Keeping in touch with Jim

 Wow! Two and a half years have passed since my last post, and it's time for an update.  I'm still in the small house here at Fruit Valley Terrace in Hazel Dell, Vancouver, WA.  I'm still driving the reliable and economic Scion IQ.   I quit my job as a product demonstrator for Costco one year ago.   I am now a Maintenance Technician for Community Roots Collaborative (the developer and operator of 2 properties of small homes, including Fruit Valley Terrace). It has been a year of growth and learning, and it's much more rewarding than doing the demos. My grandkids are growing, and I'm so proud of all of them. Kris and I Kris, Amanda, Lucas, and Embelly

 Here it is, Spring of 2023. I'm still living in the small house and feeling safe and secure. I donated the van to the VA and bought a 2013 Toyota Scion IQ with very good gas mileage and only 60k miles. It's in great shape and it's fun to drive.  2022 I'm still working at Costco doing samples (it's a part-time job, part good, part frustrating.) I'm also still enjoying genealogy research and finding cousins I never knew I had.

 Much has happened this last year.  March 2021: The Nissan service manager was the one who told me that the van was beyond repair (not the mechanic). So I signed over the van to him and rented an SUV to get all my stuff home and started the search for a replacement vehicle. One month later I got a call from the mechanic saying that he had taken the van home and worked on it. He said it was roadworthy again and that I could have it for just what he had put into it IF I wanted it back (parts and labor) if not, he would keep it.  Needless to say, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised. So I grabbed a flight to Sacramento and an Uber to Davis. The mechanic told me the electrical was just a burned-out module caused by a defective fuel injector.  He worked the whole van over and did several other repairs too. I paid him and drove back home. The van drove so well and I was singing all the way back.   June 2021: I took a 6,000-mile road trip and the van drove ...

 After the best part of a year sheltering in place with my wonderful grandkids, it's finally time to hit the road again. I have received both of my Covid vaccinations and I'm ready to hit the road. I'm going to hit a few of Washington’s state parks before heading south.  I feel very confident about the new administration and look forward to better days ahead. P.S. If you haven't seen the new movie Nomadland, I highly recommend it. UPDATE: March 18, 2021: Just north of Sacramento was the end of the road for my Nissan Quest. Luckily my insurance paid for the tow to the Nissan dealership in Davis California. The Nissan service manager said there was a massive electrical failure under the dash and it would cost more to repair than the van is worth so now the search begins for a new (to me) road vehicle ... maybe, who knows.

  I left Texas just after my sister died and drove back to my grandkids' house in Vancouver, WA to shelter in place while we waited to see how the Covid-19 virus would affect our lives. No one in the family has been infected and we are all taking precautions to protect ourselves and others. My sister's kids decided to hold Bobbie's memorial service on June 13th at her home church in Seymour, TX. I packed my van and headed back to participate in the event. It was a very nice service and a tribute to Bobbie and how many lives she touched.  After the service, I began my 2020 road trip. Part of my trip was to continue my genealogy research on the Walls family and part just for fun. I drove up through Oklahoma, Missouri, and into Kentucky. My hope of finding the graves of my 2nd great grandparents came to nothing but I enjoyed some camping and met some very nice people while there. After a few days, I headed back to Texas for some dental work and more camping. My plan from there...

The future is nothing more than a new beginning that starts right now. I have been here before and I am sure I will be again. The problem is trying to keep promises that were made before life events changed and then realizing that those promises are causing pain to both the promiser and the promisee. Therefore, a new beginning becomes the only logical path to the future. Here is a link to my website: www.jimwalls.info Update Feb 2020 : More than a year has passed since I published this entry. I remain, like a plane getting low on fuel and awaiting clearance from the tower, in a holding pattern.  Update April 2020 : And now, the Covid-19 virus ... sigh. My dear sister passed today, Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, three years after her husband passed. We laid her to rest on April 15th and I packed up my belongings and headed back to Oregon/Washington to be with my grandkids. A memorial service will be held when people feel safe to gather.

