts from this Category

toughen up

AMERICAN CTE: FOOTBALL AND DRIVING

The last thing good baby boomer helicopter parents wanted was their precious getting his brain rattled loose. But they have friends, friends with dads who coach youth football. “I hear your boy’s a good kicker. He want to play some ball?” And he’s on the team, from sixth grade kicker to pulling guard on a […]

GYM MEMORIAL FOR BOOMERS

  The first thing you notice in a new gym is the pecking order. Strong guys group together. Old guys over there. Young men pumping out the reps. Ladies all over the place on every piece of equipment.   Women have the gym all figured out. Guys not so much.   Over time a few […]

ELLMAN SURGITRON AND DR. MOLEPDX

    What To Do If You Start Looking Like W.C. Fields? Make an appointment with Dr. MolePDX and the Ellman Surgitron.   Like most baby boomers I see new things when I look in the mirror. Some things are better than others.   One in particular was troublesome.   What do you do when you […]

More Posts from this Category

boomer years

BOOMER DENIABILITY: WE DIDN’T LIGHT THE FIRE

We Know Where The Matches Are Though. Believable generational research relies on strong academic studies, insurance statistics, and the federal census. This triumvirate of detailed minutia creates a colorless picture of the past. Instead of men in grey flannel suits, it looks like grey men in flannel, lines of them. Baby Boomer research is the […]

HOSPICE, A DANGLING CONVERSATION

The borders of our lives. Boomers have heard this more than once, others will hear it more later on: The closer people get to death, the more they drop their facade. There’s no one left to impress, no one left to pretend for, no one to juke. Toward the end it seems we get the […]

LEGAL OREGON WEED MAKES YOU STUPID?

So How Do You Explain The Way Legal Oregon Weed Navigated The Legal System? As a sixty year old baby boomer I like age limits high for alcohol, weed, and tobacco. You could raise them even higher and who’d complain? Just as long as I’m not too young. Dangers to youth are no joking matter. […]

More Posts from this Category

buckle up

Portland Italian Festival, Portland Haute Couture

    Not Little Italy, but Big Italy, Portland’s Italian Festival swinging in the biggest living room in Oregon, Pioneer Square.   Food, beer, and music mix to show the city in the best light possible, like an Italian chandelier.   Is it fun? Educational? Mesmerizing? All of that along with beautiful Italian women in […]

DEAR SASQUATCH! IT DISAPPEARED, BUT I GOT THE PICS

    How can this be the end of Sasquatch!? It was my first time and now it’s over?   My impression? I should have signed up earlier, but probably not last year.   People camping near us gave a round up of great times. It was their fifth Sasquatch!

10 THINGS THE SEDONA VORTEX WON’T DO

But You Would. 1. Help confused drivers find their way through one roundabout after another. The place has more of them than a YES album, more than an English county. The problem starts when drivers think yield means stop. Learn how to navigate this simple alternative to traffic lights.

More Posts from this Category