A Full-time Life

Category: Oregon homes

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
Happy Spring!

Ah Spring! That time of year when it's apparent we aren't in Oregon any more! There's really not a lot to mark the change from winter here in the subtropics. So I'm celebrating the season with golden memories. And adding a few photos I managed to recover from the end of our season in Oregon. Actually that was last December, so I guess every photo in this post is an oldie…. golden or otherwise.

Oregon daffodils, 2021

Farmers grow a lot of grass seed in our part of Oregon. We don't miss the Spring sneezes and wheezes that come with the start of grass season. But I do miss my favorite Spring flowers. We see some beautiful blooms here in Florida of course, but they tend to be more flamboyant and just not quite the same.

In the following photos we were still in Oregon, but not quite so long ago. These photos from last December were still on the camera when we downloaded it here last month. We went on a day-trip to Florence on the Oregon Coast. About 60 miles from our Oregon home, this charming coastal town is a favorite getaway.

Siuslaw River Bridge, Florence December 2024

It was a gorgeous day — actually fairly typical of December in our part of Oregon. We had a few chilly days before we left, but mostly blue skies and mild weather. The icy days came in January after we left (not by coincidence). That actually is typical weather for the region, although it definitely seems like the January ice and winds have gotten more severe in the last few years. We count our blessings when we miss out on those days.

Hooded Merganser, Siuslaw River, Florence Oregon

During this December day trip, we did check to make sure the Pacific Ocean was still there, knowing we wouldn't see it again for a few months. However, the pictures are from the coastal Siuslaw River where we always stop to walk when we go to Florence.

It was exciting to see several Hooded Mergansers enjoying the sunny day. I've never before seen that many of them in one place. They were swimming quite near the shore and were fun to watch.

Oregon family photo, December 2024

These two live with our daughter and son-in-law. It never fails to amaze me the way their pets always get along so well. And here's another golden oldie from the same household:

Literally a 'Golden Oldie' since we always called this tree a Golden Chain and the photo was taken quite a few years ago. Sadly, it's a memorial picture now because our daughter told us that one of those recent winter windstorms completely uprooted it — the golden chain is no more. When I posted this exact picture years ago, I learned from fellow bloggers that the tree's official name is Laburnum. Blogging is an educational experience — I appreciate all the help I can get.

Just a bit more color for my virtual memory scrapbook:

Yellow flowers always seem like little spots of sunshine.

Here's to more golden spring days ahead. Thank you to all who visit and to the hosts of these sharing opportunities:

NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY and SATURDAY CRITTERS;



March 23, 2025
Ponds of a different color

In past years, I've posted a few pictures taken on walks around Delta Ponds. We are so fortunate to have this lovely natural area within the city limits of Eugene. The Ponds are pretty close to where we live here and we pass at least one of them every time we go anywhere at all. Last month we were surprised — and a little worried — to notice something different about the water.

A few days after we first noticed the red color we were pleased to read an article in our local daily paper explaining the change. It said people have called the City Parks Department asking if it was due to autumn leaves or paint or dye. We didn't think it was any of those, but I had wondered if it was an unhealthy algae growth. It was great to learn that this red growth, called Azolla Fern, is actually beneficial to the Ponds and our local ecosystem.

The plant goes dormant in Winter and needs many sunny days before it blooms again, making it an occasional seasonal bloom here in Eugene.

Lauri Holts, the City employee responsible for the Ponds, said that Azolla actually helps to combat climate change by processing carbon dioxide and providing oxygen and shade for the aquatic life that lives below it. As Eugene's Ecologist (and who knew our City even had such a thing) Ms. Holts is in charge of ensuring that Delta Pond's plants and wildlife thrive along with human use.

Azolla is also known as 'Duck fern' or 'mosquito fern' and is a genus of plants that can be found worldwide. Ducks and geese eat it, so that nickname is obvious. It has potential to reduce mosquito populations, but only if it covers more than 70 percent of the water, reducing the surface area in which mosquitos can lay their eggs. (We didn't measure the percentages, but can only hope.)

Delta ponds is a 150-acre waterway that began as a part of the Willamette River and remained so until the late 1800s. Human use and urbanization changed the area and today's ponds and islands were formed by gravel mining for highway construction that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. The City of Eugene bought the Ponds in the 1970s and has constructed pedestrian trails around the ponds. A new loop trail funded by a city bond is nearly complete.

It's good to live in a City where nature is valued. We are grateful.

