Tag: #California

Not exactly a Disney movie, but close

Posted on December 17, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

I’m going to write about something strange and wonderful and inspiring and sad and curious and real. First, the setting: I am sitting on a balcony overlooking a parking lot which overlooks the Redondo Beach Port Royal Marina next to the marina where my… Continue Reading “Not exactly a Disney movie, but close”

Category: UncategorizedTags: ##portofinohotel, #California, #education, #grandparents, #home, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #portroyalmarina, #redondobeach, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching

A Gulp of Sea

Posted on December 8, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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Nature is my healer. I feel such peace, such love and acceptance when I am enveloped by the ever-changing grandeur and gentleness of Nature. I’m sitting at a picnic table overlooking Encinal Canyon in Malibu. Monet is sleeping, snoring, by my feet. The clouds are… Continue Reading “A Gulp of Sea”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #anewlife, #California, #cattledoglove, #cattledogs, #change, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeontheroad, #love, #loveeverymoment, #malibu, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #vwcampervan

Swimming Solo

Posted on December 3, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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I am, at last, an almost-nomad. I have been on the road since August. Not exclusively. I’ve had some much, much-needed layovers here and there; Kauai, Malibu, Rancho Palos Verdes, New York, for example. Not too shabby real estate, I’d say. But I’ve been picking… Continue Reading “Swimming Solo”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #cambria, #camping, #centralcoast, #dogs, #eurovancamper, #grandparents, #hope, #lessonsfromadog, #love, #loveeverymoment, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #sologirlcamping

The Weather Outside is Frightful for This California Gal

Posted on November 19, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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You know you are a REAL writer when… You are observing your gifted daughter teaching her Fourth-Grade students a stone’s throw from the Hudson River and the only thing you can think of, besides how so damn proud you are of her and where… Continue Reading “The Weather Outside is Frightful for This California Gal”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #daughters, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #manhattan, #newyork, #nyc, #NYCPublicschoolteacher, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #thanksgiving

Why Wait for New Year’s Eve?

Posted on November 8, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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New York is hot. Hotter than The Southern California I left two days ago. I’m in short sleeves, a skirt, sitting in the sun on my daughter and son-in-law’s Forest Hills balcony, relishing the 76 temps and bone-warming rays. At this point, I did… Continue Reading “Why Wait for New Year’s Eve?”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #education, #grandparents, #health, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #nevergiveup, #newyorkcity, #nyc, #NYCMarathon, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching

But now, I Feel Different

Posted on October 28, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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I’m relaxing in front of my Big Red propane campfire, steaming cup of Mt. Whitney French roast organic coffee at my side, Winnie the Pooh slippers warming my normally never-cold feet on this gorgeous last full day of my October Solo Camping Adventure. The… Continue Reading “But now, I Feel Different”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #bestfriends, #California, #camping, #grandparents, #hearstsansimeonstatebeach, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #redondobeach, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #ruhs, #solocamping, #vweurovancamper

The Library

Posted on September 13, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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This is the third time I’ve been to the Cambria Public Library on my trip to nowhere, my pause, before the next step. I am surrounded by masters. I am in a sanctuary of accomplished and one-hit (maybe) wonders and writers who got their… Continue Reading “The Library”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #cambria, #cambriapubliclibrary, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #thewriterslife, #travellingwithdogs

Sound of Silence

Posted on September 12, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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The campground is still. Everyone cleared out early this beautiful, drizzly, grey morning because of last night’s downpour. I can’t blame them. I did the same thing, breaking camp at record speed from the primitive campground I was able to secure at the last… Continue Reading “Sound of Silence”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #eberlewines, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #pasorobles, #rangelandwines, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching

Week Three Without a Home

Posted on September 8, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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I don’t know why I’ve been avoiding this. Writing. Figuring things out. The Scary Silence. The deadline-less lifestyle. The lack of traffic and noise. The simple, simple life I lead. Surely, in this floatation passage of Week Three Without a Home I have figured… Continue Reading “Week Three Without a Home”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #beachlife, #California, #cambria, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #thewritinglife, #writers

For Good

Posted on July 31, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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“We’re going to miss you. You may not be aware, but you’ve been an asset to your neighbors, and the neighborhood,” a fellow former teacher, neighbor and parent to former student, Cole, told me the other day. He’s 23 now. An assistant superintendent at… Continue Reading “For Good”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #blessed, #California, #change, #education, #forgood, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #moving, #newbeginning, #RBUSD, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #sellingthefamilyhome, #teachers, #wicked

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