HERE COMES ANOTHER YEAR......

The Oregon Coast

 

The second half of 2012 really got away from me this time! When I last posted in mid Summer I was still strapped into a back brace after spinal surgery in late June! By August I was traveling East to spend a glorious week on the coast of Maine... on Monhegan Island and at a niece's wedding near Bar Harbor. Both locations renewed my childhood memories of rough Atlantic beaches, salt water, and the taste of lobsters and clams!



 

Wonderful flower gardens on Monhegan Island



 

An island of fishermen and artists



The historic Island Inn and neighboring house



 

View from the lawn infront of the The Island Inn

 

Then it was on the the wedding.....

 

 

 

Back in Oregon we headed for the beach to introduce a visiting cousin to our side of the country!

 

 

Cousin Susan at Hug Point



At Haystack Rock

Flying kites with Brayden
 

September brought another Cycle Oregon for Fred...

 

There's nothing like a ride around Crater Lake!

 

 In early October it was back to the East coast for my 50th reunion in Northport, NY. I also spent some time in New Haven with my High School friend Bonnie where we enjoyed a day touring the Yale campus!

 

Back home to a modest grape harvest and copious amounts of pears and apples! Thanksgiving found me very thankful for a healed spine and wonderful friends and family!

 

Grandchildren Brayden and Saskia

 



I hope that the New Year brings a new vision for our country...common sense solutions to the upward spiral of violence and anger that seems to have permeated our society....and the world in general. We MUST come together on some of these issues like gun control and a dead-locked Congress. Has technology taken away our compassion and the basic social skills that make us human? Have we lost the ability to focus or to see the other side of the issue? Our children are growing up without the innocence that once came with playing hide and seek and hopscotch. Do we take them camping and bike riding so that they will grow up appreciating the natural world....or just let them play aggressive video games? Do we really want to take pleasure only from our memories of what used to be? We can do better.....