by Fred Prout
I just spent five days as a guest of Mercy Hospital. They removed a piece of my colon. I now only have a semi. They thought it was cancer. It wasn’t. Yippee !!!
I now have a bag , boo!!! When we have the next T.P. shortage, come visit. I have extra. Continue reading
Hummingbird Lane is honored to have a special woman and an amazing animal located in Lot 42. Continue reading
The Pavement Slurry Seal Project is essentially done. The Park wants to thank all of those who assisted with traffic control, project management, handling mail and packages, and any other task that was so instrumental in the efficient and quick completion of this big project. So, a HUGE Thank You to all of you who helped out. Continue reading
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
