A Full-time Life

Category: Family

Canby Dahlia Festival

We’ve been back home in Oregon since the first of July. In real life we had an active summer — here in Blogland there’s a lot of missing time between the last full-time-life post and this one. Only partly because I almost lost my whole blog (side-bar). We didn’t learn about the shutdown until August, so the long absence is mostly because I took a digital detox break on purpose when we first got home and it dragged on a little longer than I’d planned. It’s good to be back — in Blogland as well as in real-life Oregon.

I’ m still learning about WordPress, but one way to do that is to just dive in. I couldn’t stop taking pictures on this September outing, so the Dahlia Farm is it’s a good place to start.

Canby is a small town less than two hours north of us, between here and Portland but (blessedly) off the freeway. Though not too far away for a day trip, this beautiful agricultural area is in a part of our home state where we haven’t spent much time. Last month we drove there to visit the family-owned Swan Island Dahlia Farm. It’s open to the public during the flower’s season and it was at its peak of perfection when we visited.

Summer always goes so fast. We spent good, if bittersweet, hours seeing family, many of those at a different farm much closer to where we live. I have blogged often about that acreage just five miles from where we live. Although a huge part of our heart is missing whether we visit or not, our son-in-law continues to make us feel welcome. Of course, it is always a delight to see our Oregon son and daughter-in-law and our great-grandchildren (and their parents!) whether at their Granddad’s farm or at our house or at theirs. I’m never particularly good at taking people pictures which means there are always a lot of blank happy spaces in my blog. It was a good summer.

Our son-in-law (whom I decided needed a break whether he knew it or not) went with us to Canby and I hope he enjoyed our company as much as we did his.

Autumn is a beautiful season in the Willamette Valley and we’re glad to be at home for it as our full-time life continues.

3 comments on Canby Dahlia Festival

October 7, 2025
Coming back to happy

Thank you for the kind thoughts on my last post. They helped and continue to do so. I wrote that very personal post during the weeks we were in Oregon and first thought I was writing just for the two of us and maybe family. (I don't keep a journal and really the blog has become the only writing format that feels comfortable.) When we returned to our Canal Cottage, I realized I'd never be able to blog again if I didn't share that post first. I really had meant to close off comments, but I forgot to click that button and now I am glad I did. Good thoughts and especially the empathy really do help.

I am working to collect small moments of joy — really always possible to find and becoming easier day by day. I haven't stopped taking pictures and they remind me of those moments. I've also been reading and collecting wisdom. Because my attention span is short these days, it is mostly in the form of appropriate quotations. Those help too.

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Robert Frost

Grief starts to become indulgent, and it doesn't serve anyone, and it's painful. But if you transform it into remembrance, then you're magnifying the person you lost and also giving something of that person to other people, so they can experience something of that person.                                                                                                                                         Patti Smith



Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.

                                                                                                                                                                                                Joseph Campbell

We were surprised one morning to see wild turkeys strutting their stuff right in front of our Oregon balcony — a decidedly non-wild urban area. They are certainly adaptable birds.



I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.                                                                                                                                             Wendell Berry

The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the joy

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Jim Rohn

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May 4, 2025
Thoughts

Our brave, bright, beautiful daughter died unexpectedly last week. She was 65.

Her spirit will live on through her loved and loving husband, three children and their spouses, six grandchildren, her brothers, and her parents.

We are here in Oregon sharing hugs and tears and memories and gratitude with our dear son-in-law and grandchildren.

As the only daughter in a busy family with four children, Cyndi was a force of nature, seemingly born to manage and mother her brothers, cousins, and often half the neighborhood children. She was a water baby who loved swimming, enjoyed hiking and skiing, was an honor roll student, and editor of the school yearbook. She worked several different after-school and summer jobs and her favorite ones somehow always seemed to involve working with small children. Her decision to study Early Childhood Education after graduation was almost a foregone conclusion.

Cyndi met her future husband while working one of those after-school jobs. She and Jeff were partners in life and often in business as well for over 40 years. They took classes, worked in their two businesses, raised three amazing, adventurous and resilient children and, in the course of time, were active and loving grandparents. She was a mother figure to the many toddlers who came to the Day Care that they owned while their own children were young. They were also dedicated foster parents to a number of children and later Cyndi served for several years as a teaching assistant in the public school system, working closely with special needs children.

All of these accomplishments and more took place while she also dealt with the devastating up and down nature of MS, the chronic disease with which she lived for over 30 years. She did not let her illness define her, always bounced back from the down times and lived life with joy. For much of that time she made it possible for us to forget how hard she worked to stay well. Only in the last couple of years did pain and exhaustion begin to overcome her resistance.