For about a year now I have been staying with my sister, Bobbie, in northern Texas as she slowly fades away. She is just 87 years old but she has been in poor health for many years. Her husband, who was 90, died in April 2017 and she began her decline at that time. By July of 2017, I realized that she could not be at home on her own and would require round the clock assistance so I promised that I would be there for her as long as I was needed. Taking care of an invalid person requires more than one person so her youngest daughter Meg moved back home with her 8-year-old son and between us we have shared the duties of home care. The house where she and her husband lived her entire adult life is in Red Springs, Texas. Everywhere I look I see evidence of a life well-lived, a house where she raised four children of her own and raised three more who she adopted over the years. In every room, there are collectibles, photos, trophies, nick-nacks, and "what-nots".  These things are c...

Learning about my grandmother Florence Mae Walls (Ferguson) This is the only photo I have of her. She was born in Joshua, Johnson Co., Texas 1 March 1885 Her parents were Neal Scott B. Ferguson and Charity Adjullia Hines She was one of 11 children She married Alonzo "Lon" Walls 18 November 1901 in Cleburne, Johnson Co., Texas They had  6 children She died 15 August 1975

I met Bernie here in Zihuatanejo in Feb 2011 and quickly learned why he is a legend around here. This year he is back and still tearing up the dance floor with all the ladies. After his fall back in the summer of 2011 his recovery has been awesome. This year he walking a little slower and and not quite so far but get him near a band and lovely ladies and he takes center stage. Go Bernie go, we love you. Update #2 - April 6, 2016 I had a nice visit with Bernie at his home in Lebanon, OR and he was in good spirits. He enjoyed the photos I brought him and he shared some that I had never seen. He is still having trouble with his balance (mostly because he won't slow down) but he works at things he can do like mowing the yard on his riding mower. The visit was all too short but still enjoyable. Update #3 - Feb 13, 2019 Bernie gets hitched !!!! Married this day on the beach in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Bernie and his lovely bride Sherry Galla.

At the time of writing this I am in my 69 th year. In those years I have been introduced to many thought processes and concepts that have effected or infected my life and I want to give some thought to these concepts. My grandparents were life long members of the Salvation Army and we were taught the strict language of the church such as “Don't sin” and “Honor your mother and father”. My mother fell away from the church in her teen years yet she wanted me to be the “Good Christian” that she was not able to be. So my life was “given” or “dedicated” to the church through a baptism service performed by my grandfather. This was before I was able to walk, talk or reason. My mother didn't take us to church but one day when my father came for a visit he said he wanted me to go to church and I asked him which one. He told me that it was my decision. He told me to ask my friends if I could go with them to visit their church or on a Sunday just to walk around ...

Guns: Right now there are so many conflicting ideas on all sides of the issue. Today I have a haunting feeling that soon, very soon, there will be a mass shooting where the police are shooting criminals and citizens are shooting criminals and police because they can't tell who is who. And then the police will start shooting the citizens who will retaliate in kind and on and on it will go. I only hope that my loved ones and I can stay out of harm's way. I read the following today and it seems like these people have no knowledge of the Austin Tower Sniper : "Gun rights activists in Texas are planning to stage a mock mass shooting at the University of Texas this weekend in protest of both gun-free zones and President Barack Obama's continued calls for tougher gun control legislation. According to the website  Statesman , gun rights supporters will begin the day by marching through Austin with loaded weapons and conclude their walk with a "theatrical performan...

It's hard for me to believe that this week I celebrate 5 years in Mexico.  I have not done exactly what I had planned to do but I must say it has been pretty good. I had planned to travel more but I feel like that part is just around the corner. Looking back over the last 3 years I can see how I have been taking a lot fewer photos and my sense of creativity has ebbed. I started a project a few years ago which has languished in the back of my mind but now I feel the need to continue with it. I need more and different subject matter so now it's time to stretch my legs and see some places I have only dreamed of or seen in other people's photos. I don't want to take anything away from the family, I only want to continue with my love of photographic art.

For several years I have been doing research on my ancestors mostly using the internet and Ancestry.com. I also made two trips back to Carlisle, KY where the family lived during the late 1700's and early 1800's. From there many of the family moved to Missouri and my line moved from there to Texas. I have reached a block moving backwards into Virginia, Maryland and possibly Delaware. The problem is that there were so many documents destroyed during the wars and of course natural disasters. In 1969 we moved from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Portland, Oregon. As far as I was aware there were none of my ancestors who ever moved to Oregon and yet there were two other James Walls; one in the Beaverton area and one in Estacada. Since the name Walls is so common I just wrote it off as coincidence. This week, while doing research on another line of the family (my great grandfather's brothers) I found that two of them moved from Missouri to Portland, Oregon. Well, how about that. ...

