Fraternal Decor

We've put up the NRA mirror/coat rack from last year's Friends of NRA dinner in Yakima.

We have our NRA brass bell at the front door (from Ellensburg's first Friends of NRA banquet).

Our "Friends of NRA" rug will be rolled out today in the foyer.

The Grand Lodge Clock from last year's Friends of NRA banquet in Yakima will be hung this weekend.

The lamp from the Friends of NRA banquet in Plains last year is in the guest bedroom.

A Friends of NRA school clock hangs on the wall in my study.

A Friends of NRA dart board goes outside in the spring.

A set of bronze buffalo-head bookends will be unboxed today. They're from the Ellensburg Friends of NRA banquet about three years ago.

A black bear cookie jar will sit on the kitchen counter. I won it in an "Air Soft" pistol shoot-out at the Ellensburg Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation barbecue three years ago.

A slate-top accent table from the Ellensburg RMEF barbecue last year sits on our bridge.

In Don's vault, I have my very own little Friends of NRA gun rack (and of course it's full!) from last year's Ellensburg Friends of NRA banquet.

We have three antler lamps, all "won" at animal banquets....one RMEF, one Mule Deer, and one NRA.

The guest beds are covered with Pendleton blankets from NRA banquets.

The picture hanging over our kitchen table in the kitchen is a great raffle prize from an RMEF dinner in Yakima. We have four or five other prints collected from the various banquets.

We have a fire ring from a Mule Deer Foundation dinner in Yakima..the crowded one that was held upstairs in that hotel downtown about four years ago.

And then there's the mirror, that I "share" with Marion Kooyman. It was from that same Mule Deer Foundation dinner about four years ago. She and I were in a silent auction bidding war for this cute little wall mirror with a frame that featured wildlife cutouts. But, at the last minute, she sneaked a bid in over mine and won the mirror.

Flash forward to November 2007, just a few weeks before our final departure from Yakima. I had, by chance, stopped in at Manning Dog Training (which I sold to Jane Bumgardner in January '07). Marion stopped by too, with an exquisitely wrapped package for me. The moment I tore away the corner wrapping, I knew what it was: OUR MIRROR! Marion was "surrendering" it to me, for our new Montana home! Marion assured me it had hung in their home for several years, so it came completely broken in with good karma.

That mirror now graces the wall of our guest bedroom, where I'm hoping Marion and Jack...and all the rest of our friends....will see it.

Most of the stuff you buy at animal banquets could be purchased for a lot less if you went shopping on the internet. But my very wise husband reminded me a few years back that it's not just an item you're buying. It's memories of good friends and good times At those banquets (which comprised our total social life for 23 years). Those are priceless...like the mirror from Marion.

We were so saddened to hear we'd lost a couple good "animal banquet" friends last month: Maggie Justice and Gerry Perryman. Their spirits, and those of all our other close Yakima friends, will live on in our new house...in mirrors, clocks, rugs, lamps and fire rings.

Life Within Bumping Distance

For those of you who are still just dreaming about retirement and wondering if it could possibly be as good as your fantasies, I hope you find this inspirational: it is that good. Even in this trailer, where we literally can't move without bumping into each other or the dogs, this has been the best "vacation" of our lives. Allow me to elaborate:

Sleep: We go to bed when we're tired, and get up when we feel like it. If the dogs get us up in the middle of the night, no biggy...we can always take a nap the next day if we're sleepy.

Naps: Haven't needed one since we moved. It's too much fun being awake. Don nods off about once a day after lunch...and feels no guilt about it.

Eating habits: We eat three meals together every day. We're eating dinner nowdays at 6:30 instead of 10:30. Much better for our digestive systems!

Newspaper: We read a delightfully upbeat daily paper from Missoula. Don reads it cover to cover, leisurely. And then takes a short nap.

Shaving: Don does it when he has to go to town.

Clothes: Wear something moderately clean that covers the body and keeps you warm.

Snow: Don doesn't even mind it anymore. And I love it.

Worries & stress: Huh?

Waking up: A happy and optimistic feeling every morning.

Calendars: Don't matter.

Oatmeal: We've had it every other day. Had it six times a year previous to moving here.

Peanut butter: I never knew my husband liked it till we moved here.

Big day in town: Going to the library to rent old videos, then off to Minnie's Cafe for a $2 bowl of soup.

Big Sunday afternoon: Going to massage class together at the local grade school.

Big night: When we both take our three-minute showers...

Internet: Don has learned to enjoy surfing until he can't think of anything else to look at.

Solitaire: We've enjoyed lots of it, and Don's learned how to shuffle cards like a pro.

Outside World: Hard to even imagine down here in our pocket of Paradise.

This "winter vacation," where we entertained ourselves with solitaire, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, old movies, and internet shopping is coming to an end. As we begin moving into our new home, our daily minutes are now spent unpacking, cleaning, and organizing. We won't be bumping into each other as frequently in that big house. Frankly, I'm going to kind of miss that!