To go or not to go

“They say” there’s no such thing as a geographical cure. “They say” that everywhere you go, there you are. “They say,” only time can heal. And of course, “they” are always right. Back in January, when my friend Miriam asked if I’d like to go with her to visit her son...

Patriotic memories

Rick’s last visit to the peninsula was a year ago this weekend, although of course we didn’t know it at the time. He’s been gone three months today, and in those three months, I’ve learned a lot about the grieving process, far more than I ever wanted to know. Grief is...

Peanuts

I gained 10 pounds in June, and for my money, that 10 pounds was just peanuts, as in “a small number or amount.” I’m already firmly back on track, now following my food plan that went totally, and purposefully, out the window for a full 30 days. Truth be told, I was...

Feeding my travel bug

I didn’t need a passport for the final trip Rick and I took together. That was in May, 2013, when we spent two full weeks in Maui for his 60th birthday. The trip before that was to England and Scotland in September, 2012, and that was the last time I’d had the...

Hey Buddy, can you spare a dime?

I can’t see a penny on the ground without stooping to pick it up, reciting as I do so: “Find a penny, pick it up, then all day you’ll have good luck. Find a penny, let it lay, bad luck sure to come your way…” Stopping for a penny doesn’t mean I’m cheap—just...

Gettin’ fitter diggin’ dinner

Living “at the edge of the continent” along the southwest Washington coast has its distinct advantages, not the least of which is the ability to get out there and “catch” your own seafood dinner. Salmon, sturgeon, surf perch, oysters, crab, steamer clams and razor...