Ha -Ha!

It's the best medicine! It tickles your funny bone, rumbles around in your belly, stimulates your immune system, brings on giggles and it costs nothing...

What is it? You know...hahahahahahahaha!!!

LAUGHTER!

Where would we be without it? Life would just be too glum to survive; I know I couldn't.

I LOVE LAUGHTER. I love to do it and hear it.

And I only hope, for all my vices, that my laughter makes up for them!

Ha, Ha! As if!

Cafe Ole`

Oh, the bane of my existence!

Can't say how many I've had but it's time, once again, to replace another coffee maker. Each new one, regardless of fancy features, has failed to last.

Maybe it's time to inve$t in one made by a high-end brand like Cuisinart or KitchenAid. Will they prove to serve any better?

How about the drip-factor? Haven't found one yet that doesn't. Mr. Coffee is the original but has HE perfected the dripless coffee pot?

Maybe it's time to find out!

"Soul Food"

Barking dogs. Screaming kids. Buzzing saws. These are some of the neighborhood sounds that disturb the peace.

Since I have none of the above, I do what I can to remind the neighbors that their pets and kids aren't the only ones who can break the silence.

I rock n' roll...

Loudly!

I crank up the stereo, dance, sing along, play air guitar; generally getting my ya-ya's out. But I wait till late morning or early afternoon to turn up the volume. Wouldn't want to miss the sound of early morning birds chirping, even though that never stops barking dogs.

I prefer to get my exercise unconventionally. Without the boredom of repetitive lifts, bends and squats, I'm raising my heart rate my way: sweatin' it up while rockin' out!

Satisfying two daily requirements: moderate exercise and food for the soul.

Ouch!

Isn't the human body an amazing organism!? Its ability to heal itself is truly incredible!

For instance, our tongue.

Recently, I bit mine so hard and cut it so deeply with a molar, it took weeks to heal completely. It bled and it throbbed. I wasn't sure my tongue would recover fully.

This incident got me thinking how bizarre it'd feel to have, like many 20-somethings, a studded tongue. A foreign object, no matter what or where it's located on the body, is considered an invasive object.

But I suppose, after the initial incision heals, it's like all other boo-boos. It closes up and fades away to the point where one would never know it's there.

Still, that may be fine for others; as for me, I'll remain stud-free.

Berry Good!

Some people believe it's Christmas...but count me in with those who think THIS, the berry middle of the summer is...

The.

Most.

Wonderful.

Time.

Of.

The.

Year.

Especially here, in Oregon; especially now, when all the berries are about to burst off the vine.

Raspberries. Blueberries. Blackberries. Huckleberries. Boysenberries. Loganberries; cobbler, pancakes, muffins, ice cream and cocktails.

Berries are as native to this region as peaches are to Georgia!

And they are m-m-m-m good...

right now...

...during this...

the most wonderful time of the year!

Freak Flag

Here's something we rarely hear...but it's true,

so I'm just going to say it: I LOVE MY HAIR!

No fuss, no muss...but mostly because it is stick-straight.

I'm glad I don't suffer from 'humidity blues'. Whenever the air is thick with moisture, no fret about frizzing up.

Of course, I didn't always love my hair. Like most people, I wanted what it wasn't. Too many perms later, to try to achieve that which just wasn't meant to be, finally, I embraced my locks, as is.

I've never regretted being low maintenance. No color or blow dryer. No serums or pomades; no mousse and certainly no hair spray! Beyond the use of shampoo and conditioner, about every third day, my hair is totally natural and by not over-processing, shiny, too.

Proud to be Non-Product Queen!

Hot Fun!

It was time for a complete change of scenery but close to home.

It didn't take long to figure out Eastern Oregon was just the place since neither of us had ever been there. Deep in the Wallowa National Forest at the end of a very, very, long and winding road, was our final destination.

I braced myself for what I knew would be a long-ass haul. That it was! The worst part: getting past the high, dry desert country in-between the Cascade and Blue Mountains.

These are the times and places that air-conditioning in Oregon is hardly optional. Driving through the hottest, driest stretches, the words "desolation" and "complete desolation" kept coming to mind while wondering, "How did anyone live out here?".

We passed places we'd only heard of on the nightly news like Arlington, Meacham, Heppner, Boardman, Pendleton, La Grande and Enterprise, otherwise known as Cowboy Country.

But our charming little cabin in the woods at 4,000 feet above sea level just off beautiful Wallowa Lake surrounded by 8,000-foot snow-capped peaks, was well-worth the drive.

Wallowa Lake Resort and Hell's Canyon wild scenic area reminded me of many other places I'd seen before like Park City, Utah; other times, it felt like we were near Crater Lake.

At any rate, we weren't in Northeast Portland anymore!

After five days breathing ponderosa pine air, getting up-close to nature, feeding deer, eating heartily--fresh, rainbow trouts caught by John--sleeping deeply and seeing how the other, rural half live, it was time to come back down to sea level.

By the time we reached Hood River and the Cascade mountains, we breathed a heavy sigh of relief. The cool greenery and hovering clouds reminded us of why we live in the verdant Willamette valley.

Mission accomplished!