On my nature walk last week, I was so busy concentrating on the red water in the ponds that I forgot to look up, so here are some blue skies and fluffy clouds left-over from our summer:

Skies and boats — a few more of my favorite things. These pictures are from the working harbor at Coos Bay.

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

NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY and SATURDAY CRITTERS

October 13, 2024
Last of the summer, first of the fall

At home here in Eugene, trees are beginning to turn, skies are blue, leaves are beginning to fall…..

Eugene Oregon, October 5

… and someone has abandoned the rake because there is no foreseeable end to their job anyway. A walk in the neighborhood reminds me to give thanks that these days we can enjoy the beauty of Autumn without any of the yard work!

Finishing up our summer camping trip here in blogland today — we weren't away from home for as long as it has taken me to finish blogging about it. I take a lot of pictures because Oregon is blessed by so much natural beauty.

Brookings Oregon

From Arcata in Northern California we headed back toward home, taking our time along the Pacific Coast Highway. A round-trip is more fun, especially when you can marvel at the redwood forest one way and even more amazing views of the Pacific Ocean the other.

Southern Oregon Coast

The beautiful Harris State Park is not named for our (hoped for) next President, but after an Oregon pioneer who owned the property at one time. ….. We could see the Army Corps of Engineers dredge boat at a distance from our camp spot in Brookings and the next day we drove around to where we could watch it work up closer.

The boat was dredging this channel. If you click to enlarge you can see a very small motor boat between the work boat and the rocky shore. Too close for comfort in my opinion. The crew on the workboat really shouldn't have to keep an eye on little boats that could go elsewhere to play.

We stayed in Coos Bay on the last night of our trip, spending just a little time the next morning at the working harbor. It was time to go home – only a couple of hours away.

People were hard at work pulling up and loading oysters. It is always interesting to see where our food comes from and how much work it entails.

We couldn't resist this sign. Fresh tuna is the best. It is hard to believe it is the same food you get in a can. (Even the best variety.)

We admired this young man's knife skills as he fileted and wrapped the fish we bought. He said he has dock duty on his father's fishing boats right now, but hoped to take his own boat out next season. The last of the tuna packages we brought home are still in the freezer. A taste of summer awaits!

We had fun this summer here in Oregon, but every season has its joys. We look forward to enjoying the rest of Oregon's beautiful Autumn.

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

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

October 6, 2024
The lovely month of May

It has always seemed to me that the first of May means Spring is really here — even if the season officially begins in mid-March. When we lived in the Pacific Northwest, March and April were just teasers — leading up to this grand month. Here in Florida, there's not a whole lot of difference, but I still feel like the season really began last week.

At the Canal Cottage morning skies have been beautiful as usual. But May is really all about seasonal flowers .. and nostalgic memories. When I was a child, on the first day of May, kids would fill hand-made paper baskets with garden flowers. We'd hang them on the door knobs of our older neighbors, ring the bell and then run and hide. We just knew people would be delighted with their surprise. I do think people expected and enjoyed the custom back then.

Spring 2020, Oregon

When our own kids were quite small they would make baskets for their grandparents and maybe a few neighbors, but they'd be delivered by properly knocking at the door and visiting for awhile. By that time, the days when door-knock surprises were welcomed was pretty much over. May was a wonderful month for flowers in the Pacific Northwest and we always enjoyed sharing bouquets from our gardens (but not as surprises).

Most years since we retired though we have been away from our home state during the Spring, either traveling or here at the Canal Cottage in Florida, where Spring is different. The daffodils and the beautiful tulips in the collage below are from the most recent entire year we spent in Oregon (2019/2020 — you probably remember why).

The tulips were blooming beautifully in our daughter's and son-in-law's garden when we arrived at the end of April 2019 after our shortened season at the Canal Cottage. It was like a special added welcome in that year, when we were even more thankful than ever to be safely back home and near family.

In ordinary years lately, by the time we arrive in Oregon Spring perennials have finished blooming for the year.

May is a great month for birds too of course — this Stellar Jay is a more recent Florida photo and so are the neighborhood flowers below:

Local Spring flowers –Florida

Colorful tropical (or almost tropical) flowers bloom pretty much all season around here, but it seems to me that they really put on a show this month, before it gets too hot and rainy for them during the summer months .

Another Florida picture — this one from the archives.

