The Election Committee is inviting all members to review and write pro/con statements on the upcoming proposed By-Law changes. These are available in the Clubhouse now and will be available until May 16th.
So stop by, buy an ice cream bar, and spend a few minutes to get informed and make a comment or two if you feel so moved.
Most of us were quite happy to be done with 2020. Be it the pandemic, isolation, or wildfires, we endured a lot. So welcome 2021? Well, maybe not.
Let me explain. Continue reading
I asked my Doctor “Will I lose my hair?”
A definite “Yes” was the answer.
There is no escaping it. I will be facing the summer with hats and wigs to cover my very pale head. I wonder if there are freckles up there. One of my philosophies is “In every Bad there is some Good” Continue reading
BC: before cat (Amber is her name).
Flop out of bed, stagger to kitchen. Make coffee. Open blinds. Sit with coffee and enjoy view. Stagger back to bedroom, get dressed. Search refrig’ for breakfast items. Time elapsed: 20 minutes. Continue reading
Life is fleeting. And oh, so fragile. Connie Lankford passed away in her sleep April 24, 2021. Friday I talked with her on the phone for 30 minutes: she sounded fine, happy, looking forward to being “home” to Timber Valley. She had spent the winter in Yuma, Arizona at her “winter home”. Her son, Howard talked with her at 5:30 that evening and confirmed that he was picking her up at the Portland International Airport on Tuesday. Connie passed away sometime in her sleep that night or early the next morning.
Connie leaves many friends in Timber Valley and Cross Roads RV Park, Yuma. She was an enthusiastic Welcome Wagon volunteer, helped with Jacks and Jill’s projects and volunteered at the Sutherlin Visitor Center and the Visitor Center in Yuma. Her friend, Linda Zinc, credits Connie with helping to “embellish” the Welcome Wagon and Connie spent many happy hours working to welcome new people into the park. According to Rick DeYoung, who worked with her at the Sutherlin Visitor Center, she was a popular and enthusiastic volunteer there and she recruited several friends to join her as volunteers.
Connie was born in England “outside Liverpool”. According to Howard she came to the United States when she was about 23 years old, as Howard was born in Portland, Oregon. Connie and her husband Norm RVed the United States; finally settling in Medford, Oregon where they ran an office equipment and supply store which Connie managed. July 10, 2007 they moved into Timber Valley Park. Norm passed away in May 2013 and Connie continued to split her time between Oregon and Arizona.
Connie is survived by her son Howard Brown, of Portland, Terry who lives in Arkansas and Keith of White City, Oregon and three grandchildren and one great grandchild. There are many who will dearly miss her. If heaven has a Welcome Wagon, you can look for Connie to be running it!
I promised the good, bad, and the ugly. How about a combo of Good, Bad and Ugly, What could possibly be all three at once. I can’t taste food. Everything is yucky. I have lost a few pounds. Easy to limit calories when nothing tastes good. Even water is ugly. Ate something super spicy, Nothing! But my tummy reminded me later that it did not like spice and it didn’t matter that I couldn’t taste it.
Good. Nearly to the end of chemo and I have tolerated the treatments well. A nasty rash attacked but was quickly brought under control with antibiotics and steroids. Bonus, a sore, scaly spot on my hand for years has disappeared.
The Bad, I never thought I could feel so weak and tired and still have such trouble sleeping. I would love some good solid sleep but make do with an hour or two. This isn’t forever. I get rest, laying quietly in bed, listening to the quiet. Rest is the most I can hope for at this time.
The Ugly, as I approach the end of Chemo treatments, the Radiation Doctor has scheduled first appointment. From what I have read, this will not be a fun event. Lots of measuring, poking, arranging of body parts. Uncomfortable at best. Then there is my super fair skin and the ability to get a sunburn by a light bulb, well, almost. It will be daily trips,5 out 7, torture for sure. But, it is another step closer to the end of this journey.
Looking at the entire trip is overwhelming. But for one day, one hour, I can do anything. Just one step at a time.
First of all, this story is 92% BS and 10% true. So, if you like silliness, hop on. If you have a problem with it, call me and I’ll deliver my Complete Works of Leo Tolstoy. And a few assorted Dickens to sweeten the pot. Hey, that sounds like an advertising slogan for a certain Oregon agricultural product.
The monsters woke me up at 4:41 this morning with the idea for this story. I’ll take a nap later. The idea came as a result of a visit to some old friends. First actual human to human visit in a long, long time. Socially distant etc. For obvious reasons, I will not name them.
When I called to see if they would like company, Gene said “ sure, but I don’t have any beer “. Taking a subtle hint, I made a quick stop at the local convenience store. That brought to mind this pseudo memory.
Rita and I once lived in a condo complex in the Naugatuck Valley, so named after the Naugatuck River. Said river named after the friendly little Nauga that roamed the area. They prospered and multiplied from almost the beginning of time. They were all over the place until the U.S. Rubber company discovered they could use them to make furniture covering. Very popular in the 50s. They were hunted almost to extinction by locals who gave up hunting deer because they couldn’t make a buck.
The company finally moved their breeding ground to the more civilized Wisconsin where they are treated with dignity and respect. It is said that one local tried to keep a pair and start his own breeding area. Too late he discovered they were named Chad and Phil.
Oh yeah, convenience store.
