Friday, April 28, 2017

Don't Leave Me...I Want to Go Too!

I often wonder if I had heard Home Home on the Range when I was in the cradle if I would have ended up marrying a cowboy and living in a farmhouse...so you suppose? I must not have because here I am living in the suburbs and traveling anytime someone says go!

We were invited to take a road trip the other day down the Columbia Gorge. We stopped for shopping in Hood River then drove on up to Mt. Hood Lodge for dinner. It was a beautiful early spring day...sun, rain and then snow. Perfect for Oregon.

As we began the drive my son-in-law put Willie Nelson on for music. The album was To All the Girls. It includes duets with prominent women vocalist including Dollie Parton, Loretta Lynn and several others. When Sheryl Crow began her duet with Nelson singing "Far Away Places" I was carried back to a time when I stood in my backyard in our small home in rural Eastern Oregon and watched the planes fly high over head. I remember the yearning to fly away to Spain or Siam even though I had no idea what direction I would need to fly.

My parents always played music and of course that wonderful Bing Crosby hit came out the year I was born. Far Away Places may have lulled me to sleep at night. The lyrics just say it all. I am still strangely sad when I hear the whistle of the train or see the contrail of a jet going far way...I want to shout Don't leave, I want to go too.
Visiting the Grand Mosque in Abu Dubai, UAE
Far Away Places  Far away places with strange sounding names
Far away over the sea
Those far away places with the strange sounding names are
Calling Calling me 
San Miguel, Jalisco, MX
Goin' to China or maybe Siam
I wanna see for myself
Those far away places I've been reading about in a
Book that I took from a shelf 
Resort on the Dead Sea, Jordan

I start getting' restless whenever
I hear the whistle of a train
I pray for the day I can get underway
And look for those castles in Spain
Me last December in Petra, Jordan

They call me a dreamer
Well maybe I am
But I know that I'm burning to see those
Far away places with the strange sounding names
Calling, calling me.  
Read more: Bing Crosby - Far Away Places Lyrics | MetroLyrics

The Burj Kalifa (tallest building in the world) Dubai UAE
Having dinner at the water's edge!


Have a wonderful day.

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Monday, April 24, 2017

The Next Booth: Sucking the Air Out of the Room

I have been doing it again. I accidentally listened to the conversation in the next booth. It is a wicked thing to do I know but when the air is being sucked out of the room, I need to find out why.

We were on our way back from Arizona and had a layover in Phoenix...just enough time for food. That was where we sat next to the line ordering a slice of pizza. We had a short conversation with several people that passed. I like to talk so it worked for me. That was when the two women arrived, one waving her arms in the air...What were they thinking? she said. 

The conversation deteriorated from there as the rant escalated. The whole room was filled with such a negative energy it changed the taste of my food.

This actually happens a lot doesn't it? You are in public or even in your own house and one person can change the feel of the whole room. I find that even the silent one gives off energy with the expression on their face or body language. I think that our face and body follows our thought process.

I was reading an article over at Smart Living this morning called Please Be Responsible For The Energy ....
Anytime we find ourselves fussed, fearful or upset about anything, we are allowing our energy to become toxic and spreading it out to everyone we come in contact with, either in person, on the phone or on the internet. Is that the kind of person we want to be? Kathy Goettberg SMARTLiving365.com
Be responsible for your own life? Have you thought of that? I don't know about you but things do go wrong in life. When you read this article you will see that the author points out what we all know...bad things do happen to good people. It isn't if it will happen. It is how we will handle it when it happens and how the event changes our energy. And it follows that it also matters where we take that energy to. Do you go out to eat with a friend and dump on that friend in public. Do you suck the air out of the room?

It turns out that what I do is important...the energy I exude is there. I don't know about you but getting in the habit of letting those negative thoughts/energies that pop up in a conversation fly away without being articulated is hard to break. But it can be done. 

Our mother was right, well almost. She said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I would edit that saying to "If you can't said something nice, change the subject." 

I urge you to read this article. The author provides documentation for all her information. That is important I think. You can listen to me but it is important for you to understand why my thoughts are valid. 

