Tag Archives: extraordinary peeps

Damsel in Distress

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I am not often a damsel in distress, but this morning I was.

Awoke @ 5:30am to visit the bathroom. The old bedroom door in this old, but lovely, house got stuck and would not open. Nobody here but me and the dog and she’s no help. So, I am stuck in a bedroom on the 2nd floor and can’t get out. I pull and tug until the door knob falls off.I manage to woogie the pins out of the door hinges but, still, the door is stuck and so am I.

Called my friend Lynda Jacobs and left a message. Luckily, in her sleep, she heard it and managed to call me back. She and her dog, Harley, came over and saved me. Phew. Plus, we had a great talk, which is something that always happens when Lynda shows up in my life. Still saving me after all these years. JS

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Stormy in Tulsa

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Rainy, stormy night here in Tulsa. Bad storms and tornadoes are around somewhere, although not here, not right now.

I did 6 rolfing sessions today, ate some delicious soup and salad for dinner, ran a couple of errands and beat it back to Kay & Stephen’s before the big rains hit. Now, I am pooped.

Stay safe and warm, everyone. Hard to believe it’s almost the end of May and I’m sitting here in a fleece jacket in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Don’t think climate change is upon us, Sen. Inhofe? You might want to re-think that one. JS

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Finishing up my rolfing trip to Lubbock today. Many thanks to my friends Cheryl Benoit and Melody Ogletree, owners of The PforymWELL Center, for hosting me to work in such a great place, as well as for the nice bed in which to lay my sleepy head each night.

Many thanks, also, to rolfing clients here in Lubbock whose Texas accents and kind hearts remind me of things so good and pure about my home state, things I still miss since I moved away so long ago.

Also, I just need to say this: I LOVE COWBOYS. I grew up around them. I love their dusty boots and crumpled hats and their shirts and Wranglers starched stiff as road signs, reminding me that some ranch wife loves them, too, someone who sends them out into the world each day looking as good as she can get them to look, for a while, anyway. Makes my heart smile. JS

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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, Mother! 2015

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Tomorrow is Mother’s Day which, for those of us who are now without our Moms on this earthly plane, is always a little melancholy – not terrible, but just adds to my missing her.

I know we all tend to think ours was the very best one, which is always okay. I don’t think it’s something we need to squabble over. Mine could make me crazy and froth at the mouth over politics and religion. We would almost draw swords over those issues, so, wisely, we tried to steer each other away from those hot-button points, especially as I got older and she became ill. Besides, it’s hard to have a good fight with someone who is struggling to breathe, which she was, and it made my heart hurt to see her like that. I like relishing my sweet memories of her – hugging close to me the memories that roll around in my brain like old friends come to call. I loved her beauty and her laugh and how making her laugh was always our treasure, like some swell secret her five kids knew how to do.

Was she perfect? No. But, she was the perfect Mom for me, the one from whom I learned determination and humor, compassion and how to go out with a concealed hand in canasta…how to do a hook slide into 2nd base…and how to get back up on horse that had just thrown me (after I chased it across a pasture to catch it.)

Was she the very best Mom in the world, ever? Maybe. It doesn’t matter if she got the title or the ribbon; she was the very best Mom for me. Her love kept us all afloat, I know that, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way. So, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, Mother! I still miss you every day. JS

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Odd conversations

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Stef and I have the oddest conversations sometimes. For example, this afternoon she had her Nikon out with the giant, bazooka-shaped lens and was photographing a black spider on the post by the gate. He had funky-looking, sorta turquoise-neon eyeballs and fangs to match. Every so often, he’d rise up and bare his fangs at the lens, like that would frighten it away.

“Whoa,” she said, “I think I’m just really making him mad.”

“Is he the kind of spider who flings himself at you and bites?” I asked. I know very little about spiders except to give them their space.

“I’m not sure,” she said, “but, if he flings himself at me, I’m going to scream like a girl.”

I thought for a second. “You realize I won’t be saving you from this, if he attacks,” I said.

“Yes,” she said.

“If he attacks, you’re completely on your own,” I reminded her.