She enjoyed the Oregon Coast, walks around the Lake near their home, some travel, even riding a motorcycle in earlier years. Best of all, she loved her family life and raising her children in the country where she drove a wicked tractor over the back acreage! She loved “playing” in their yard, was especially fond of spring flowers and wild birds.

She loved being a grandmother. She delighted in reading to her grands, teaching, playing, and just watching them grow, especially as they played in their grandma and grandpas big backyard out there in the country.

Our broken hearts will eventually heal but with lasting scars. We will keep the good memories and remember that she is now free of pain.

(this photo by Geoff Rainville, Cyndi's brother)

We have always loved her and we have always been proud of her and we always will be. We are blessed to have been her parents.

April 16, 2025
Sibling Road Trip – Bellevue Washington

We finished out the camping season last month by enjoying some more travel with the tiny trailer. I'm calling this one the Sibling Road-Trip because we went from home here in Oregon to the Seattle area (Washington State) for a great visit with my sister and brother-in-law and then across Washington into Northern Idaho for the same with Bill's brother and sister-in-law at their floating cabin on Lake Chatcolet. We enjoyed great catch-up times at both destinations and, as always, enjoyed the journey as well.

Here's a picture taken from our doorstep on our first night's stop:

Mount Rainier, late afternoon in late September

This is why we like staying in our own home-away-from home. You don't often get a view like this from a motel room.

We met up with our family the next day. It was a great catch-up time, enjoying good conversation and reminiscing, good meals, and exploring the area. One day the four of us visited the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. Below are pictures from a beautiful bridge walkway built across a ravine in the 55-acre park.

As the sign says, it's a taste of the wild side in the middle of the city.

The whole park is one of those places that always seem sort of magical to me because of being so close to a major metropolitan area, while feeling as if you're miles away. An easily accessible outdoor getaway for city-dwellers — and tourists as well.

October and November are Dahlia season in the Pacific Northwest and the "tamer" area of the park had a beautifully groomed garden featuring these show-stoppers:

Who could fail to be cheered by these beautiful flowers.

Every variety and every color so photogenic.



We saw a few deer as we wandered around the park and always enjoy these sightings . But the above sign (and chewed up hosta leaves) reminded me of why some gardeners aren't happy to see them. Obviously, this park wasn't going to stop the deer from snacking. I'm sure the sign is to explain to the public that the plant damage isn't because the gardeners are neglecting their work.

The bees loved this flowering bush. Plantings in the gardens were all those that would do well in Western Washington's climate.

We had a great couple of days, over all too soon, before we got back on the road. I'll share some pictures from the other side of the State of Washington and neighboring Idaho in another post.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities: Thank you to all of the hosts.

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October 1, 2023
Museum, Library, and a couple more towers

In the interest of trying to finish blogging about our June travel before the rest of the summer is over, I am combining three places we visited in Prague. They each deserve more time and space, but there's lots of good sites at everyone's fingertips for further information. I've been doing a lot of that kind of research these days to refresh my memory.

The Czech National Museum was within easy walking distance of our Prague apartment. It's located near the top of Wenceslas Square, the main gathering/shopping area in the City.

Main entrance Hall

We spent most of a day in just one wing of the the main (Historical) building but also visited the New Building next to it. The buildings are connected by a tunnel.

The stunning main building is a major landmark for the city. It was built between 1885 and 1891. The main building underwent a major renovation between 2011 and 2019 and was even completely closed part of that time. (It had been damaged during the war and again when the city metro tunnels were being built.) During those years, exhibits were either stored or moved into the "New Building" next door which had been purchased both for that purpose and to eventually add exhibition space. I'm glad we visited after the big move and reopening had taken place. In the main building the exhibits we visited were on Czech history — ancient treasures. No pictures included — the ones I could take did not turn out well enough to bother.

Cupola from entryway

The exhibits in the newer building were where we learned more about recent history (during our lifetime). There was an excellent photo and light display showing what it was like to be in Prague at the time of the Velvet Revolution in 1989. This is when massive demonstrations (hundred of thousands of people at times) helped to force the end of the Communist regime in Czech and Slovakia. Some major gatherings took place right here on Wenceslas Square in front of the Museum buildings. A fitting place to learn about this incredibly important piece of history. It was after this time that the former Czechoslovakia, which had been part of the USSR, became two republics: The Czech Republic and the Slovakian Republic. This display was impossible to capture with my camera, but the contribution to our understanding will not be forgotten.

There are more stunning views of Prague from the top floor of the Main Building.

On another day during our stay we took the Metro (underground) to Prague Old Town. The famed medieval astronomical clock of Prague is attached to the Old Town Hall.

It was first installed in 1410 and is the oldest astronomical clock still in operation. The figures surrounding the clock are the apostles and other Catholic saints and a skeleton representing death (he shows up pretty clearly to the top right of the clock.) The apostles and the skeleton do a very quick parade around the dial on the hour. I forgive them for being quick about it, because they are probably tired of working that hard after all these years.

