Marlys Johnson Lawry

In her book, Kitchen Table Wisdom, Dr. Rachel Remen tells about a friend who attended a bingo game while visiting his elderly parents in Florida. A large sign on the wall indicated, “You Have to Be Present to Win.”

Similar to being present to collect a prize in a bingo game, Dr. Remen wrote:

We are all here for a single purpose: to grow in wisdom and to learn to love better. We can do this through losing as well as through winning, by having and by not having, by succeeding and by failing. All we need to do is to show up openhearted for class.

Photo by 2y.kang on Unsplash

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If you’re not from central Oregon, then you probably don’t know that we had approximately eleven days of winter in the 2025-2026 season (this may be a slight exaggeration).

Mt. Bachelor with not nearly enough snow

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April 10 is National Siblings Day, which caused me to think back to my childhood years with my siblings. Sandwiched in between brothers, I’d always wanted a sister to stand strong with me against the two of them. But alas …

A few years back, but the most recent photo taken with my brothers

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It was a week of scuba diving (Dan), exploring the beach bare-footed, boating past mangrove trees, reading, entertaining monkeys and macaws, marveling at the sloths, catching a sunset, making new friends, and enjoying international cuisine.

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Will Parker Anderson, senior editor with Penguin Publishing Group, pens a Substack blog with content that is meant to be encouraging and informational for those of us who clack away on our keyboards in hopes of telling a good story. Occasionally, though, he shares words of wisdom to writers and non-writers alike.

Photo by Nate Banks on Unsplash

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The pleasure of soup simmering on the back burner is just one of the things to love about winter here at the foot of the Cascade Mountains.

My Chicken and Wild Rice Soup (recipe below)

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“So, about Thanksgiving and Christmas,” I said to my husband Dan. “What are we going to do?” It was our first winter holiday season as newlyweds, and COVID was in charge.

Photo by Mariana B. on Unsplash

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Friday date night began mid-morning with a hike along Wychus Creek. (Have I ever mentioned how much I love date nights that start in the morning?!)

Wychus Creek

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“Aside from the cancer, this has been the best five years of my life,” he’d said to his brother-in-law before passing. His words were shared at his funeral, and they stuck with me.

Five years ago, my nephew Michael was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. It forced an early retirement as a pediatrician.

Photo by Joe Caione on Unsplash

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Date Night in our household unfolds on Fridays, although one of us tries to extend it into one big Date Day. “Honey, do you want to walk down to the Old Mill and get a chai latte this morning?” “Hey, does a hike sound good this afternoon?” “Where are we having dinner this evening?” See how that works.

Well, Hubby beat me to it this time: “You wanna go to the air show?”

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