When 73-year-old Fred Crafts retired in 2004, he didn’t have a plan. He knew it was time to begin unplugging himself from his lengthy career as a journalist and arts critic, but beyond that, he wasn’t sure what was going to occupy his time. Crafts is not the idle type, but despite that, he had […]
Author Archive | Vanessa
Home With Eagle’s View in Lowell
I lived in the tiny town of Lowell for three years. As you turn off Highway 58 onto the main road in Lowell, the first thing you see is a large hill rising up off to the right side of town. I could sometimes see goats like white specks grazing the rugged hillside. I drove […]
Color. Life. Joy. The Art of Sandra McMorris Johnson
Color. Joy. Life. Those words describe not only Sandra McMorris Johnson’s art but her philosophy, too. A tall, elegant woman with more than 30 years behind her as a professional artist, Sandra has taken the traditional woman’s work of sewing and fabrics to new heights, both literally and figuratively. Sandra was a joy to talk […]
Christmas All Year-Round
For most people, the build-up to Christmas lasts a couple of months, then when the wrapping paper and trimming is recycled on Christmas day, the excitement is more or less over. The tree is taken down and the decorations are soon packed up until the next year. But for the family that owns the Christmas […]
What To Do In Your Garden in Fall
I admire Christmas cactus but I have never been able to keep them alive. I do, however, use beer to bait slugs in my garden. I don’t give them my Ninkasi sludge . . . I make a special purchase of Rainier or Hamm’s for the slimy critters. I went to a local garden store […]
What To Do in Your Garden in Summer
Each quarter when I wrote these gardening tips for Eugene Magazine, I would pore over my gardening file. As I look through magazines and newspapers throughout the year, I tear out the bits that seem particularly useful and informative and put them in my file. For these seasonal tips, I combed through this file and […]
What To Do in Your Garden in Spring
As editor of Eugene Magazine, one of my jobs for each issue was to gather seasonal gardening information. We published quarterly, so although my garden is nothing to brag about, I published these tidbits that sound really knowledgeable. They’re based on research, not necessarily personal experience. But these made me yearn for the garden of […]
Downsizing Your Home in Later Life
Throughout most of our lives, moves come with a sense of “pregnant anticipation,” explains Diane Masarie, owner of Move-In Comfort. There’s a sense of moving on to something bigger and better—moving to college, moving into your first home, moving into a bigger home when children arrive, moving to a nicer home. But when seniors move, […]
The Joys of Learning in Retirement
Perhaps your college years ended long ago. Still, that’s no reason to stop cracking open the books. The difference between learning during your early life and learning later on is that you don’t have to worry about grades, homework or pulling all-nighters cramming for exams. Learning in retirement is just for the fun of it.
Protecting Yourself From Financial Fraud
Seniors are among the most vulnerable population when it comes to fraud. They’re trusting, kind and generous, which can get them in trouble if they don’t know the warning signs of common scams.