Posted on August 14, 2026
by JANET L BARKER
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I stayed up late to watch the Perseid meteor showers flashing across the 3-D drive-in movie screen above my campsite. I leaned back in my stargazing chair, bundled up in my New York Winter of 2025 puffy jacket, wrapped my chilled legs loosely in… Continue Reading “Back Home in the Sierras”
Category: #campingTags: #adventure, #camping, #hiking, #love, #Nature, #poetry, #solocamping, #solowomencamping, #travel, #tuolumnemeadowspoetryfestival, #yossimite, sierranevadas
Posted on September 24, 2025
by JANET L BARKER
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I’m a silly girl. A woman-girl growing inside her own womb, punching, kicking, absorbing nutrients, feeling excited, worried, and at peace, trusting that my caretaker-self won’t let her little girl down, has her best interest at heart, and would do anything to support, heal, comfort and… Continue Reading “The Flying Machine”
Category: #beachcamping, #camping, #hope, #lifeizgoodTags: #camping, #coastalcampiong, #fear, #grandparent, #iloveliterature, #iloveoregon, #journaling, #oregon, #pacficnorthwest, #raybradbury, #retirededucator, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #solowomencamping, #writing, facingfear, family, life, life-lessons, love, mental-health, pacificnorthwest
Posted on January 8, 2025
by JANET L BARKER
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I’m leaving. Again. I’m melancholy. Again. I don’t want to leave. Again. But I do. Again and again. Everywhere I leave I love. Same goes for the people I leave. Like my visit with Julie and Ken two days ago or my Littles in… Continue Reading “Simplicity vs. Elaboration”
Category: #beachcamping, #californiastateparks, #camping, #central coast, #centralcoast, #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #ilovecalifornia, #lifeizgood, #pismobeach, #pleasureway, #solowomencamping, #vanlife, #wintercampingalongthecoastTags: #camping, #campingfriends, #faith, #findinghope, #findinglove, #friendship, #godswhispers, #pismobeach, #pismobeachstatepark, #solocamping, #travelinggrandma, #trust, #vanlife, #writing, campingsolo, family, life, love, lovethyneighbor, mental-health, womencampingsolo
The Last Breakfast. The Last Sunset. The Last Frog-choral Midnight Concert. The Last Dinner with Friends. The Last Patch of Starry Quietude before heading south toward family and the past. “You could have stayed there forever, a small child in a corner, on the… Continue Reading “This Life of Mine”
Category: #camping, #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, #teaching, @retirementTags: #California, #cambria, #camping, #centralcoast, #findinghope, #hope, #maryoliver, #Nature, #peace, #retiredgrandma, #solograndmascamping, #solowomencamping, #travel, #writersontheroad, @retirement, birding, birds, love, photography
Posted on April 20, 2024
by JANET L BARKER
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Did I tell you, I’m working on a novel? I started it more than a year ago, but somehow, in my travels and wonky internet connections, lost the first five chapters. Which was a major bummer. So I ignored it, knowing I couldn’t recreate… Continue Reading “Did I tell you…?”
Category: #camping, #education, #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, #teaching, @retirement, stepupandtakeaction, Uncategorized, unconditional loveTags: #cambria, #camping, #centralcoast, #solowomencamping, #solowomentraveling, #vanlife, #writing, book-review, book-reviews, books, fiction