Tag: #retiredteacher

The Silly String Saga

Posted on January 10, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

Junky, junky, junky stringy stuff invades my thoughts, my days, like a wild river that steals innocent trees and summer’s lawn chairs. Minding my own business, doing my thing, wading through a different kind of Christmas, the volatility of a California New Year like… Continue Reading “The Silly String Saga”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #angels, #California, #education, #familystrife, #forgiveness, #grandparents, #healing, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #maryoliver, #powerofpoety, #retiredteacher, #teachers, #thebiggerpicture, @retirement, family, love

Limbo Land

Posted on January 6, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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I’d like to credit and thank Royce Morales of Perfect Life Awakening for her recent blog and exactly perfect word that describes how I’m feeling these days. I suspect I’m not alone. First, the definition of limbo from Webster’s: 1. place or state of… Continue Reading “Limbo Land”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #calmbeforethestorm, #education, #grandparents, #gratitude, #hope, #lifeizgood, #loveeverymoment, #malibu, #perfectlifeawakening, #retiredteacher, #roycemorales, @retirement, love

Sitting at a bar in Barstow

Posted on January 1, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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Family. Family. Family. Mucho complicated. In a not so “It’s a Wonderful Life” way. Though, I wish everyone had a Donna Reed mom and a Jimmy Stewart dad. They knew what to say and when to say it. Those big-hearted Bailey’s could rally the… Continue Reading “Sitting at a bar in Barstow”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #Barstow, #calico, #California, #families, #grandparents, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #newyear, #retiredteacher, #teachers, #teaching, @retirement, love

Room Service

Posted on December 23, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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Learning to say yes instead of oh-no. This is my lesson for today as Christmas Day festivities avalanche my plans, causing me and thousands of travelers who’ve had to wait-out the storm to make lemonade out of lemons. My beloved van. Fixed. Maybe. When I picked her… Continue Reading “Room Service”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #change, #changeisgood, #christmas, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #portofinohotel, #redondobeach, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #thecrown, #vanlife

Not exactly a Disney movie, but close

Posted on December 17, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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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

Hiraeth

Posted on December 12, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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It’s a Welsh word that means longing or a sense of homesickness. One of my niece’s Malibu neighbors, who is Welsh, nodded his head while we walked and talked one brisk, Starbucks-armed morning. Gazing at the newly greened hillside, he shared, “I’m feeling it… Continue Reading “Hiraeth”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #change, #christmas, #education, #grandparents, #holidayseason, #hope, #llbehomeforchristmas, #love, #loveeverymoment, #malibu, #melancholy, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #welsh, #winter

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

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