Sean and Alicia Flinn: 25th Wedding Anniversary

Our daughter, Alicia June Garofalo Flinn has been married for 25 years to Sean Flinn.
They raised two daughters. They are respected by friends and family. They have enjoyed
a comfortable and interesting lifestyle.

Alicia and Sean have lived near Karen and I since 2017. Are homes are only 8 miles apart. We both live in the unincorporated areas of Clark County (population 570,000), Washington.

To celebrate, Karen and I gave the couple an engraved hardwood cutting board and an external hard disk drive with 50,000 photographs from our family collection.

Happy 77th Birthday for Blanche Karen Eubanks Garofalo

Happy 77th Birthday, Karen!!  

We have been married for 58 years and have celebrated your birthday on St. Patrick's Day many times for much fun and celebration.  Today, we will do the same.  

Best wishes for continued good health and happiness.

I love you, and so do many others.  

Home Again, Home Again ... Yes!!

I returned home on last Thursday afternoon from my solo yurt camping trip to Bullards Beach State Park near Bandon, Oregon.  A yurt is round and 16 feet in diameter.  No cooking or no bathroom in a yurt.  

Now, Saturday, I am back to the comforts and pleasures of the nice company of my wife, Karen.  She is an excellent cook, so no more hohum campground foods or eating out at a local cafe in Bandon.  At home, unlike the yurt, there is more space, my interesting books, large padded chairs, a large nice bed, full private bathroom, and a big screen television set (and prerecorded sports and documentaries).  I had not watched television for four days.  

We live in a 50 year old suburban house in a quiet neighborhood of many seniors in Vancouver, Washington.  We live in the northeast part of unincorporated Vancouver, called "The Orchards."  There are four large Douglas firs in our backyard and many around in our neighbor's houses.

Here are some photos of our main living room looking to the north .  Here I enjoy reading and studying, chatting with Karen, and watching TV.  I read in a big green chair.  Karen took these photos on a dark, windy, and rainy day.  Bruno, our dog, hangs around and likes the warm indoors like us.  I can easily do a compact Yang Style Taijiquan in this room by moving a few chairs.  

Each season provides new views looking north into the back yard.
The maple trees are all leafless in January.
Many branches and limbs fell during a 45 mile windstorm.
A great view from our reading chairs.

Looking to the west.  Our fireplace is quite nice and large.
Yes, the Northwest has lots of dark clouds, fog, mist and rain.  
Karen's big black chair.

I 

I converted one small bedroom into my computer room, office, library, meditation room, floor yoga and standing Qigong practice area, and reading room.  The window in this room faces south.  I have a small Taoist altar set up. 

Looking south.

Taoist altar

Taoism

Here is how my former Druid altar (ancient Roman themed) 

looked in our old home in rural Red Bluff.  This room was my
reading room with a huge green chair that I still use. 
We lived and worked in Red Bluff from 1989 to 2017.

One Old Daoist Druids Final Journey

Our 55th Wedding Anniversary

Karen and I were married on January 26, 1967.  

We raised our two children together.  

We lived in Bell Gardens (14 years), Biloxi, Mississippi (4 years), Hacienda Heights (13 years), Red Bluff, California (19 years), and Vancouver, Washington (5 years).  Karen retired at age 67 and I at age 70.  

Innumerable THANK YOU's for a great life with a fine and caring wife, Karen.  Outstanding 55 Years with You!!

Trip to Spokane for a Wedding

7/19   Vancouver WA, Interstate 84 to Biggs Junction OR
7/19   Toppenish WA, Yakima Legends Hotel and Casino
7/20   Spokane WA, Northwest Quest Hotel and Casino  
7/21   Spokane WA, Roberts Mansion Inn and Events
7/23   Drive west from Spokane via Interstate 90 to Seattle, then via Interstate 5 through Tacoma, Olympia, Centralia, Longview, and ending at our home in the Orchards Neighborhood in Vancouver.     
I want to return to Cle Elum and the Wenatchee National Forest rocky peaks.  

Hung out with Bud Yarber (father of the bride) and Helen, Jim and Liz Yarber,
Karen and I. We visited the Klikna-Yarber house east of Spokane in Idaho. 
Lovely trees everywhere, hills and mountains, many businesses along I90.   
Roberts Mansion was built in 1890, Victorian style, lovely venue for wedding.
7/22   Spokane WA, Roberts Mansion, Nicholas Klikna and Gayla Yarber Wedding

Weddings 1:
two nights sleeping in a 1890 Victorian house
high ceilings, ornate wood work, steep stairs
soft bed and tiny toilets.
meals with our nephews and wives
talking, laughing, remembering.
comfortable temperatures (high of 83)
trip out to Rathdrum Prairie  
Nick and Gayla's home and happy dogs
lovely back porch and gazebo in back yard.
Texas Roundhouse for dinner
some who I met when they were 10 are 60 now - our nephews

Weddings 2:
kisses and hugs
laughing, reminiscing, chatting, learning
multi-ages from 3 months to 75 me
brief officiant's talk about sex and marriage (with Biblical references)
I do's Said and Commitments made
best toasts ever, sincere and positive for both bride and groom 
parents and grand-parents, children, uncles and aunts, families intertwined by Lovers

Weddings 3.5 

drinks (wine, beer, soft drinks)
Mexican food buffet, ]pulled pork-salsa-guacamole-beans-tortillas delights[
custom cup cakes covered in creamy toppings 
shady venue

Weddings 3:
sex and ceremonies
exhuberant youth
beautiful women and handsome men (and a few not so)
dancing and dallying
kisses and hugs
Groom and groomsmen smoking quality cigars
I joined with my Bootylicious joint from Bacon Buds
listening to a few bawdy jokes, limericks, and raw sex rap lyrics
thinking of how many times my wife and I had intercourse in one day

Happy Birthday, Blanche Karen Eubanks Garofalo

Today is the 73nd birthday of my beloved wife of 54 years.

Happy Birthday, Karen!!

She is my best friend, pal, buddy, and supporter.  We have shared a long and very happy life together.

We raised two children, Alicia and Michael.  We now have two grandchildren.

Best wishes to everyone for good health and happiness on St. Patrick's Day 2021.

54th Wedding Anniversity

 Blanche Karen Eubanks and Michael P. Garofalo were married in 1967 in Huntington Park, California.
We raised two children, Alicia and Michael.
We have lived in Southern California, Northern California, and now Washington State.

We have been a good team, worked hard, enjoyed life, and loved each other and many others.