She let out a little sigh of exasperation. “I know,” she said.

I continued, “Because you might scream like a girl, but if that spider attacks, I will crash through the fence and race down the street, squealing like Tarzan’s girlfriend, just know that.”I saw her eyes start to glaze over, but that didn’t slow me down. “Now, if your spider bite gets infected, I will put ointment on it for you, and if your body goes septic because of a nasty spider bite, I’ll drive you to the hospital but, just remember, fighting off the spider is totally up to you and, if I were you, I’d quit doing whatever it is I was doing to piss him off. But, that’s just me.”

She lowered the camera for a moment and stared at me. “Jody,” she said.

“Hmmm?” I replied.

She pointed toward the door. “Go inside,” she said.

And, so, I did. JS

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Moises Alfaro, a wonderful and kind man

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There is a wonderful and kind man I know in Dallas named Moises Alfaro. He works for Federal Express. He and his wife, Barbara, have been friends with my family for years and years, but it started way back, even before they were at the marrying age.

My younger brothers, Pat and Mike, were twins. They became friends with Moi in Jr. High School at L.V. Stockard and the three of them went everywhere together. A few years later, they all grew their hair long and threw frisbees constantly and it seemed we always had two or three of those discs stranded up on the roof. Once a week, one of the twins would climb up there and rake them off, then they’d start over. Indeed, Moi became a World Champion Frisbee dude, winning contest after contest with his skill and athleticism. So, there’s the back story.

Years and years later, in 2007, when my brother Pat was in Methodist Hospital, dying of lung cancer, Moi was there every day, holding Pat’s hand, praying beside his bed. One day, I said, “Moi, when did you come on the scene? I mean, I can’t actually remember a time you weren’t at our house. Do you remember?” He got a sweet look in his eyes. “Mine was the first Mexican family to move into your neighborhood,” he said, “and yours was the first family to be nice to us.”

“We were?” I asked, “We did? Huh. Well, good for us.”

And, I’m thinking that was Mother’s doing, really. She didn’t care what your background, skin color, or culture was as long as you treated her kids right. If you did that, if you were a good friend to her children, you were part of her brood, so don’t expect to get away because it wasn’t going to happen. I loved that about her. JS

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The KZEW REUNION in Dallas was so wonderful

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Back home, finally. We flew out of Dallas this morning, made it to Portland, caught the shuttle to get Stef’s car, then over to Mark’s to pick up mine and drove the 3 hrs. down to Roseburg.

Toby is beside himself with doggie glee. He hasn’t seen me in 3 weeks and, any time we walk out to the mailbox, he thinks we will be gone forever, so it’s a big deal for me to come walking in the door.

Glad to be back. The KZEW REUNION in Dallas was so wonderful. Really glad we went. JS

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KZEW 2015 REUNION

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Big weekend, this one. Our KZEW 2015 REUNION was so much fun! I was delighted to see so many old friends from radio days, just as I was delighted to have participated, way back in the 1970’s, in a Dallas/Ft.Worth station that rocked FM radio out of the elevator and into the ears and hearts of so many listeners for so long.

I left the ZOO in 1979 to go off to the Rolf Institute in Boulder to learn how to become a Rolfer.

A lot can happen to our butts, bellies and hair in 36 years, most of it not so good. What doesn’t seem to change, though, is the love we felt for each other while working at that radio station. It was there way back then and, I’m happy to report, I still feel it now. I’m catching a plane this morning and heading back to Oregon with such wonderful memories scatter-gunning themselves around in my heart. What a great weekend. Wow. JS

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Good Texas Women

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Many thanks and hugs to my friends Bonnie Cottle and Cindy Roden for their hospitality and kindnesses during the two days I had to spend in Ft. Worth this past week. Getting to spend time around good Texas women, enjoying laughter and conversation – even with a cat sitting on top of my head – eating food I love (but shouldn’t have so much of, really) was a joy, something only other Texas women can understand. Time to thaw out the salmon when I get back to Oregon, for sure, to clean my arteries out again. Still, I say, Thank you, ladies! And, thanks for keeping the reputation of good Texas women alive and well in my home state. JS

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