Development of Portland, Oregon, as a Commercial Center
I’ve written earlier posts about the development of Portland, Oregon, where my work-in-progress is set. Although Oregon City was the first commercial town to grow in Oregon, Portland soon surpassed it. Portland had only 800 residents in 1850, but by 1870 had over 8,000—far smaller than San Francisco, but far larger than Oregon City. Portland’s […]
Reflections on a Second Granddaughter
With everything else going on, I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to rejoice in my second granddaughter. But she is a treasure. I recounted some of the drama associated with her birth in last week’s post, but I am happy to say she came through it unscathed. (The adults around her bore […]
A Roller-Coaster Month So Far
Some weeks glide by, almost without notice. Others pack a punch, pitching and tossing like the wildest roller coasters. The last couple of weeks have been a roller-coaster for me. I don’t like roller coasters. Like a roller coaster, the end of April was quiet enough. But my husband and I knew the pace would […]
Requiem for Langley
One of my favorite dogs ever has died—my daughter’s dog Langley. Langley has been a fixture in our family for over eleven years. She passed away suddenly this week, just hours after the vet found a massive tumor in her abdomen. As my daughter says, Langley’s last gift was not making her choose whether to […]
Copilot Hallucination — Glad I Was on the Ground
I wrote recently about setting up my new laptop. One of the first things I did was set up the facial recognition and fingerprint recognition security features. Those are really slick when they work. But I usually use an external monitor and other peripherals with my laptop. I keep my laptop closed in front of […]
Jumping Off: Crossing the Missouri River at Kanesville, Iowa, 1847-1851
Since moving to Seattle, I’ve been researching some of the early pioneers who settled in this area. The first settlers to establish a permanent presence in what is now Seattle were the Denny Party, who arrived in 1851. They left Illinois in April and reached Portland in late August of that year. One thing I’ve […]
Setting Up Another New Laptop
A couple of months ago, I noticed that the laptop I bought in 2021 was beginning to sit unevenly on my desk. Uh, oh, I thought, the battery may be going bad. I’d had this happen before, and that laptop lasted for a year or so. This time, my laptop worked perfectly, so I didn’t […]
My Third Beach Birthday
I’ve mentioned before that I spent two of my birthdays at Cannon Beach, Oregon—my 12th and my 15th. Last Saturday was my birthday (not a milestone), and I was fortunate to spend it on a beach as well—this time Richmond Beach, Washington. It’s been a long timing coming since my last beach birthday, but I […]
A Quarter Through 2025: Am I Voting “Present”?
On New Year’s Day, I posted that my resolution for 2025 was to vote “present” when confronted with decisions about what to do. In other words, I resolved to balance my propensity for planning with living in the moment. To focus on what should come next in the immediate moment, rather than worrying too far […]
The Pig War and the Peace Arch
My husband and I visited the Peace Arch on the border between the United States and Canada last weekend. The scene was idyllic—water, gardens, and an inspiring arch that reminds us that the U.S. and Canada have had friendly relations for a long time. “Children of a common mother,” says the U.S. side of the […]