One of the units in our condo was occupied by the King family. Not their original name which had fourteen letters and one vowel. So Joe and Fay became the Kings. They named their twin boys after the first signs they saw in America. Nopar and Nosmo. They lived with a variety of relations. Some of which we never saw. Bill and Mill were always very polite, but, the old woman called Aunty was flat out nasty and mean. Since everyone including the twins worked at the store,Aunty ran the home with an iron fist. And she hated everyone.
Nowadays it seems fashionable to be anti this or anti that. My only anti has been anti Aunty. I swear,her main job was to teach the family and store employees,THE LOOK. THE LOOK says to all who enter the store, “ Why are you here, and if you try to steal anything, I will shoot you. Check this out next time you go, just please,don’t giggle.
Believe it or not, this is good for business. Among the many reasons people go there:
I am not prejudiced, so I drove ten miles out of my way to prove it.
I come in for the challenge. I may not make you laugh, but smile you will.
Of course the Kings know that if they do, they lose that business.
The beer is very cold, and there is lots to choose from. Oh, and the beer is very cold.
OK: So, hopefully, I have entertained you with the fictitious Joe King ,Fay King, Bill
King, Mill King, Nopar King and Nosmo King. Now it’s your turn. Hit reply, and tell us about some of your fake Kings
Anybody can do it,so let’s go.
PS. Since our stories are now famous on three continents,America, Canada, and the U.K. , maybe some one can explain why it is called the United Kingdom, instead of the United Queendom. Just wondering. Inquiring minds etc.
Written with a minuscule assist by Elvis. The King.
—
Fred
By Bev Boykin #87 Membership Committee
In the last few months, we have add several new members to our park. Unfortunately, Covid kept us from welcoming them properly so I am trying to play catch-up.
Please give a Big SKP Welcome to:
Larry and Marie Heath, Lot #60, are full timers having given up their stick house in California. They have 2 children, 6 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren. Marie loves to do bead work.
Larry spent 47 years as an engineer and Marie 20 years as the manager of a bowling center. Larry worked overseas in Saudi Arabia for 5 years. As an engineer, he participated in the building of a city. It was very exciting seeing it all come together and they would like to go back and see what it looks like today.
They have traveled around the World three times…every time, they stop at their favorite little jewelry store to pick up a few bargain trinkets. RVing isn’t new to this couple. They started camping in a rented camper in the early 60’s. Their favorite travel destination is Laguna Beach in California.
Ken and Shirley Smedley, Lot #9, just accepted their lot. It will be their home base. They have been married for 30 years and have 3 children, 9 grandchildren and a precious new great grandchild between them.
Ken retired as a Navy contractor and Shirley retired from the banking field. Ken also served on the City Council in Fillmore, CA. The couple loves RVing, especially boondocking. They spend time in Quartzsite, AZ during the winter and enjoy seeing the country all year long. Shirley describes herself as a wandering Gypsy at heart.
Shirley loves to knit and crochet and wants to get her sewing machine set up to do some quilting. Ken expressed an interest in learning to play pickle ball and they both want to include mushroom hunting in their future travels. They love our beautiful park and appreciate the “feel of Home” they found here.
I hate to admit it, but the losses of the past year, and the isolation imposed by the virus, have left me fighting a daily battle with depression. Most days it’s a draw, some days I win, some I lose. The last few days, I have taken a serious ass whooping.
I just armed myself with my magic weapon for today’s battle. I put my ear buds in and activated Pandora. I don’t know why, but I hadn’t listened for a while. I just had the feeling that I should do it now.
The first music played was John Williams recording of The Throne Room from Star Wars. (Listen: the distant sound of stories rattling the bars.) That sound grew loud enough for me to sit down and try to share a story with you.
Rita was music major, as you know. She had a wonderful voice. Opera, Broadway whatever. She was great. I, however, have no musical ability whatsoever.
And I can provide several hundred witnesses to offer proof.
But music is important. And if I can finish this story, it is magic indeed.
When we lived in Connecticut we learned that John Williams was going to give a free concert at Tanglewood in the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. So we packed the camper, got a site not too far away, and got ready for what was to become an enduring memory.
This was not just a concert. It was a beautiful fall day. We sat fifteen feet away from John Williams and the Boston Pops orchestra. It was a rehearsal for that night’s performance at Symphony Hall in Boston. (Well, duh)
Before each piece, J.W. for brevity, explained to the audience what the piece was, and how he composed it. You know, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T. and the like.
We learned that, before writing a note, he watched the complete movie with no sound. No dialogue. Just the actions he was to bring to life.
After explaining each scene, the orchestra rehearsed it. As they played, we were able to witness the transformation of symbols on paper into something that can stir every emotion in the human soul. A truly magic weapon.
That night, we went back to the campground and listened to the entire concert.
It’s hard to describe the feeling we had. It was as if we had participated in something that would be uplifting to everyone who listened.
All these years later, just thinking about that day gladdens my heart. It represents so many of the wonderful memories we shared.
I have to thank J.W., Pandora, and whatever force had me start listening at that precise moment in time. Right now, I’m looking down into the pit, not up from it.
Today I won.
I’m writing this today, because I know some of you are fighting the same battle, and maybe, just maybe, these words will help you find your own magic weapon. And next time you need it, it will help you win that battle.
And who knows, that might end the war.
Fred
Come on people, support your Park. Step up and run for an open Board position. Thank you so much.
The deadline for resumes to be in the Office is Friday April 23 by 5:00 PM,
Jeannie
IFPL III