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ONE NURSE STORY

If there’s a typical nurse story, it sounds like this: “I like to help people, and I don’t get grossed out.” A typical nursing patient has a similar story: “I need help, and I am grossed out.” Why are we grossed out about our bodies? I’ll start:

LIFE LESSONS START EARLY FOR OLD MEN

As a middle child myself for fourteen years, life lessons were important. We learned early to share with smaller kids, and not whine too much when older kids didn’t. Was there a learning curve? There’s always a learning curve when learning is involved. It’s not for everyone, to say the least, but . . .

FOOD PREP MARATHON: BIRTHDAY BRUNCH

My food prep marathon lasted three days. The images here come from a tasty night in LA to set the mood. I’ve had other cooking marathons, but this one combines a few of them. It began with the idea of hosting a breakfast brunch. Hmmmm ? ? ?

WILDFIRE SEASON TO STORM SEASON?

Wildfire season? Storm season? Someone has an itchy panic button finger. There’s nothing wrong with summer, fall, winter, and spring, but those names don’t carry the same impact anymore. When asphalt gets tacky? Summer. Leaves drop off trees? Fall. Chilly? Winter. Warming up? Spring. Follow me for more weather updates and observations on today’s tricky […]

CHILDREN LEARN BY EXAMPLE SO TEACH THEM WELL

Children learn by looking to their elders for clues. Elders don’t always remember the clues when they’re too busy feeling forgotten.  But, there are reminders.   You, who are on the roadMust have a code you try to live byAnd so become yourselfBecause the past is just a goodbye

MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS

The new boss comes in to change things, to do what the old boss couldn’t do. Whether it’s changing the order of operations, the culture, or cutting expenses, it’s a job someone has to do. If you’ve worked in a place during the transition from the old ways to new, you know what happens: People […]

THE OTHER PORTLAND OREGON

The other Portland once had a reputation as a place for rich hippies to retire young and send their kids to Reed College. If that was the 70’s those kids might be fifty or sixty years old; thirty or forty if they started a family late, or decided to have more than one family. Since […]

FAMILY PETS NURTURE LONG MARRIED COUPLES

“Family pets are for kids to learn about caring for animals.” That makes sense to me. Feed the fish, walk the dog, pet the cat. Then everyone grows up and moves on. That’s when I had ‘the conversation’ about a new dog.

MY TOGETHERNESS: HOW IT STARTED, HOW IT’S GOING

My togetherness started in my mom’s backyard with the girl in the blue summer dress, the one she wore when I first saw her. We seemed to get along okay in NW Portland, so I took a flier and had her meet the family. Everyone was in Eugene for my granddad’s visit from Texas. My […]

INSPIRING KIDS TO ACHIEVE? THAT’S THE JOB

Who is inspiring kids to achieve? Who inspired you? I’ll start. It’s the parents, mom and dad, the home unit. What else would you expect from a baby boomer blogger? My parents inspired me.