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Saturday, April 22, 2017

Family: I Used All Three Names

My children all were given three names...a first, a middle and a last. During the time that they were growing up those names came in handy on more than one occasion.

My best "three name look"!
The two boys have kept their names in tact but my daughter ditched her middle name when she married and replaced it with her maiden name. She thought she was off the hook I think. But that doesn't matter to me...I know what her middle name is/was and that is all that matters.

The thing is, after all these years (50+) I still call my children by all three names when I really want to get their attention. I know. I need to remember that I am not in charge. But sometimes it is hard being me. Thankfully, they indulge me most of the time.

I didn't realize that I would still call them by all three names until just recently. I was talking with my oldest son about something important and I found myself say "Anthony Sebastian Tyron (not his real name), are you serious?" Oh my gosh...I can just imagine him telling his wife "She used all three names! I am in deep trouble!" He is 53 years old.

All my "three name" family...lots to remember!
Does it make a difference when I get on a three name kick? Do they listen and laugh later? Am I ever going to quit being a mother, grandmother, and wife? The answer is probably a resounding NO to all three questions. What is a woman to do?

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A little footnote here: My parents only gave me a front name and a last name...no middle name. That space remained blank on applications. The funny thing is, I always thought I had been cheated of the chance to occasionally be someone different simply by using my middle name. Funny huh?


Saturday, April 15, 2017

Living on the View

My new hat...a
nice change!
My husband and I rented a little house when we were first married and the view from every window was absolutely spectacular. My husband was still in college and I was working in a tiny town teaching 4th grade.

The old farm house had an oil stove and walls so thin that the slightest touch would put a hole in the wall paper. There were pine wood floors throughout and the kitchen was designed for a table large enough to feed a big family. It sat on a country gravel road. The river was a short walk away. We lived in the middle of an orchard.

In all ways it was the perfect "house". My mother absolutely loved it. She was sitting with us in the front yard under the giant tree drinking coffee one morning when she began talking about all those things that made the old house perfect...the view, the orchard, the river and of course, that big kitchen with room for lots of children.

That was when my quiet father said "But, Agnes, they cannot live on the view."

See the thing was, the place was perfect but I thought it was in the wrong place! I agreed with my father. I didn't think we could make a living so we could support our family. Yet, my husband who is not connected with places nearly as much as I am was willing to stay and make it work for us somehow. He could hunt and fish, coach football and teach. It was perfect for him.

I often wonder if my ambition was actually his too. Or were we so connected that what I wanted and what he wanted were somehow the same. Oh, and we did move to a bigger town and my husband worked in that school system for a majority of his working career.

I often wonder what our life would have been like if I had been more content with what we had and had not always been looking over the fence at the adventure around the corner.
The view from my back patio here in the RV Resort.

So life goes on. We are getting ready to move to a new location here in Tucson, Arizona. We have always lived the six months we spend here in a very temporary way. Our park model is very nice and I love it but our needs and wants have changed as we age.

We have found a different place in a town house located near walking trails and just across from the pool of the townhouse complex. It is just down-at-the-ears enough to suit us. What keeps us going is the projects and change.

We will keep our friends here in the park because we are not going that far. We will keep our golfing world because the new location is closer to that place. We will keep so many things.

But the view...well that will not be the same. Our beautiful mountains that we see from two sides will not be there. As we grow older, I keep remembering what my father said. He was so right...living on the view is not enough.

Have a wonderful day.

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Thursday, April 13, 2017

Golfing: The Art of Composure and More

Thoughts on the Game of Golf
I play golf  and I am not very good at the game. But still, hope springs eternal and I keep trying to get just a little better at the sport. I have played the game for almost 20 years now, I have taken lessons, been instructed by my husband and his friends but still the whole thing eludes me. In spite of all that, I have managed to learn so many things that have nothing to do with the game. I suppose it has become worth the exercise in the impossible for me.