The astronomical dial represents the position of the sun and moon. HERE is a link to the Wikipedia page with more about the mechanism, history, and legends surrounding the clock.

I think it was on the same day that we also visited the different kind of tower below:

Idiom by Matej Kren

This art installation in the foyer of the Prague Public Library includes hundreds of books stacked in a cylindrical tower. Mirrors at the top and bottom give the tower the illusion of infinity. There's a tiny window that lets you look in and imagine what it would like to drown in an infinity of books. The question is whether that is a book-lovers dream or nightmare.

Of course, I have family pictures from every single place we went with our grands, but those from the children's section of this library (bel0w) may well be my all-time favorites:

It's never too early to introduce a child to the love of reading. We all love libraries and I was so glad our three "guides" took us to this one.

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MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY

July 30, 2023
Visit to Prague Castle

Prague Castle is actually a 1900 foot long series of courtyards, churches, and palaces covering 750,000 square feet. Buildings include the seat of government of the Czech Republic.

Our trolley stop took us to a short walk leading to the Northern entrance. We could see the impressive Cathedral spires as we walked along. The first courtyard we entered is where the offices of the President of the Republic are located. Palace Guards in full uniform are stationed at the entrance. The fountain marks the center of this Courtyard.

A passageway leads to another Courtyard where the impressive St Vitus Cathedral is located.

This Gothic Cathedral is the Czech national church. A church has existed on this spot since AD 920.

Rose Window, St Vitus Cathedral

Restoration work still in progress.

Third Courtyard, Prague Castle — Statue of St George (replica of 13th Century original).

We exited the complex by taking the New Castle Staircase — it's long, with many steps, but there are wide landings with lots of stopping places — viewpoints and even a place where we could stop for a cold drink at a table. There are wonderful views of Prague along the staircase.

Prague from the New Castle Staircase

The Staircase takes you from the Castle complex to downtown Prague. We stopped at a small sculpture park for a quiet rest.

In town we found a good place to eat and just wandered a bit before heading home. Although Prague Castle is a major tourist destination it hadn't feel anywhere near as busy and crowded as downtown.

I'm really a small-town person at heart, so am always a bit in awe of the crowds and hustle and bustle in major cities.

But I'm always happy to to visit because you don't get to visit Castles (among many other treasures) in small towns. Grateful for all we saw and learned.

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities: Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;

July 23, 2023
Home — with memories

We're back in Oregon and happy to be home. We took pretty much the exact opposite of a short-cut to get here and had a wonderful time doing it.

Coming in for the landing

I'm still sorting pictures and trying to "unjumble" all the information flying around in my head. We learned so much — now I just have to figure out how to put it in writing so that it will still make sense when we look at it in the future. While I work on all that, here are a few sample views from the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic where we spent a little over a week:

The best part of Prague was having our own very special guides to the City – Miss Olivia, our youngest great-grandchild and her parents, our grandchildren (grandson and his wife):

We were so grateful that "the kids" had time to spend with us and we marveled at how adaptable and happy the baby was. Jacob and Maya are quite familiar with Prague. (And one of the family of three speaks the language fluently — I'm sure pretty soon it will be two or even all three.) With their help, we navigated the city like locals .. almost!

Prague Castle on the horizon

There's so much more from Prague that I want to remember and after our time there we joined a Viking Cruise during which we visited several cities in Germany (the former East Germany) culminating in a couple of days in Berlin and I want to document that too eventually! Meanwhile, we are happy to be home and looking forward to enjoying summer days here in Oregon.

Glad to be back to blogging again too. LINKING THIS post to the following sharing opportunities with thanks to the hosts:

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July 9, 2023
LAST WEEK AROUND THE CANAL COTTAGE …

Florida Blues (in late November!) including my nemesis bird, the Kingfisher. We see these birds fairly often, but they usually fly away as soon as I even think "camera". So I'll take their picture any way I can, even this one, a too-far away shot through the car window.

The only other living creature I got a picture of last week. (Well, two pictures — one after he had enough posing). We stopped in the road to let this guy cross to a runoff canal beside the road.

Here are some of my better efforts:

We made a photo gallery wall in the Canal Cottage from pictures I've taken over several years. The idea was Geoff's and the framed pictures were a gift from him and Lisa.

Bill hung them (I told him we should never move, because this wall is perfect.) It's really just one long wall with the burrowing owl in the center. I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole wall in one shot.

If they look the least bit crooked, it is because of the pictures I took of the wall. They really do look perfect in real life.

Grateful for the memories and hopeful (almost certain) that we will get some more good birding opportunities this season.

