Category: #grandparents

An unexpected gift

Posted on September 22, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

How to you begin to describe the feeling? Kayaking on glass with a long-lost friend, being lifted, suspended in a cloud, in a misty dream you once had and forgot; picking huckleberries; crooking your vision up and down, left and right, to gaze at giant… Continue Reading “An unexpected gift”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgoodTags: #ancientredwoods, #elkprairiecreeknationalpark, #friendship, #ilovecalifornia, #lessonsfromnature, #Nature, #raybradbury, #stonelagoon, #takingachance, #theflyingmachine

Go with the flow

Posted on September 22, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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Above, is a canopy of redwoods, an impressionistic painting made even more ethereal without my glasses. Ribbons of sun and blue and burnt sienna surround me. And the silence, padded silence. I’m in the womb of Nature. Protected. Soft. When I close my eyes,… Continue Reading “Go with the flow”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, @retirement, stepupandtakeactionTags: #blessings, #enjoyeverymoment, #humbolt, #ilovenature, #peace, #redwoods

With new eyes

Posted on September 22, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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Celluloid images—about family, friends, departed loved ones—flash, flash, FLASH across my mind’s movie screen. When I walk. When I drive. When I talk to people. When I’m at the grocery store. When I read. When I listen to music. Run, run to the laptop, my… Continue Reading “With new eyes”

Category: #education, #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, #teaching, @retirement, coastal camping, stepupandtakeactionTags: #bestfriendsforever, #blessings, #bucketlist, #cambria, #goodfortune, #harvesthost, #love, #pleasureway, #thesunwillcomeuptomorrow

The Gift of Change

Posted on September 13, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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My new, next life begins today. I’m sitting at the edge of San Simeon Creek alongside the best campsite I have ever had watching the ducks and native birds enjoy the early evening sun. I am in my happy place. Another happy place. I left Happy… Continue Reading “The Gift of Change”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, #teaching, @retirement, coastal camping, stepupandtakeactionTags: #breconwine, #California, #cambria, #centralcoast, #harvesthost, #hope, #lifeizgood, #myhappyplace, #newlife, #pasorobles, #portofinoapartments, #rvlifestyle, #sojourn, #travelinggrandma, #writing

On the Verge of Tomorrow

Posted on September 1, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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“There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day, there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow, and tomorrow’s just a dream away.” I hummed along to that tune every time I walked from Disneyland through Downtown Disney to our hotel room.… Continue Reading “On the Verge of Tomorrow”

Category: #education, #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #teaching, @retirement, unconditional loveTags: ##portofinohotel, #centralcoast, #change, #disneyland, #grandchildren, #newyork, #redondobeach, #thenextchapter, #timepassestooquickly, love

Surrounded by Fireflies

Posted on August 2, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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Life IZ Good. Sometimes, you just need to pivot to realize it, you know, the half full vs. half empty kind of thing. Drama happens. The toast gets burned. I lose a $100 bill. Skin cancer is detected. My blurry vision isn’t the scratched… Continue Reading “Surrounded by Fireflies”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #teachingTags: #faith, #peacebythesea, #portofinohotel, #redondbeach, #redondobeachmarina, #retirement

Eternal flame

Posted on July 18, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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This is the summer of wee ones. Under three. Over ten. And those in between. A gaggle of boys and one girl. My grandchildren, starting from the oldest, Jack, Bronson, Millie, and Hudson. Twinkling stars that light up my world. I’m here in New… Continue Reading “Eternal flame”

Category: #education, #grandparents, #teaching, @retirementTags: #almuratsuchi, #appletv, #bethechange, #caassembly, #climatechange, #congress, #eternalflame, #extrapolations, #globalwarming, #grandchildren, #grandparents, #heatwave, #hope, #inspiration, #JFK, #newyorksummer, #redondobeach, #sizzlingtemperatures, #tedlieu, #thewhitehouse, #unitednations

The Grandma Chronicles

Posted on July 3, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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They’re not with me right now. One is at Redondo’s CDC summer program and the older, pre-middle school grandson, is hanging out with friends. Even Yogurtland, an after school treat we indulged in on his ride home from fifth grade, wasn’t enough to lure… Continue Reading “The Grandma Chronicles”

Category: #education, #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #teaching, @retirement, stepupandtakeaction, unconditional loveTags: #act3, #bestisyettobe, #change, #grandmas, #grandsons, #growingup, #lifeizgood, #loveeverymoment, love

Phases of the Moon

Posted on April 15, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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It’s complicated. Predictable. Like phases of the moon. The other day my second baby turned 43. The night before her birthday, I couldn’t sleep. I kept flashing back to the morning she was born, how after our water bubble burst I tried to squeeze my legs together… Continue Reading “Phases of the Moon”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, @retirementTags: #adultchildren, #birthdays, #forgiveness, #grandparents, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #mothersanddaughters, #regret, #singleparenting, #timetoletgo, @retirement, love

Gotta have faith

Posted on March 17, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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In sickness and in health. ‘Til death do us part. I’m pretty sure I edited those lines out of my first wedding vows. Given that I’d been divorced from a man I didn’t want to marry but was society and family-pressured into doing so… Continue Reading “Gotta have faith”

Category: #education, #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #teaching, @retirement, UncategorizedTags: #California, #faith, #georgemichael, #grandparents, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #teachers, @retirement, love

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