I keep a list of thoughts stored away in mind...some of them are swing thoughts but most are thoughts on patience, composure and waiting. If you are even a little interested you might take a minute or two to read:

  1. The longer the list of swing thoughts the worse the results. Keep it simple.
  2. Golf is a game played with rules and a person that is relaxed and comfortable in their own skin plays a better game that one that is tied up in knots.
  3. Golf truly is played in the 6 inches between our ears.
  4. The game of golf is not about you. If you are throwing a temper tantrum it ruins everyone's game...not just yours.
  5. Golf is about momentum. Keeping on the move does help one's game.
  6. Keeping one's focus will help everyone around you. No notice taken of a bad shot is better than pity.
  7. Waiting is good for one's soul. It takes patience and composure to wait with grace. Impatience just makes you crazy! 
  8. Forgiving oneself is hard but necessary. A slight by a playing partner is not important but what we think about our self is.
  9. In the game of golf we always compete with our self. If we are keeping track of someone else's score, something is wrong.
  10. Even though we play against our self, I always remember that if we also compete in the game with others, trust is involved. A cheater only cheats them self and the person that calls someone else a cheater is an unhappy person. 
Just add these thoughts to the game of life. No wonder the 1st Tee program for young people is so important.

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Saturday, April 8, 2017

2017 Version of the Snowbird Lifestyle

Dining Area 

In a blog post I wrote several years ago about the world of winter living at a price you can afford, I gave you all the lists for things to do so that you could leave your home unattended during the winter. Then I gave you choices for how you might actually leave for several months without breaking the bank. That blog post was called How to be a Snow Bird...answers and lists. Much of the information there is still relevant. BUT there has been a shift in our RV Resort life financially.

Remember back when I touted the RV lifestyle and RV Resort living as the end all be all? I think the rules might have changed when the boomers came into retirement. 

See, during the recession housing prices fell dramatically and our life here in our park model remained much the same. So it was a convenient wash for us in that it was just easier and a little less expensive to live in the park model. Now it is 2017.

Our owner has raised our lot rent to over $5145 dollars a year. That works out to $428.75 a month. AND the value of the park models has gone through the roof. Just a couple of years ago models sold for less that $20,000. Those same park models have sold for up to $40,000 this past winter.

What has happened is that we are at that intersection where lot rent and park model values are rising faster than housing prices. It is a good time to make a change I think. We may be able to stop the rent bleeding that seems to be the new norm for RV resorts.

Boomers have more money and they are wanting to be mobile. The RV lifestyle is perfect for them. During this period of time life in the RV resort will continue to become more expense because there is such a huge demand.

So, wouldn't you be asking yourself why you don't buy a townhouse using the park model selling price for a down payment and actually own something. I know we are. The payment might not be more than our monthly payment here in the park...maybe. I have looked at the appreciation that will be coming during the next year and it is very good. In fact flippers are all over it and buying things that need to be cleaned and repaired so they can cash in on the possible profit.

People our age will be making changes that suit our retirement lifestyle. It is all working out wonderfully for us.

So wait for the next episode. Anyone want to buy a park model? Let me know. :)

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Wednesday, April 5, 2017

SO...What do you think?

Old Blog Header
I am trying a new style of blog. It is one of the free ones from Blogger. Of course I will tweak and change but it is a beginning.

What do you think?

Monday, April 3, 2017

I Love Mondays...!

When we retired we celebrated every Monday during the school year. The habit is still with us 20 years later. We had a beautiful lunch at our golf course today...not as beautiful as the one in the picture (my creation), still wonderful. We love to watch the 1st Tee children show up to play and the company of friends.

Yes, I do love Mondays!

From my little flower bed: lettuce, nasturtium blossoms and sliced salmon or chicken.

1st Tee bags always make me happy.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Yes, I am a Contortionist because My Foot is in my Mouth!

I have spent more time responding to comments than ever before. I did that while twisting myself into a pretzel.

Yesterday I misspoke on a blogging friends blog in what I saw as the need to speak up for him. Then, not satisfied to make my feelings know there, I went on to write a post about my comment on my own blog. I was not kind which is not a good thing.

My readers were quick to point out my mistakes. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for my readers. Without them, I would blunder around in the wilderness seeking heaven knows what.

So here I am doing my best contortionist moves. My knee is jerking, my face is red and my foot is in my mouth! WOW!

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Note: I do stand by my feeling that commenting with a less than kind opinion should not be done anonymously. I don't know if I can remove the anonymous option from this blog but I will try.

Be well everybody!

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