Ciaobella...
..." yes like having an extended family "   although just been 3 years for me...

Ciaobella,  I'm afraid my last message was misleading?  We did not have frogs and snakes and lizards, living inside our house.  There was only one time that our younger daughter came inside to show me a small red garden snake - about a foot long.  He slipped out of her hands and slithered away, but was so fast that he quickly disappeared from sight. I don't remember how long he was loose, but the entire family was constantly on the lookout for a few days.  He eventually showed up, in the middle of the night, in the bathroom!  I wasn't about to try to catch him, so I closed the door and woke her up.  She caught him quickly and put him outside.  I remember that she had named him -but I can't recall his name?

LonelyMountain -  I'm so sorry you got the pesticide poisoning and as a result,  you had to change your entire lifestyle.  It's good that you found your  mountaintop, and that you've learned to make the best of a sad situation.   Did you ever consider moving to the coastal area of Oregon, instead of the mountains?  There is something about the salt water breeze that blows off the ocean, that seems so clean and pure.  Lots of space and lots of solitude, if you stay away from the seaside towns.   

When I saw you were from Oregon, I thought,  "Finally,  someone else  in Seniors and Friends, living in the Pacific Time Zone".   I've always been alone out here in the far West, with everyone else living more than a thousand miles from me.   Now I'm wondering if you might be in that small area of Oregon that's part of the Mountain Time Zone?

Good Morning Marilyne!
I'm in the Pacific time zone: NE Oregon, behind the cantle of the saddle. I did look at the coastal communities. Many people with chemical poisoning were being sent there from all over the US. Unfortunately by people who thought it would be safe, but were not aware of the hidden dangers.

I volunteered for 10 years with a 501(c3) that helped people with this disability. I did education and awareness, lots of research into toxins and safer products, locations. I also did phone support, counseling and outreach. I'd learned that there is a toxic smog band that winds like a ribbon and covers the entire Pacific Ocean. It comes from China. The USCal- Davis Air Quality Research Station said, back then, that on any given day 1/3 of the air pollutants in Los Angeles air samples came from China.

I was contacted by a forced into retirement drug enforcement officer from Florida. She was injured in a meth lab bust. Her doctor told her she had to move to save her life and suggested, "Maybe the Oregon coast." Nobody knew where to go. She moved to a coastal community and found nowhere safe to stay. She spent her first night in Oregon on the post office lobby floor. She started a safe space for any chemically injured refugee that showed up. And then the timber industry got wind of it. They use a lot of pesticide in the coastal range and its dispersed mostly by helicopter. That contamination radius is 2 miles! She protested and got targeted. The timber companies began harassing and spraying her group. It was pretty awful. Last I heard from her she had an upcoming court date against them. She was representing herself, pro S,e as lawyers won't touch our cases. Then she went dark. That happens a lot in our community.

The pulp and paper mills are pretty bad too. One of my other contacts was a woman who was injured while working in a paper mill. She told me that the regular people have no idea how horribly toxic the chemicals they use in paper making are.

There's a lot they don't disclose to the public!

But on a lighter note, I'm glad you're so close! Howdy neighbor!!

OnLonelyMountain - Marilyne
...we once had a factory behind my family home called The British Moulded Hose Factory...and as you can guess some assumed it was a hosiery factory but, it was an asbestos factory which caught fire when i was in our school playground at age 10, the playground was in-front of my family home...Back in the day this was a big thing, many fire engines attended...Of course the innocent men back then i am assuming did not know of the dangers of asbestos, one of my school friends father worked there at the time...

Yikes Jackie! I'm cringing just imagining it! My mind immediately started wondering how many people got injured by the asbestos (and other toxins) in the smoke and never connected the dots. Smoke travels a long way. Up here where I live wildfires are the issue, like tornadoes are in the midwest. When it starts getting smokey I check the reports to see how close the source is. A couple of years back the smoke was coming from California and Canada. It was so thick here my pictures came out like they'd had a sepia wash.

Good morning to everyone looking in.  Still early here  - just turning 8:00 AM. 

Callie -  I saw your message in SS yesterday that you had a trip to the ER, after falling in the kitchen.  Glad that all is well, with no lingering after effects?  I had a similar fall on Christmas Eve, 2023, at son and dil's house . . .  difference being that I wasn't alone. I had the entire family there to witness the scene!      I landed on my back, and was unconscious for just a few minutes.  I didn't want the EMT's, so AJ and I drove directly to the ER, and sounds like you got the same excellent treatment there that I got.  Like you, I had a big sore bump on the back of my head, and also on my tailbone.

