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As Unready As I’ll Ever Be…
I am nowhere near ready. Yes, my bags are packed. Tickets purchased. Itinerary sorted. I’ve even wrapped my head around it. No, it’s my body. My physical readiness. Basically, I’m doomed. Day after tomorrow, Rick and I will ride from our front door to Kingston and catch the ferry to Edmonds, Washington. There, we will…
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It’s the Water
“Now, turn it all the way until these padlock rings line up. Exactly.” Standing over our water meter, my neighbor, Chris, guides me in the nuanced skill of turning off, or on, water to any of the 73 homes in our neighborhood. It’s one of the jobs I’ve acquired now that I’m a board member of…
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The Retirement Report:
My Year of Adrenaline My first year of retirement was intended to be a primer in the Beginner’s Mind, the Buddhist concept of viewing and interacting with life from the mind of inexperience: as a novice, a child. It’s the practice of cultivating a sense of wonder, curiosity and joy through mindfulness in any given…
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60 Shades of Gray
Reflections on Retirement When I tell people I’m from the Pacific Northwest, they invariably say,” it rains a lot there, doesn’t it?” Yes. Sort of. Like the Scots, said to have 421 words for snow (for example, the Scottish word for a large snowflake is ‘skelf’), those of us in the PNW have many many…
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Brides, Bouquets and Baby Goats
“Does she love the artichoke?” my friend and neighbor Angeline asked in an adrenaline fueled kind of way. I looked at her blankly and she continued. “If she loves it, I will need floral wire, wire cutters and floral tape.” With two hours until “go time”, my answer was simple. “She hates the artichoke.” In an instant, said…
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And In Summary…
“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” ~ Mary Oliver. “So what was the most exciting place you visited?”, our Uber driver asked as we sped through the narrow streets of Amsterdam. How do you respond to that big question that is impossible to answer? Other variations have…
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Germany: A Tightrope of Old and New
“Hey! There’s a good place!” I hollered to Rick. I had noticed an opening in a long hedge and spotted a bench in a patch of green. We were getting hungry and this was a perfect spot for our picnic lunch. Pulling a quick U Turn, we headed back and walked through the opening. A…
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A Room With A View
I’m pretty sure that the phrase “single story living” has never, ever been used in most of Europe. Over the past 10 weeks, we have stayed in a wide variety of accommodations of which two, had no stairs. Of those with stairs, about half had an elevator or lift. And I think it’s fair to…
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Biking the Belgian Way
The quick blast of the siren made me jump. I had just been warned by another cyclist that I was going the wrong way on a one way road and had managed to get off the street and up onto a crowded sidewalk. Rick had already dismounted when I was waved over by the police. …
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My Little Peloton
Sean’s left hand shot out instinctively to indicate caution. At a hairpin turn, one car up and one car back, his signal was as much for the cars as it was for us. Both cars slowed and then braked. Accident averted. And we continued pedaling. We weren’t sure what the addition of another rider would…
Gonzo Girl 