Scooter Saga

Disclaimer:  This is about our family reunion and there are a lot of pictures.  I made an effort to keep my sentimental nature in check.  No apologies—if it seems too cheesy, you can wait for the next blog post. The good news is that we either don't have a weird relative or we're all a bit weird.  The Oregon contingent hosted our 2014 Schuman family reunion, signing on to house most of the second generation and their offspring.  The first (senior) generation headed for the nearby hotel. Although we thought we were three distinct generations, we didn't foresee the significance of an emerging blend—the transition generation. First generation (seniors) age range 65 to 80 Second generation (adults) age range 38 to 55 Third generation (children) age range 4 to 11 Transition generation (neither adult nor child) age range 16 to 25 Fortunately, the transition generation, typical of resourceful people, found entertainment everywhere. On night two, hearing m...

Oregon, like most northwestern states, has a variety of climates–alpine, coastal, rainforest, desert.  Depending on what part of the state one is in, the experiences with mother nature can vary in intensity and advanced warning. We can actually get ice, snow, thunder and lightning, flooding, high wind, earthquake, tornado, volcanic eruption, tsunami, drought, wild fires, and heat waves.  Adverse weather most often doesn't last or cause major property damage.  It can be more inconvenient than lethal. Oregonians, however, have less tolerance for weather variation.  We whine when it's too hot, humid, cold, dry, wet...*  On the other hand, Oregonians don't ever take a sunny day for granted. A beautiful Sunday dawned as Skeeter and I headed off to meet my friend at Starbucks. Since they have a big outdoor patio, and it was such a lovely, summer day, my friend and I decided to have coffee "al fresco".  By the time I scooted there, it was cooler th...

It was time to think about phase two of the house remodel.  Earl's retiring next year, but still gainfully employed.  It was now or never.  We love everything we did in 2010, but now had a big two–bedroom house.  That's just goofy, considering the eventual value.  Not that we're planning to sell, but we wanted to be responsible.  There was plenty of "camping out on the floor" room, but could we do something more conventional as well?  The big question was, could we get more usable space without more house? Could we house family/guests? Yes. Could we house family/guests and afford some privacy? No. Did the grandchildren have a play area?  Yes. One they didn't have to share?  No.  Could we have two grandchildren for a sleep over.  Yes.  All four?  No.  Would we want to?  Probably not. Was there an affordable way to make the former master bathroom accessible to more rooms?  Yes. Was I very attache...

In case you don't remember what we look like* Our family vacation took us back to Central Oregon where the weather is usually warmer.  Although adjacent to Sunriver, the area where we stayed is newer, quieter, and the bike paths aren't heavily trafficked.  That's important when you have four young children, some being bike-riding novices, and an ataxic grandmother.  Daily bike ride This year, the parents imposed a "No idevice" rule.  How do you (gulp) keep four children under eleven, entertained for five days?  Short answer: Keep them moving.  More important answer:  Leave them to (uh) their own devices. The children made frequent use of the pool table, the hot tub and swimming pool, bikes, books, and various drawing implements.  The eight year old created the adults' portraits (see above) and "finger–knitted" a Rapunzel lock (see below) .  The ten year old read to the younger ones.  The lone boy taught everyone how to sho...

OK, that sounds a bit accusatory; truth is, part of my customary village was temporarily unavailable for various reasons.  The housekeeper had childcare issues and couldn't come.  My assistant had an out-of-the-country travel opportunity and wasn't planning to come.  Earl and I decided to put our rental property on the market, so we had scheduled painting and cleaning bids.  Another rental property, newly vacant, needed to be shown to prospective tenants. However, we're a pretty effective couple and crafted a plan to get it all done.  Typical of life, everything happens at once. We had an unexpected family medical issue that required Earl to fly down to California for an unspecified length of time.  I thought I was on my own, until I remembered the village.* When you're a person with disabilities, it's easy to fall into the trap of becoming overly dependent on some kind of support to do things or go somewhere.  Skeeter and I had been on the go fo...

While Skeeter, an outside assistive device, gives me increased mobility, the app-loaded smartphone is my primary handheld device.  They are my friends. I love them. They've changed my life.  Being inanimate, they are impossible to offend.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I confess to being an above average, but still average, technology groupie.  There are many people who are more or less so and I'm not even talking about the professionals.  I love getting handwritten notes and cards.  I would send them if I still had the ability to write beautifully, but I don't.  I can , however, stay on top of current technological advances and consider myself an 'early technology adopter'.  New technology can be like the friend you enjoy and value, but occasionally apologize for.  Certainly computers, smartphones, tablets, and apps benefit many people, but they definitely can enhance activities that were once either difficult or ...

It's hard to believe the book, Scooter Sagas came out just over a year ago.  I continue to promote it at book conventions, websites, and libraries, but I haven't set the world on fire.  As I said before, my book is not Anna Karenina.  T he Daily Show with Jon Stewart hasn't called, but I've been out and New York is such a schlep.  I actually received a royalty check that funded a dinner out for us.  The publishing company did report a high volume sale, but the buyer ended up being me.  Earl didn't quit his day job, so we're still solvent.  Family and friends liked it.  I have some new friends living in other countries.  I feel in touch with people I don't see enough and look forward to hearing back from them (like Christmas, only year round) .  Other individuals, with and without disabilities, found something in the book that spoke to them; everyone deals with something.  Most importantly, our grandchildren enjoy being refe...