Category: @retirement

But today, it is.

Posted on May 26, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

Moss hangs from a sea of aged oak trees, dancing in the wind outside my friends’ forest-shrouded home in Atascadero, California. I’m residing here for a weekish, babysitting their two precious mini dachshunds as their mum and dad vacation in Kauai. Their original dog… Continue Reading “But today, it is.”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, @retirementTags: #bestfriends, #dogsitting, #faith, #findingpeace, #friends, #friendship, #happiness, #housesitting, #lessons, #memorialday, #Nature, #peace, #poetry, #relaxing, @retirement, life, love, spirituality

This Life of Mine

Posted on May 10, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

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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

Did I tell you…?

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

Family Vacation

Posted on March 31, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

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I am the most blessed woman on Planet Earth. I embrace that, send praises to God and my unbelievably generous family. Eternally grateful. I’m beyond, beyond, beyond aware that if it wasn’t for my niece and her husband, I wouldn’t be here. No way, no how.… Continue Reading “Family Vacation”

Category: #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, @retirementTags: #disney, #family, #familyvacation, #gratitude, #hawaii, #kauai, #love, #margaritasbythepool, #onehotel, #paradise, #springvacation, #travel, family-travel, hotels, vacation-rentals

Ordinary Greatness

Posted on February 8, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

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Hope and sparkling crystals and all things magical and misty-eyed are Queen Melancholy’s cousin. Like George of the Jungle, I swing between the two, between longing for Kauai’s turquoise waters and Cambria’s soul-fortifying coast to the anticipation of missing the icy-slick-sidewalk-skating rink of Winter… Continue Reading “Ordinary Greatness”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, @retirement, unconditional loveTags: #babies, #cambria, #children, #faith, #kauai, #loveeverymoment, #newyork, #newyorkcity, #parenting, #thebigapple, #travel, #winstonchurch, baby, book-review, family, grandparenting, love, motherhood

It all makes sense

Posted on October 20, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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This is not the Sedona I remember from 27 years ago when my cousin Bevie and I flew here to celebrate my milestone 40th birthday. It was my first Destination Birthday, a splurge; I felt called to be in a place I’d never been before,… Continue Reading “It all makes sense”

Category: #education, #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, @retirementTags: #camping, #campinggrandma, #newfriends, #openheart, #openmind, #pleasureway, #sedona, #solocamping, #UFOs

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

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