Thank you to the hosts of these sharing opportunities:

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; and SATURDAY CRITTERS;

November 28, 2021
THE ROADTRIP, Part 1

People often ask how long it takes us to drive across the country and it's hard to answer. We tend to wander and stop whenever we feel like it. This time, we covered 4,680 miles and the trip took us almost exactly a month. About one fourth of that mileage was "side-trips" when the trailer was unhooked and parked in an RV Park. But we didn't do as much of that as we used to. Almost all of our day-trip explorations were while we stayed in Colorado — and we didn't use our car there one single time because our hosts drove everywhere.

We left our Oregon home the last week in September. The pictures in the mosaic below are from the week or two before we left. The top row pictures are from a walk we took along the middle fork of the Willamette River. That Juvenile Robin looks more like Spring than it does the end of September.

The weather was still like summer even though our favorite farm market was displaying the requisite Autumn pumpkins. And the blue sky was taken in back of our daughter's a few days before we left — we were packing up the trailer getting ready to go. (Well, somebody was. I was taking pictures obviously). October's usually beautiful in our part of Oregon too and so part of me felt like it was kind of early to leave. But of course on the day we were actually ready to hook that trailer up and hit the road it began to rain, and it didn't stop all morning.

It was too wet to take pictures, but here's a quick one that encompasses both the sad and happy reasons to head South. Our daughter and her youngest grand-child (and our youngest great-grand) braved the rain to run out to the barn for one last good-bye. (Miss Harper was unimpressed with us, but apparently happy to be warm and dry inside Grandma's barn-coat.) Harper's older brother, who is two, cried when we said goodbye earlier. All summer, he had enjoyed watching his Great-Grandpa work whenever they happened to be at Cyndi and Jeff's house at the same time. We will miss everyone .. that is the downside to our love of travel.

But rain or shine and after all the goodbyes, we did finally get on the road again.

It's a long lonesome road to Burns in Eastern Oregon — way out yonder pardner. Those signs are from the RV Park where we stayed . It took us a couple of days to get out of our home State — we don't rush things.

More of the same on the next couple of days as we traveled through Nevada – except not even any interesting RV Park pictures. We stayed in Winnemucca and Ely. But the scenery definitely improved soon after we crossed the Stateline into Utah.



On the first of October, we spent the night in Green River State Park . The picture above and in the collage below are from that day's drive. It was a stunning scenic tour of a day.

We were getting anxious to get to Colorado to see our family there and so we didn't spend as much time in the Green River area as it deserved. But there were quite a few quick photo-stops.

We already knew we'd have beautiful scenery in the next State too, plus good company! We were both so happy to get to Ridgway the next day. Below is a picture of our Colorado family (although it was taken days later, not the minute we arrived):

And another shot in (or near) their new "backyard":

Colorado wasn't actually halfway on our roadtrip — it was only the end of the shorter half! But it was our first and only planned stop. As we'd hoped, we arrived at exactly the right time for its famous Autumn color. Beautiful Fall and no snow yet. That's perfection.

More beautiful Colorado scenery and the longer half of the roadtrip still to come along with some getting reaquainted with Florida shots.

Thankful for family and safe and scenic travels.

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to all of the hosts:

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November 14, 2021
Last of the Summer Color

These pictures are from yesterday afternoon's get-together at the home of our grandson and granddaughter-in-law. Even now, at the end of the season, their backyard is colorful and comfortable.

Somehow, when each of our children bought their first home and made it their own, it didn't surprise me. I was (and am) proud of them, but buying a house and settling in was just the normal progression in life. But it utterly amazes me that our grandchildren could have, somehow, reached that stage of life. How on earth could we be old enough for that to happen? (Rhetorical question — I do know the answer!)

There were familiar plants in their garden and a couple that were new to me. Top left is an elderberry (our granddaughter-in-law made jelly from it earlier). The one at the lower right corner is a ground cherry which I don't remember ever seeing before. We ate a handful and they are quite interesting . I thought they had a nut-like taste, but nobody else came up with the same description. Our 18 month old great-grandson loved them! (More familiar ones are scarlet runner beans and a tomato — and the non-food-item hen and chicks in the center.

As usual, I didn't take people pictures this time, but I did find a few from family gathering earlier this summer .

The great-grandson whose home we visited yesterday is on the left and that's his older cousin on the right. Both of them have grown a lot in the last couple of months, as people do at those ages!

It was really sweet watching the cousins playing together as the two-year old showed the "baby" how his firetruck worked.

Lesson learned.

Fun for them, built-in-entertainment for the rest of us.

Thankful that the smoke cleared out yesterday and it wasn't too hot outside. And especially grateful that family older than these two are vaccinated so that we can happily and safely enjoy time together.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; FRIDAY BLISS;

September 5, 2021