Category Archives: Observations

And this was then

Posted on May 8, 2021 by Fran Gardner

I found this item while rooting around in my old daily exercises. It’s like a fever dream. Every thought engenders another. My life was full then, and it is now. January 9, 2014 11:14 AM As I work in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Create, Food, How to live, making, Observations | Tagged | 1 Comment

Advice

Posted on May 17, 2020 by Fran Gardner

“To thine own self be true.” “Never get involved in a land war in Asia.” “Plastics.” Most advice I’ve gotten over the years I’ve forgotten or ignored. Sometimes I listen. Lately, two pieces of advice from 50 years ago and … Continue reading →

Posted in How to live, Observations | Tagged | 2 Comments

Same as it every was

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Fran Gardner

I’ve been reading History of the Great American Fortunes, a book published in 1909 by Gustavus Myers. Myers may well have been a Marxist, but his social commentary is right on the mark as he calls out the rich and powerful … Continue reading →

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Bucket baloney

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Fran Gardner

Despite my resolution for this month (February), to avoid thinking, saying or writing negative things, I can’t get a recent Editorial Notebook from the New York Times out of my head. The title is “Last Things First for Patients With … Continue reading →

Posted in Gratitude, Happiness, How to live, Observations | 3 Comments

Happy Birthday. I saw it on Facebook.

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Fran Gardner

My birthday is in a couple of days, January 1 to be exact.  If this year is like previous years, I will get several dozen Happy Birthday messages on Facebook, most of them from people I know more or less … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations | 5 Comments

I’m still here

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Fran Gardner

I appreciate my blog. I do. I appreciate my daughter Lyza for quietly renewing the URL every year. It’s just that there are so many other things to do than write entries in it. Things mostly involving fabric and yarn, … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations, Things I made | 2 Comments

I can see clearly now

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Fran Gardner

I  look at my face in the mirror and think, this is how I am going to look for the rest of my life. I wander into the bathroom late in the evening and start to wash my hands before … Continue reading →

Posted in Gratitude, Happiness, Observations | 1 Comment

Library serendipity

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Fran Gardner

The more information we have available, the narrower our focus. We can’t read all the news that’s out there, so we focus on just the topics that interest us. The daily newspaper used to be a feast of serendipity. There … Continue reading →

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Roasted pumpkin seeds

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Fran Gardner

Some of my clearest memories of living in Bloomington, MN, as a child are of fall produce stacked in an open cinder-block stand run by college students. In those days, I didn’t like squash—it took sweet, tender-fleshed Delicata, developed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Observations | Leave a comment

First-ever letter to the editor

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Fran Gardner

I worked for The Oregonian as an editor and reporter for 34 years, ending with a buyout in 2008. So I always had a platform for ideas I thought were important. That all ended with a buyout in 2008. I … Continue reading →

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