New resources for military veterans… •VA reinstates in-person services at 100 hospitals across the countryhttps://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5481 •Plan to boost housing improvement grants for disabled Veterans poised to become lawhttps://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/07/21/plan-to-boost-housing-improvement-grants-for-disabled-veterans-poised-to-become-law/ •VA expands funding for emergency response for Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness…https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5487 •Study shows VA surgical care better than or equal to non-VA hospitalshttps://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5489 •VA […]
Letter: Play-by play, baseball is life
On this date, August 15, eight years ago, a friend of mine on Facebook alerted all within his circle of influence that history was very possibly in the making. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners ace, was three outs away from a no-hitter. “Tune in for the top of the ninth!” Our son, then residing two hours […]
The Red Fury – A Good Story and Lessons to be Learned
Out west (Arizona?) in the early 1900s, a flatbed railroad car is loaded with Native Americans traveling from somewhere to somewhere else. A young boy, sleeping in the night, rolls over and falls off the flatbed. He wanders until he is taken in by a friendly rancher. He helps around the ranch and one day […]
August Afternoon 2020 – Lunch and Sharing Beautiful Views and Faces
Peg had gotten up too early. I’ve been resurfacing the asphalt driveway under our three-car carport. I only resurfaced one bay before I had run out of surface goop, filler, and gas. I was gooped up and pooped out. I asked Peg if she’d like to accompany me to Lowe’s for more goop that I […]
A Prediction from Jaynie Jones that goes Boom Boom Boom!
I predict a Baby Boom in the next six to nine months. With millions of people “quarantined” at home, “self-isolating” under “Stay Home / Stay Safe” orders such as here in Washington and in other states from coast-to-coast across the United States, I anticipate that there will be a tsunami of new babies arriving in […]
Across the Fence: A Flowering Mission
Have you ever found something that was approximately 50 million years old, thus just a bit younger than the last dinosaurs, and you were permitted to keep it? Exactly that happened to my husband and me very recently when we were exploring the quaint town of Republic, Washington. For it is the home of a […]
New Korean fried chicken restaurant is open. Here’s a first look (spoiler: it’s awesome)
Two months earlier, Mija Chang stood in the half-assembled dining room of BB.Q Olive Chicken in Lakewood and worried about the final details of opening her Korean fried chicken restaurant with her sister Mi Young Kang. There was nothing to worry about except serving the rush of customers who checked out the first day of […]
Louie G’s, the pizza restaurant and live music venue, is closing
Louie G’s, the pizzeria and live music venue in Fife, is permanently closing. Its last day of business will be August 29. It’s a restaurant I adore for its stalwart brick-oven pizza that churns out solid pies and terrific calzones, which made my top calzones list in 2018. In 2016, I took a deep dive […]
Peanut Butter Falcon – Movie Review
“I’m going to give you all my wishes for my birthday.” How could you not love a film with that quotation in it? By the time I got to that quotation, however I was already hooked by this buddy film/road show. “Zak, a 22-year-old with Down syndrome, lives in an assisted living facility in North […]