It's a beautiful morning here . . . cool and sunny.  So far no wildfires here yet, although it's inevitable.  Last year wasn't as bad for us as in previous years, because we had had a rainy Winter.  Not so much this year - no measurable rain since March.  A few showers and drizzly days this Spring, but  not what we were hoping for. 

OLM - I think I'm familiar with where you live in Oregon?  Is it anywhere in the vicinity of the Columbia River?     

Marilyne, yes, our farm is near the Columbia. The mountain is further east after the Columbia turns and heads into Washington. Are ypu in the SW part of Oregon?

Sibling Rivalry;

https://youtu.be/YTnIUMxE6n4

OLM . . . I live in California - native daughter.  We live about  45 miles S/W of San Francisco.  I've lived in both Oregon and Washington in the past.  My Dad worked for a paper company located in Oregon, and at one point, my parents and brother moved to Portland, and lived there for a little over a year.  I was in college at the time in CA, but spent my Summer vacation with them in OR.  I loved it there!! 

Got  married in 1956, and my husband was drafted shortly thereafter.  After basic he was sent to an Army Post in  Eastern Washington, Tri-Cities area, where we lived for over a year.  That's why I'm somewhat familiar with your area - or what it was like then, so long long ago.  I'm sure you know the Umatilla Bridge?  It was brand NEW - had been just recently completed when we lived there.       

Patricia - I've been neglecting Shadow and Jackie and their two babies in recent months.  So good to see how healthy and big they look.  Thanks for posting the link again!

Appears I've also a connection - the only time my son, with his young family ever lived outside of Texas was for 3 years in Beaverton Oregon - Of course I flew to visit - back then always visited both sets of grands 4 times a year - alternated Christmas and Thanksgiving with Paul and my daughter and then for each of the boys birthdays. 

Paul having twins and Chris it was the same 2 Birthday visits as Katha having two boys and then a visit in the Fall to see the leaves with Katha in NC and a visit in Oregon late summer that included a trip to the ocean and now Ty, my daughter's eldest is a professor at Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Seattle Washington.

I got too old and have not been able to visit Ty in Seattle but years ago, back in the late 70's, I was there and also in Vancouver sharing the new Girl Scout training program for leaders with Girl Guides in Canada, stayed with a local family in both cities as they proudly showed me the sites including a wonderful trip to Victoria with the couple from Vancouver.

I do remember the Thanksgiving visit with Paul and Sally in Oregon included a trip into the mountains where they knew of a tree farm where they chopped down their family Christmas Tree - the boys were only 5 and 6 - to get there we followed a road adjacent to the Columbia River. The tree farm was high on the side of a mountain where you could see for miles - there was snow on the ground - not heavy but it covered the ground till we got back to Portland and Beaverton - One part of that trip I looked forward to was coming home - in the airport Powell's had a wonderful book store that I never left without at least 5 books - This was way before all the limits on bags accompanying a passenger onboard that we tucked under our feet.

Hiked many locations including several times in Europe and Mexico but for whatever reason never did hike in Oregon or the state of Washington nor did I ever really hike in NC - long walks and tubing down the Green River in NC but no hiking.

And so my memories of the Northwest are from years ago but I have some familiarity with the landscape - not intimate but at least not a blank slate either.

Patricia never visited Alaska and Marilyne, and this I can't believe either but, never visited California - as a young teen Sally visited the Wine Country with her Mom and Dad and I thought often of the Redwood Forest but never did make it.

Marilyne, 😁 I was born in San Mateo. We lived in Hayward for several years. My parents moved to Springfield, Oregon when I was 6. Then to Portland, and on to Hillsboro. My husband was the engineer on the I 82 cutoff to the Umatilla Bridge! I know Tri-Cities well. The name of that base escapes me at present but I spoke to them just last year. You certainly have covered Oregon and Washington.

You both have so many wonderful memories!

Barb, One of the places I loved best in downtown Portland was the main Powell's Bookstore. I'd get lost in there for hours! I always wanted to visit the Redwoods as an adult. I think we drove through at night when I was 6. I don't remember them at all. I had a whole list of places I was planning to go. I was only 36 when I got poisoned. I told my kids follow your dreams while you can and don't put them off until later. My daughter takes that to heart. After she graduated with her BS she spent a month crawling through the jungles of Taiwan collecting insects, and just last year finally got to spend 2 weeks on the Amazon river. A dream she's had since she was 5 years old. Yes bugs were involved, even though it was a missionary trip. My son's dream was always to live in Texas and scuba dive in the Gulf. His second job is as a scuba instructor. They are doingnwhat they love.