To all things a season and living things passed on.

Changing of the seasons...mimics life and it's cycles.

It is another fall and the cold dark days of winter are only a few months away. I hate those months. Cold, nasty weather and I'm shut in so much of the time.
Did I tell ya I do not like winter?....well, I think it bares repeating. I HATE winter.

I am already looking forward to planting things in my garden, stuffing my new green house to the brim with little growing plants. It makes me smile just thinking about that late winter/early spring activity. I have already bought a bunch of seeds to start early....LOL a bunch of seeds!

I'll continue to surf the garden sites and drool over the catalogs I will have arriving throughout the winter.

Gardening was an activity my Mom enjoyed too, and that inclination to have dirty fingernails and things growing every where seems to have been passed on to me.

When I lost her two years ago I was lucky enough to have inheireted some of her keepsake plants.
A very old Hoya plant she had for since I was in high school, another smaller variety of Hoya she had had for years. Then there was a little ficus I gave her for a Mothers day gift 10 or 12 years ago.....She almost killed that poor little plant several times before I adopted them all about 7 years ago when Mom finally had to go into an assisted living situation.

The plants remind me of her and the things she enjoyed, and I find them comforting.

The seasons also remind me of the fact that life is not a forever kind of thing and we are a lot like the plants in the garden. Small and fragile in the spring and then become strong and productive in the summer. Fall brings a weakening and general loss of vibrancy till winter brings death.

I'm looking at the fall of my own existence and resent the heck out of the cycles we are all tied to. I am not going to dwell about the unknown but enjoy the seasons that I may still have; of course, I still will not learn to love winter.

I'm hoping that my own daughter or perhaps my sweet grandaughter will in turn take those beautiful plants I have and maybe a couple of my own and treasure them in some future time and place.

ramblings of a boomer

Just a few thoughts on how one (me) feels as enters into an age group that is called "seniors:. To be honest I am thinking that I feel physically no different than I did 30 years ago...however, when I go to get up I feel the stiffness in the back and joints time has placed. There is also the loss of physical strength. That is probably something that I should be working on but time and work makes sneaking a couple hours out of the day nearly impossible. Maybe I can address that in the future.....big smile on that one.

I find that my mind is still sharp, I learn rapidly and am always learning something new.
I have found that I'm a little more narrow minded and critical of things that offend me. I'm working on being a bit kinder both in words as well as thought.

The old saying my Mother used crosses my mind.....'If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".
Perhaps that is a very good response to sharp thoughts and words." Will try to work on that one.........

Vacations and Play...

Many of us have way to few days away from work. Vacations are a maybe thing which depends on available time and money.
For the self employed vacations may just be a dream and a wish, but they are possible.

To succeed in having these escapes perhaps thinking outside of the box is the key. If you utilize areas that are relative close to home you can save money and actually have more time to play.
Here in the pacific Northwest we are lucky to have everything from the Pacific Ocean, moutain skiing and inland treasures for boating, camping or sightseeing.

I'm sure that no matter which direction you look you'll find something wonderful within a days driving. An Example of this would be visiting some of the old historic towns that are quite common in Oregon, Washington and California,

An example of this type of town with a new wrinkle is Walla Walla, Washington. An old city that has embraced the past while it has moved into the present.

The eastern portion of Washington state has a tremendous growing industry of wine making and there are some great wines are being produced by a number of different wineries.
Combine that with a small town that has turned old into upscale and welcomed the artsy, the wine companies and tourists alike.

Walla Walla has art galleries, wine bars and winery tasting facilities shops and wonderful small places to eat. Add to that a number of companies that provide tours of both the vineyards and historic areas this is a wonderful example of a close to home vacation opportunity.
If this sounds interesting more information may be obtained about Wall Walla and its vacation opportunities.

For another option go even farther east and you will find Lewiston, Idaho and its sister city Clarkston, WA. These two inland cities are in the process of enlarging and promoting the Lewis Clark region and it's recreational opportunities. Spring and summer water recreation is unsurpassed and the winters have some world famous steelhead fishing.
The high point of a summer fun Vacation would be a jet boat trip up the famous Snake River into Hells Canyon.






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More on links and the Big Google whack job

This is going to be a rather short post but I think it has a big punch if you think about it.
Google and its disapproval of selling links...
It appears a number of sites may have actually been 'punished' for making money selling links. These are all private sites that have been marketing text links with good pr.

Here is the big question....if it is not good to sell links, or buy links why does Google look on entities such as Yahoo and themselves differently? Could it be because you might just have to consider the right side of a normal Google search page as bought text links.............................I'm wondering if this a bit hypocritical, and perhaps money does make things right if it goes to the right hands? Or is business not Ok for some and the same business Ok for others, and that depends on who has the most power?

These observations are from an average person who is on the outside looking in. I may be wrong but the old saying comes into mind, 'If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck........it must be a duck.'

"Do no wrong" yeah, and pigs fly.

Google and the link frenzy...PR and BS

I keep reading about the Big G's decision to stop the buying and selling of links to inflate a sites importance. The more I read the more I can't believe that this huge company that has some very bright people working for it can't figure out how to fix the problem they themselves created.

In my opinion the whole situation has resulted simply by Google creating the problem. Did anyone really think that the situation that exists today wasn't foreseeable? Any time you wave the apple in front of a lot of people you are gonna find some who will take that big bite. Especially when the bite can result in big bucks for those involved.

Let's do away with the cute little PR toy on the tool bar. Do away with the concept that links make a site important and just make the content of the site the key to relevency.
Take a novel approach and change things.

Remember content? Work on an algorithm that rates content and a sites usability...its navigation and load times. Keep it as simple as possible and focused on what is on the page not who links to the page.

You might not have every site in the top ten of a search exactly what you were looking for but give the person searching some responsibility too. Everything is not up to a search engine. People searching need to learn how to ask. Then if need be, refine the search.

Google also needs to consider they are not responsible for every thing that happens in the cyber-world.....and while they are at it, do away with these stupid little toys that so many people feel is important.......or make more of them and sell chances to get that PR 5 or 6 or 7. Give the results of the sale to charity and laugh at the buyers.

Hunger in America....shameful

A month or so ago local newspaper did an article on hunger in our area. I am aware that a portion of our population struggles to have enough food to prevent hunger or malnutrition.

When I think of this, I think about our seniors living on fixed incomes. There is still a population on Social Security that had no other income resources. With today's cost of insurance, utility bills, transportation and food there is usually little left over. Some changes have occurred since Medicare instigated the prescription drug benefits. But still the shortfall of income to outgo presents problems for many.

In our communities we have some resources for the elderly to utilize in regards to food and nutritional needs. We have food banks which our local population is usually quite generous to. When food resources are low organizations such as the Salvation Army, St. Vincent Depaul and various churches actively recruit more food products.

Unfortunately some people do fall between the cracks of the system. Families with children sometimes are forced to choose between heat, housing or food. This is heartbreaking situation and it's quite shameful for a nation as rich as ours. No old person, and no child should ever be hungry.

There is a second part to this blog which I'll go into later.