Tag: #retirement

When nothing is everything

Posted on October 30, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

I want for nothing. Content. Centered. At the knees of the sacred Sierra Nevada, humbled by the majesty of Mount Whitney. Drenched in the sun, tumbler of filtered water at my side. Just the clicking of the keyboard to stir the silence of this… Continue Reading “When nothing is everything”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #395, #alabamahills, #autumncamping, #camping, #education, #eurovancamper, #grandparents, #hope, #lonepine, #loveeverymoment, #mountwhitney, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #sierranevada, #teaching

Autumn River

Posted on October 30, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

May the peace that transcends all understanding pass through you. Words to this effect, or maybe precisely these words, concluded our Sunday service at Christ Episcopal Church in Redondo Beach, a congregation I was “led” to after my mother died of emphysema in 1981. As she… Continue Reading “Autumn River”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #395, #California, #camping, #cherisheachday, #christepiscopalchurch, #convictlake, #easternsierras, #eurovancamper, #grace, #grandparent, #hope, #ilovecalifornia, #loveeverymoment, #loveiskind, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #stmargaretepiscopalchurch, #transcendence

Pieces of the Puzzle

Posted on October 14, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Chapter One: The Little Girl My earliest memories: Mom, sitting at the sparkly canary yellow Formica kitchen table, smoking Pall Mall’s with her friend and next-door neighbor, Marian. I was about three. We had a calico cat named Penny, and a toad who lived… Continue Reading “Pieces of the Puzzle”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #1950s, #California, #education, #england, #grandparents, #grappenhall, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #memoir, #mothers, #postwar, #redondobeach, #retirement, #teaching, #truth

Finding Peace

Posted on October 8, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Don’t expect great writing. Don’t expect interesting character development and twists and turns. It’s just me. My laptop, my 2001 VW Eurovan Camper, the trees, the Pacific Ocean, the squawking jays, the stained blue sky, the chiffon ribbon breeze, a chilled glass of chardonnay,… Continue Reading “Finding Peace”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #befree, #bigsur, #boisset, #cambria, #campinggrandma, #camplife, #coastalcalifornia, #goodfriends, #loveeverymoment, #pasorobles, #retirededucator, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #solowomencamping, #wine

Grey skies are fine with me

Posted on July 24, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

The South Bay’s June gloom has extended into July, which is just fine with me considering everything east of Hawthorne Boulevard is baking. I really prefer chill. Not too much, but short sleeves, cozy socks, red wine vs. white, 72 degree cloudy sky pie,… Continue Reading “Grey skies are fine with me”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #2021TokyoOlympics, #actthree, #faith, #grandparent, #grandparenting, #nextchapter, #olympics, #parenting, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #southbay, #southerncalifornia

life is like a box of chocolates . . .

Posted on July 9, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Jumble, jumble, jumble. Mumble, mumble, errr, errr…wipe the slate clean…wait, I can’t, not now, stay put, be patient, “You may not realize it now, but the Universe is unfolding as it should,” reads a sign tucked in the lemon tree in northwest corner of… Continue Reading “life is like a box of chocolates . . .”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #artjournaling, #babies, #boisset, #booklover, #California, #chardonnay, #doglove, #dogresuce, #frenchsparklingwine, #grandparents, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #rose

Forgiveness, patience and gratitude

Posted on June 25, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Retired. I am. Fini. For now. Work-for-pay, that is. It hasn’t set-in—-yet—-the retirement phase. It’s been crazy, family-busy. But right now I have a precious moment to reflect, take stock, and allow the wave of “This Moment” settle-in like a pair of well-worn slippers.… Continue Reading “Forgiveness, patience and gratitude”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #beachlifefestival, #boisettwines, #brothers, #forgiveness, #grandchildren, #grandmotjers, #grandparents, #gratitude, #oregon, #patience, #retirement, #siblings, #sisters

Tick, Tick, Tick

Posted on May 30, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

It just isn’t right. It’s been almost two months since I last wrote. It’s not that I haven’t been thinking about you. I have. But, I have to be blunt and honest, you haven’t been my priority. Here’s what I have done instead: Been… Continue Reading “Tick, Tick, Tick”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #Californiaeducator, #faith, #grandma, #grandparent, #I'mgoingtodisneyland!, #middleschoolteacher, #redondobeach, #retirededucator, #retiredmom, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #ruhs, #writer

Waiting for my real life to begin

Posted on March 25, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Thanks Colin Hay for the song. It expresses what I’m experiencing better than anything I can write: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRO66I22qi0 Waiting for My Real Life by Colin Hay Any minute now, my ship is coming inI’ll keep checking the horizonI’ll stand on the bowFeel the waves… Continue Reading “Waiting for my real life to begin”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #colinhay, #faith, #grandparent, #hope, #lifeizgood, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teaching, #waitingformyreallife

Where have i been?

Posted on March 21, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Good question. In the garbage disposal crunching up all the waste, all the debris, all the junk. Behind a screen teaching others. Not sleeping. Hunched over. Worried. Fixing. Building. Grandparenting. Working. Mostly working. Existing. Waiting. Worrying. Worrying. Worrying. Holding my breathe. Counting down the… Continue Reading “Where have i been?”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #Californiasunsets, #covid, #education, #grandparenting, #grandparents, #joyofteaching, #positve, #retirededucator, #retirement, #teaching

« 1 … 4 5 6 7 »