A tree as great as a man's embrace springs from a small shoot;
A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles starts und...
I recently read a Facebook post by my nephew, Terrance. Now here is a young man who has struggled with challenges every step of the way to where he is today — a...
There were no skiers in my family. Somehow I got it into my little 11- year-old brain that skiing was something I wanted to do. I can't remember why.
Perhaps it...
My friend, Claudia, and I have been going to the Klamath Basin for birding in the spring since 2007. We have witnessed over the years a gradual drying out of th...
I recently got up early, put myself on a morning plane and went to Old Mexico to visit some Mexican-American friends who were remodeling their winter home. What...
It now has been a number of years since I visited my home country.
On one such trip my wife and I stayed with family members. One day we decided to take bicycle...
When I was 13, my parents divorced, leaving my Mom a single parent of three children, ages 6 to 13.
She purchased a two-bedroom, one-bath house in a working-cl...
One thing my parents did in our upbringing was to give us memory-filled vacations.
Every summer, we went camping — on the Oregon and Washington coasts, a coupl...
I’ve had five moms. At almost 70 years old, I think I’ve had my fill, but I’m not making any promises. I still want and need occasional mothering. And you?
I sp...
My husband and I, both boomers, have elderly, widowed mothers. Mine is 95 years. His, 90 years.
For the past year, we have gotten more hands on in their daily ...
From Caribbean cruises to the sandy beaches of Oahu and everywhere in between, my laptop and I have traveled with a desire to fulfill a bucket list dream. I am ...
I had a wonderful experience in theater last year that was born out of taking a nonfiction writing class at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. I am forever ...
Why is it that the only thing you find in the dark is your toe? Or that thing that is missing usually shows up when you quit looking for it? Or something that y...
We were going to Vienna for Douglas Aircraft in 1984, and one of the vice presidents came to my husband, Flip, and asked him for what turned out to be a rather ...
“Life is like a river. Sometimes it sweeps you gently along, and sometimes the rapids come out of nowhere.” — Emma Smith
Well, they came out of nowhere th...
Dad was trying on a brand new white shirt, a shirt he could barely afford. Times were tough, jobs were scarce and families were large and expensive to feed. But...
I made the mistake of ordering a bottle of root beer with my pizza during a sunny day in downtown Ashland.
As soon as I took it outside, bees came swarming over...
I grew up in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
There was a chain of lakes that meandered through southern Minnesota. My father had the only grocery store in the very s...
Have you ever wondered how long you are going to live? Now that I’m headed to 90 and residing in an assisted-living facility, I’ve been asked to answer that que...
A trumpet vine was growing up the side of the house where bright orange blossoms bloomed. It was ours!
We moved from Sacramento Avenue to what was Florence Aven...