This photo shows more than one species of Florida Spring birds enjoying some shallow water similar to the more recent picture in last week's post. This one was taken a few years ago near the same place, but it's a much better view of the Roseate Spoonbill, here showing off an impressive wing-span.

Grateful to enjoy our beautiful Spring here and grateful for Spring memories from the recent and long ago past.

Sharing this week with the following: Thank you to the hosts.

NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and SATURDAY CRITTERS

May 5, 2024
Mountain Drive

In the backyard now there are more leaves on the ground than in the trees. They make a pretty carpet. Nowadays we aren't responsible for lawn care and in addition we've had mostly dry Fall weather. Those two things make it easy for us to admire the beauty without worrying about what needs to be done before the fallen leaves get wet and sloppy.

I've read that it's better for the environment and the birds to leave the leaves alone or to mulch them in place. We didn't know about that back in our former life when we had a yard and gardens. Unfortunately, if this year is like past Autumns since we've lived in this apartment complex, the lawn maintenance crew here doesn't know it yet. And worse they will use noisy leaf-blowers. At least, the City of Eugene will pick up the bagged leaves and make them into mulch available to the gardening public. So there's that good thing.

Last week we took a mountain drive up the Old McKenzie Pass. It's a good day-trip this time of year for the Autumn color and because Winter snow will close it.

Bill loves driving curvy mountain roads. I like riding along. This is a good paved highway, but there are sharp curves and I wouldn't want to pull our trailer on it. Years ago, when driving this road, we were stuck a traffic jam because a truck driver had jackknifed his long flatbed tractor/trailer rig on a curve. We were coming down the hill, and had a few cars behind us. We decided not to try backing up the hill to find a place to turn around, and instead to wait for the totally blocked road to be cleared. It took quite a while, involving large recovery trucks being summoned from towns both above and below the accident. I think a tree or two had to be removed before the problem was solved. The truck driver had passed flashing lights and signs warning that his 50 foot plus length was not allowed!

Whether you love navigating curves or not, there are beautiful mountain views as payback for the effort:

Three Sisters Mountain

Besides mountain viewing and leaf-peeping, we wanted to see how much damage there was in these hills from the summer wildfires. It wasn't quite as bad a fire season this past summer, but still thousands of acres of forest land were burned and there were some evacuations in mountain communities and campgrounds. Annual wildfires are a frightening fact of life now.

Some ghost forests (dry burned trees) and blackened trunks along the McKenzie Pass.

Back at home this past week, we've had some rain but interspersed with beautiful blue sky days that make it easier to appreciate the rainy ones. Later in the season, when it starts to rain and drizzle day after day and the sky stays gray, that's when I have to remind myself often that we need the rain.

Grateful for beautiful blue sky October days, but still hopeful for a good rainy season here because that means needed snow in the mountains east of us.

Linking to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; SIGNS SIGNS; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;

October 22, 2023
Autumn in Eugene

For various reasons, I've been slow documenting the trips we've taken this summer. This makes the blog seem as if we've been traveling for the whole time and that isn't really at all true. As we always have done, we've been enjoying our Oregon home most of the time.

And our Eugene neighborhood has been particularly beautiful this month.

For awhile, it looked like we wouldn't have any real Autumn color. Summer was so hot and dry. Late in September, leaves on some of the trees in our neighborhood were turning dry and brown and falling before they showed any color at all.

That was sad, but now that at least some of the trees are showing off their Autumn glory, even the dry leaves on the ground are fun to see. The crunchy noise as my feet shuffle along the sidewalk makes me feel like a kid again. (But it is a good thing there are no big piles of leaves to jump in — don't think I could perform that Fall ritual any more.)

We don't have a whole lot of red color here. Orange and glowing yellows are more prevalent. Some late summer flowers are still putting on a good show. And in every season here there is always green.

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

Lucy Maude Montgomery – Anne of Green Gables.

So am I. Grateful and happy to be here.

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

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY

October 8, 2023
Summer before it sizzled

Eugene Oregon is seriously HOT right now. We are also under a hazardous air quality alert because of a wildfire in the eastern sections of Lane County, so I'm posting some memories from the earlier and prettier part of the season.

Just like for almost everywhere these days, extreme heat and wildfire are both pretty much normal now for at least part of our summer months. The current fires are not a danger to us here in the City, except for the smoke and air inversion. We can only offer hope for the people affected by the flames. For our own health, we stay indoors as much as possible. Instead of any new day trips, one of us is planning for the future and the other is documenting the past. As usual, I'm the memory person and Bill is the planner, but we do work together on both.

