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GET MARRIED, THEY SAY. IT’LL BE FUN

Get married? Too many people see those words like the ‘Check Engine’ light in the car. Check that engine or get stranded somewhere you don’t want to be. Just to be sure, no one marries their car. Let’s get that out of the way.

TIME CHECK: IT’S NOT ON OUR SIDE?

Every time you look at a clock it’s a time check. It’s time to do this, time to do that, time for dinner, time for bed, time to repeat it all another day. And that, dear readers, is the story of life. But, what about all the stuff that happens in between the time check? […]

MEAT LOAF GLOWING LIKE THE METAL ON THE EDGE OF A KNIFE

Meat Loaf came on the radio a couple of years back while I was driving chaperones for French foreign exchange students around town. They were in their twenties, too young to know Meat Loaf. Hi, Quintan. Hi, Marion. I almost pulled over in stitches when they started singing along to Paradise By The Dashboard Light. […]

ACCUMULATED CRAP NEEDS NEW TREASURE VAULT HOME

‘Accumulated crap’ is the name for important collections started so long ago I forget the point. It’s also the name for the avalanche of stuff from living long enough to get dumped on. Getting dumped on isn’t the best way of describing accumulated crap, but it fits the theme. If like attracts like, then my […]

WINERY REMINDER: KNOW YOUR TASTING GLASS

This is a winery reminder for Oregon wine country: If you buy a flight of wine to taste test, keep track of your glass. A seven-wine flight doesn’t mean seven glasses. But you probably know this. Since I live within shouting distance from one winery after another, now I know.

GREAT MEMORIES ADVICE: FROM ONE LIFE STAGE TO THE NEXT

Great memories ought to inform current decisions. After all, if you have great memories you cherish, why not add to them? Moving along life’s stages, from one to the next, from being a kid, to teenager, to young adult, to middle age, to senior, fills up a big wagon of memories to pull along. Did […]

WONDER WHY NO ONE ASKS, “WHERE ARE THEY NOW?”

Who doesn’t wonder about people from different parts of life and wonder why they left, or why you left? Something happened. If it wasn’t something that required therapy or the law, an occasional ‘wonder why’ happens. And it’s okay. Yeah, I feel better, too.

NATIONAL SIBLINGS DAY FORGETS THE ONLY CHILD

Does National Siblings Day mean anything to an only child? I’ve heard talk from only children, about how they long for a brother or sister, how much they miss family when they see others together. If you have brothers and sisters, and hear an adult only child whine about their aloneness, what is your response? […]

BLAZER LILLARD ERASES BAD PORTLAND MEMORIES

Ask any sports fan and they’ll tell you: are the most lasting memories of your team the wins or the losses? Because once the fan base gets used to winning, the losing always shocks. Every Cowboy fan knows this. The same with Oregon Duck football fans from 2010’s Auburn cheat game win. That was a […]

Portland Welcome Mat: How To Walk Around Downtown Portland

    One of the great things about sponsoring foreign exchange students after your own kids have been out of college for years is rolling out the welcome mat.   The Portland welcome mat. And dragging everyone possible along the Portland Trail.   My wagon train always starts with Saturday Market and the sort of […]