Our community was deeply saddened by news of the recent death of Donna Tanous, who passed away on Saturday, May 9, 2020. Donna and her husband, Larry became Leaseholders on 2006 and left the Park in 2012. They resided on Lot #6.
The members of Timber Valley extend our condolences to the family. Please contribute any stories or memories you have of Donna in the comments below.
‘Twas too hot to vacate my air-conditioned house,
Not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.
It’s so hot that the tires on my car want to melt.
Yes, I’m sure it’s the hottest that I’ve ever felt.
Rattle snakes were all nestled so snug in their beds,
“It’s too hot out there”, I’m sure they all said.
I put on my sunhat to go for a walk,
Don’t wait, it will soon be seven o’clock.
Cotton-tail bunnies hide out of sight,
No more romancing til later tonight.
They know how to multiply but not divide
Even tho they discreetly all hide.
The cactus must love this hot sunny shine,
They put out blooms that are so very fine.
Palo Verde’s tiny yellow flowers
Drift all around me in sneezy showers.
Come afternoon we’ll hide in air-conditioned spaces,
No one wants to go out to other places.
Look out the window at the sky so blue
Not a cloud anywhere to mar the view.
I’m back from my walk so now I’ll stay put.
Wait. First check thermometer that sits on my deck.
One hundred eighteen! Oh, come on, it’s not yet May.
One eighteen, oh that can’t be, what more can you say?
I’ll load up my stuff and I’ll pack up my car.
One thousand one hundred eighty one miles I go far
Thru mountains and valleys and deserts I go.
To home in the North where the cool winds will blow.
The mountains so grand rise up high on my way.
Mt. Shasta is gorgeous, the Queen of the Day.
It’s up and it’s down and it’s all around.
I don’t drive an RV, so motels I have found.
The mountains so green, they’re no longer all brown
No palm trees, no cactus in vales or in town.
The evergreen trees rise straight up to the sky.
They welcome me back as I travel by.
A home in the South and one in the North.
Good folks wherever I travel forth.
I’m so blessed to be loved by friends in both places.
To see smiles of welcome on all of their faces.
So put to bed this travesty of a poem,
Apologies go to Clement Clark Moore.
Originally he published anonymously
He’d surely disown this mess written by me.
Our community was deeply saddened by the recent loss of Bruce Boone, Lot #47 who passed away on May 05, 2020. Bruce has been a resident Leaseholder since 2003. Bruce was residing in Sutherlin with his daughter and son-in-law, Doug and Carol Brink, former Leaseholders. Bruce was very active with the Sutherlin Lions Club for many years. He also enjoyed life and bringing happiness to everyone he met.
The members of Timber Valley extend our condolences to the family. Please contribute any stories or memories you have of Bruce in the comments below.
Our community was deeply saddened by news of the recent passing of Ketty Sorensen in California. Along with her husband Poul, they became members of Timber Valley in 2001. She was reportedly very active with social and volunteer activities during her time here. She left the Park in 2014.
The members of Timber Valley extend our condolences to the family. Please contribute any stories or memories you have of Ketty in the comments below.
Looking for any member of Timber Valley SKP CO-OP Park to help with Landscape Nursery plant care.
Job Description: Work is outdoors in beautiful Oregon weather. Work consists of: daily watering (if it doesn’t rain) of plants that are not on the drip system; monitoring health of plants; occasionally fertilizing plants; and encouraging healthy plant growth (talk to the plants). Tools and materials will be supplied. Work schedule coordinated with other part time volunteer caretaker. Work is independent at your own pace. Superior social distancing provided.
Qualifications: Knowledge of plants and plant care desirable, but not required. Must be able to lift and carry a water hose to plants for watering and ability to mix and apply appropriate fertilizer when needed.
Wages: Commensurate with other volunteer work at Timber Valley SKP Park … Satisfaction.
Advancement Opportunities.
If interestested: Apply to Landscape Committee Co-Chair
Dar Hoch, Lot #31
920-344-9914
Yes, I talked to soap bubbles. As I prepared to wash dishes (accumulated from the last month) tiny little iridescent soap bubbles wafted upward. They were so cute. Most of them dashed themselves to death on the cupboard but one little guy was more resilient or determined than the rest. He floated upward and then down several times as I cheered him on. Ultimately he met his fate on the rim of the sink. Oh Woe. Life is short and then you die.
My attempts to cheer him on (how do I know it was a him??) didn’t work. Maybe if I’d talked nicer to my Keurig coffee maker it would have lived longer, (didn’t help the soap bubble much, did it?). Things like “Come on Slow Poke” and “I know I gave you more water than that. What did you do with it?” haven’t helped. It just got slower and more sluggish every day. I think it probably needed a diuretic. But did you know that the newest diuretic costs about $400 a month?? No Keurig is worth that.
