Loren and I have had a week of relaxation… in other words there is not as much to post. Therefore, below I will share my pride for one of my nieces, who composed a music video with an original song for her workplace, a care home. As the weather turned sharply cold in Ashland, Oregon this week, Loren and I spent more time indoors. We attended an evening of improv with dear friends which was put on by a group of women, named humorously enough, the Hamazons. The show celebrated their 10th anniversary of providing entertainment for the community. We also thoroughly enjoyed a couple of evenings of separate entertainment at our friends’ home – their large living room TV showed football games, and their sitting room showed great movies on an iPad. Can you guess which of the four of us watched in which room?

Loren and I also went to one of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival offerings that is not a Shakespearen play, How to Catch Creation. It was a potent and entertaining drama. That evening I nursed the start of a cold with a lemonade that I was allowed to bring into the theater because it was in one of the festival’s souvenir mugs.

One day the clouds were exceptionally brilliant. Loren went with one of our friends to an intro class all about the periodic table. It’s interesting to look at, showing all the chemical elements that make up our world, and,  the UN proclaimed 2019 International Year of the Periodic Table. That evening we all kept our eyes on the Oakland A’s Wild Card game… that they lost. I have been continuing my 30 day yoga challenge, am already more than a third through it. I’ve had the privilege to teach a class, and am on the schedule to teach another at this lovely studio.

Another day, Loren and I headed over to the Jackson Wellsprings hot springs, which has a large hot tub, pool, a wet sauna and a dry sauna. On our way home, I noticed a restaurant with the name Amuse. This amused me because earlier in the day I was actually revising a poem of mine from January 1, 2018, which I had named Amusement:

Amusement, A Haiku

I wonder, might a
muse feel amused, bemused or
enthused, by people?

Claire Adalyn Wright

As a result, Loren and I decided to splurge on a dinner there, for an early celebration of the 30th anniversary of the night when we met. On our way there, we noticed four deer in the dusk, just outside our AirBnB where Loren parks his bike. Because the fee we paid at the hot springs allowed us to return up to midnight, we went back for a second soak there.

Loren and I finished our week taking Ashland’s First Friday Art Walk with our friends. We saw three different music performances – at a market, in a cafe, and in a store, and saw lots of wonderful art for sale. I am also grateful that with taking the hot yoga, going to the hot springs, taking lots of vitamin C and resting, my cold has all but disappeared. 

In praise of my beautiful niece’s delightful artistic work, I culled photos from her music video. Her clip also includes photos of different coworkers of hers, and many more of the residents, but, I admit being biased and am only including snapshots of her here. Also, because this blog was hacked a couple of years ago, you might notice I have no longer named names of the people we love and visit with on our travels. Similarly, I am not sharing specific details of this video, all in an effort to try to protect the people who are most important to Loren and me. If you would like more details, please text, call or send an email, I am more than happy to share specifics with folks we know personally.