In the late 1980's I got my first computer from my dear brother when he upgraded to a new 486 PC. I was quite impressed that the 386 PC he gave me had TWO 500 megabyte hard drives. It used the new 3.5 inch floppy discs that had a 1.44 megabyte storage capacity.    Today, in my pocket I have a flash drive that stores 16 gigabytes. That would be the equivalent of more than 11 thousand 3.5 flopy discs .... in my pocket.   I remember how impressed I was when 700 megabyte CD's came out and then 4.7 gigabyte DVD's WOW. But that would still mean that I would have to carry 4 DVD's in my pocket to equal this one little flash drive. I almost bought a 64 gigabyte flash drive last week but, like I said in 1989 .. "I'll never use more than 500 megabytes of storage space." P.S. I also have a 3 TB backup drive on my desk.That's more than 192 flash drives (16 gb) and more than 7 million floppy disks. It's good to put things in perspective.

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  There are people in the world who seem to be members of the same club that I will call "Loathes and Feces". They are filled with hate and stinkin' thinkin'. ("They are always willing to help people to hate anything that needs hating" Thank you Robert A Heinlein).   When I hear/read/watch the outpourings of these people, I know that there are others who are willing to be drawn in and poisoned by their rantings and will certainly join the club as a full time member. It makes me wonder; What is lacking in their lives that makes this type of action so appealing? I only wish there was a simple solution to this problem.   Many would say they lack religion but I believe quite a bit of this is caused by religious fanaticism. Some would say they lack love but I believe they are in love with themselves and their hatred of others.   Some would say they lack family values but from what I have seen of many families this is where they get their misguided ideas. ...

Every six months I am required to leave Mexico in order to renew my tourist visa which gives me a chance to visit friends and family in the Portland/Vancouver area. I have had so much fun watching my little great grandson, Lucas Sky Walls as he grows and develops. He is just now 20 months old and I have posted a video of some photos that I have made of him in these last two weeks. HERE  

I have believed for many years that there are as many beneficial as well as bogus treatments in both modern medicine and alternative medicine. One of those alternative treatments, namely Acupuncture, I felt was bogus but never having experienced the treatment I reserved judgement. Well, earlier this week I started having severe pain in my lower back and hip. The next day I felt shooting pain down through the back of my thigh and the next day it continued into my shin and ankle but the hip was the worst. It got to the point that I couldn't find a position to sleep in where I was comfortable and yesterday it even began to be painful to stand in one position without pain. I did some research on-line and it was obvious that it was Sciatica. Ivone has been going to her doctor for acupuncture treatments for several weeks and I was in doubt as to their effectiveness but I was in such distress that I scheduled an appointment for this afternoon. The doctor agreed that it was Sciatica....

  Well, here comes another Christmas season and the beginning of a New Year, hopefully a happy one for all. As I sit here near the beach with a cool breeze blowing in over Zihuatanejo Bay, I am so very glad that I'm not dealing with cold, wet, windy weather and that I have many friends from the northern climes to share the afternoon with and laugh about some of the images of snow and ice that we find on the internet (not wishing bad weather to any one, of course).   There are so many quiet joys in my daily routine as I make my way through the open air market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. The kind smiles of the familiar vendors, the laughter and shyness of the children, the sun, ah the sun, and the constant pull of the warm sea water, beckoning my dry, dirty feet to wade in and refresh.   I do, however, miss my friends and family from time to time and I hope the feeling is mutual. But I also have my friends and family here and I wish they could all meet. But alas...

Okay, time to play catch-up. So Lucas Sky Walls was born six weeks early on August 31, 2013 weighing in at just 5 lbs.                                                             Proud parents Kris and Amanda.   But now he has caught up and is doing extremely well. Award winning smile. With grandma Jaimee (Abuelita) Also, I did get my tablet when I got back to Washington and it works just fine. Life is good :)