Journal

January 9, 2024

Looking Back 2023: Bellingham

Always love to take a nice long weekend to drive up to Bellingham, Washington to see son Ben and family. Washington State has great tulips, and it was blooming season, so we took a detour on the way to stroll through a tulip farm. In Bellingham, sweet granddog Indy was...

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January 5, 2024

Vietnam Reading: Owner of a Lonely Heart

With our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia less than a month away, I am thinking about all that the country of Vietnam has meant to those of us who came of age during the Vietnam War. I have mixed feelings: guilty sympathy for the Vietnamese people combined with a second-hand,...

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January 4, 2024

Looking back: Spring 2023

We always trek up to Hendricks Park in the spring. This year we went a little early, so azaleas in bloom were scarce. Lots of snowdrops, though, and these lovely white daffodils.

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January 3, 2024

Morning walk

through a hushed and foggy park before breakfast this morning. I left my phone at home because I thought it was too foggy for pictures. A scant few days past the equinox, and the birds are already increasing their activity in response to the slightly longer days. We heard the...

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January 2, 2024

Looking forward, looking back

Happy New Year! We started 2024 with a nice long walk along the Willamette River to Island Park. It was too foggy for good pictures today, so I will continue my look back at 2023 with the beautiful day last spring when we took a day trip to the coast....

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December 31, 2023

Early Spring in Oregon, 2023

Symphony concert at the lovely Hult Center, camelias in bloom, a trip to Portland with a stop at Powels City of Books and a Performance of Hairspray, Christmas gift from son Ben. Easter brought precious grands Maizy and Joe, not too old yet for one more Easter egg hunt. Tony...

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December 30, 2023

Looking Back: 2023

I’ve been looking through my photos from this wonderful year of travel and good times with family and gratitude that the dark days of Covid are over. I’ll be sharing more during the week to come. This first one is from our Scotland trip in June, at Glascow University. Centuries-old...

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July 31, 2023

Friday, July 28, 2023. Seattle to Riga, Latvia.

My plan to listen to Sibelius on the long flight from Seattle to Amsterdam was foiled because the plane did not have free WIFI, so I couldn’t use my wireless earphones. I could plug into the plane’s entertainment offerings, so I listened to sleep and classical mixes and Billie Eilish....

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July 27, 2023

Reluctant Traveler

Wednesday, July 26, 2023. Portland, Oregon. Today I packed forty-three pounds of clothes and etceteras (one pound under the limit) for a trip I didn’t plan for. I am a somewhat reluctant traveler. We signed up for this trip to the Nordic countries because a gap in our summer schedule...

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