Google it! Yah, my solution to all life’s problems. Google described taking the cup part off and inserting a straightened out paper clip up into the Keurig. Hokay! Unplug. I have a healthy respect for electricity, since I don’t understand it. I mean how can the light for a lamp travel through those black cords and liberated come out clear and light? And voices and music? A mystery. Anyway, I reamed out the little hole and tried again.
Sheesh! Ugh! I had used vinegar in an attempt to descale the Keurig and apparently it had held on to the vinegar. Ever try coffee creamed with vinegar?? Yuck! That’s why McDonald’s has a drive-through, right? A senior cup for now and a large to be divided tomorrow and the next day. Of course, that implies I don’t spill it before I get it home. But that’s another story. So now for the next two mornings I’ll have “nuked” coffees. And my Keurig can hog all the water and vinegar it wants.
Quarantining and social distancing are doing weird things to me. Knowing that I CAN’T (well, I’m committed to not) go anywhere is making me WANT to go. Talk about perverse nature. Does it affect you that way too? I still can get in my car and drive somewhere-anywhere I won’t have close personal contact. But what fun is that?
“Social distancing”, had you ever heard of that before? I wonder who coined that phrase. “Don’t get near me! Don’t touch me!” Isn’t that more like it? OHH, but that would be “socially unacceptable”. Now that’s a familiar phrase, it covers everything from professional to sexual behavior. Useful phrase. But will “social distancing” stand the test of time and be useful twenty years from now? Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ll care twenty years from now.
We had a Friday night ritual, about eight or nine of us, “Fish and Chips”. Battered, deep fried fish. I don’t really like battered and deep fried anything. But I ate it just to be sociable. Now! Now! I yearn for Fish and Chips. Silly, isn’t it?
I know: Buck up! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps! And all that good sort of stuff. Hup! Hup! Hang in there! The sun will shine again. And the humming bird outside my window will come by every morning.
The New Improved Laundry Room Schedule
Beginning May 13th the schedule for the use of the Laundry Room will be
modified to allow two Members to use the Laundry Room at once by using a
schedule of staggered two-hour blocks of time. One Member can be washing while
a second Member is using the dryers and folding table. Instructions are posted next
to the signup schedule.
Please help us make this work!
• Be on time. Late starts will cause problems for the rest of the day.
• If you plan not to use your block of time, please remove your name ASAP.
• Maintain social distancing at all times.
• Be kind and considerate of all.
Emergency Preparedness Incident Commander
The Landscape Committee requests that if you have plants or containers to donate that you contact a Committee Co-Chair in advance and not just leave them at the Landscape Nursery. Donations are appreciated, but unfortunately not everything can be used.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Dar Hoch and Bob Feiler
Landscape Committee Co-Chairs
“To thine own self be true…thou canst not then be false to any man” (Shakespeare) I presume (no ass-ume for me) that in order to be true, one must know thineself. Of course, those of us who are at retirement age (aren’t most of us?) must, by now, know ourselves…inside and out. Do you KNOW why you respond in definite ways to certain stimuli? Are you aware of how long, or short, your fuse is and what sets it off? (I just got a spam call, right this minute, and believe me, it set me off!) What makes you content with your life? What do you NEED daily to feel satisfied with life?
I thought I knew myself: independent, self-sufficient. (H’m, why is it I can’t fix my drippy, leaky kitchen faucet? Is it because I’m too ignorant or unskilled? Or is it because I don’t have the right tools? Aw, that must be it!)
More to the point. Quarantine is teaching me some things. Knowing that I CAN’T go and do everything I please; I’m now feeling deprived, insufficient in myself for maintaining my own happiness. I’m knocking my head against a brick wall with a sign that reads: “Huh, You aren’t as self-sufficient as you thought you were”. As the clock ticks through each 61-minute hour I wonder what can I do NOW?
Do you relate to any of this? Or am I just a lily-livered baby? This period of self-confinement is perhaps making us more aware, more “true” to ourselves. I’m discovering: I need people, I need schedules, I need reasons for fulfillment. And, yes, left to myself with no deadline pressures, I just want to slough off. Isn’t that enough to damage your self-respect?
Someday we will get back to normal. But maybe a new normal, a different normal from what we have known. Who knows? The Industrial Revolution brought a new normal. Henry Ford’s Model T brought a new normal. People rebounded, adjusted and life went on.
I hope our new normal won’t include masks, social distancing and no hugging. I hope we can go back to the crowded jams and happy social events we all knew. Who knows what we may have to sacrifice. Perhaps the question will be is saving a few lives worth it? Is saving our own life worth it? Or the lives of our friends or relatives? Statistics don’t count; people do. The popular saying, “The life you save may be your own” is more true today than ever.
