I’ve only ridden a motorcycle once in my life. Many years ago. My then boyfriend who would later become my husband and I were on a rock hunting expedition with friends in eastern Oregon. We were digging to recover quartz, specifically Jasper stone, and other rare rocks with interesting middles. My girlfriend’s brother-in- law […]
Our Sphere of Influence
Were you one of us? On Monday September 19, an estimated two million mourners lined the streets of London to say goodbye to the late queen, Elizabeth II, reigning British monarch for seventy years. Another four billion people worldwide viewed the funeral on television. The celebration of this woman’s life impacted as many people in […]
God Saved the Queen
This week the world received the unhappy news that Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning sovereign over Great Britain for the past seventy years, had died. I wasn’t sure how to process the information. The queen had been on her throne for as long as I could remember, but I had never met her. She […]
Labor Day-Marking a Season of Change
The first Monday in September was officially designated a day of rest for American workers by five states in 1887. Prior to that, protests demanding better working conditions for employees were first recorded in New York City in 1882. My home state of Oregon was among the first five states to recognize the need […]
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When Does This Book Become the Last?
I didn’t set out to write seven books. In fact, as a trained journalist, I didn’t believe I was capable of writing one. My specialty was creating four hundred word essays in under fifteen minutes. That’s what journalists do in order to make a publishing deadline. Write quick, brisk, concise copy for a waiting audience. […]
And Still I Do
Forty seven years ago today July 18, 1975, I promised to love, honor and cherish a man I had come to respect and admire during a tumultuous time of upheaval for both of us. I won’t lie—our courtship traveled over rocky ground as we got to know each other. I was impulsive and stubborn and […]
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This Day Finally Came
I remember writing letters to congressmen. I carried a sign and joined others along the main thoroughfares of my town protesting abortion. I drove to rallies in larger cities. I walked my neighborhood with a petition to put a bill on the ballot. But the force of the abortion movement remained a formidable foe. My […]
When Technology Holds A Vice Grip
I admit I can’t keep my website up and running and my connections to the reading public in proper working order without help. I can make basic changes here and there but when something goes bump in the night and my webpage disappears from the landscape I’m in a dither. That happened this last week. […]
A Day To Remember
Barbecue, watermelon, flags—all signs that Memorial Day is upon us. For many the weekend signals the start of summer in the United States. Unless, of course, you are among the many states this year still plagued with snowfall and low temperatures in May. Summer may come a little later for you. Traditionally Memorial Day, […]
Proud Makes the Peacock
Breakfast was over. Church would begin in a quarter hour. I savored my cup of coffee while staring out our kitchen window at the bird sanctuary on the other side of the glass. In my line of sight a huge bulking mass of feathers appeared at the top of the fence. I blinked. What the. […]