All of the pictures in this post are very recent memories. I'm still working on some posts from our June trip. The ones directly below are from our son-in-law and daughter's yard back in July:

The butterfly was quite cooperative taking its time at each nectar stop. I'm usually not that lucky with these flighty beauties.

The pictures below are even more recent — from our trip to the Coast earlier this month. (We probably should have stayed there — it is always cooler at the Ocean!) To be perfectly honest, even without the heat and smoke we would probably be staying close to home right now anyway. We actually do a lot of that — I just don't often blog about it.

This is Simpson Beach at Shore Acres State Park. The eerie tree trunk in the center picture is along the path leading from the beach to the "tamer" part of the Park.

At the end of one of the forested paths from the beach viewpoint, you arrive at this small gate. On the other side, in just a few yards, you are in the middle of the precisely landscaped gardens of Shore Acres. The entire park, including the beach, forest, lawns and gardens, was once the estate of the Simpson lumber baron family. Heirs donated the property to the State for public use.

We were kind of between flowering seasons at the Gardens, but there is always beautiful color and the Japanese-style garden and pond are so calm and restful. We visit Shore Acres almost every summer — one of my favorite State Parks. I like the combination of wild and tame.

Store front mural, Bandon Oregon

I am grateful for the memories and enjoy planning for future ones. But this week I'm especially grateful for not-so-simple things that don't get blogged about — the shade trees around our home that keep the outside temperature a little lower than the official reading and the air conditioner and air purifier that continue to keep it comfortable indoors.

LINKING THIS WEEK (and next) to these sharing opportunities:

THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS ; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; and MY CORNER OF THE WORLD

August 17, 2023
In-between

We can't quite decide here in Eugene whether it is Autumn or late Summer.

Stella de Oro Daylily

Colorful flowers are still blooming in the neighborhood …

But the squirrels are busy gathering as many acorns as they can.

Skies are smoky some days …

And bright blue on others.

It's a beautiful time to be in Eugene and we're always grateful to be here, and especially this year. But we are personally feeling very in-between seasons too. It's hard to enjoy beautiful Eugene when we're worried about our winter home in storm-damaged Fort Myers.

So we're thinking we'll spend a shorter time here this year than we'd originally planned. We know there will be lots of work to do at the Canal Cottage. And oh so much in the area that we will miss. The pictures in the Mosaic below are memories of happier years at Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island and Six Mile Cypress Slough. Both are among the many nature areas that are closed because of hurricane damage.

We remain hopeful — and, no matter what, grateful for the memories.

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

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; and SATURDAY CRITTERS



October 16, 2022
Meanwhile in Oregon …

Here at home in Oregon, the sun is shining, temperatures are still late summer-like and flowers are still blooming.

But my head has been in Florida thinking about the after-effects of Hurricane Ian.

So many people in the Fort Myers area where our winter home is lost everything. We are incredibly fortunate that our winter home is still standing and did not sustain wind or water damage inside.

We know this now because our son, who lives in Colorado, was able to drive to Fort Myers to assess the damage, take pictures, and do the awful job of outside cleanup. We are so grateful.

So Geoff is camping out in our Florida house — there is no electricity but the water has been turned back on (with boil drinking water warnings). No air conditioner either and in Florida this time of year that really is a necessity. I am sure he is not sleeping very well.

The hurricane left all manner of debris around the cottage (and the whole neighborhood). Some of that is from the storage area under the house (basement crawl space) but much of it is from other places — it could have blown in from other houses in the resort or the Canal could have washed it in from who knows where. It's very sad — and a lot of cleanup work.

Nobody who lives in our resort was injured, not even the people who are permanent residents. But there was a lot of damage from the terrible winds and from water surge from the Canal and River. Our next door neighbor's home was just about totaled, They will not be returning and we will miss them. We do still plan to return later — but it won't be the same.

Meanwhile though, as we plan for our return to a changed Florida, we continue to enjoy this beautiful Pacific Northwest Autumn. And we never forget to be grateful.

The Dahlias are from a garden at our Lane County (Oregon) Fairgrounds. When we stopped to take pictures I talked to a garden-club volunteer who was cutting flowers. She told me that September was their prime blooming month and that I should put the Club's annual Dahlia Show on my calendar for next year. I will try to remember.

Blue Sky – Oregon October

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

NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS

October 9, 2022