New Driver License

Back in October 2016, I got a new driver license (pictured below on the right) because it had been eight years, and my current license was going to expire. A few months later in 2017, I was told I needed to get another new driver license and soon, because the Real ID was going to be needed for travel.

“Pah to that!” I said, and got a passport so I could use my not-Real ID license for its full time period.

Well, the deadline to travel with a Real ID was extended and extended, and if I’d been a May birthday instead of an October, I could have used that license for the full eight years because May 2025 was the real, true, final deadline (although I read that they would let people through if they didn’t have a Real ID after May…).

I didn’t do any flying between the real, true, actual deadline in May and today, and so I met my goal of getting the full eight years out of my license.

Here’s to the new one on the left. So very shiny and Real ID.

The New Seasons Coupon Ritual

New Seasons sends me a sheet of coupons now and again. Unlike most coupons, which are for things I don’t buy, these ones are actually good deals for things I like.

So I put them prominently on the refrigerator.

And then, as the weeks tick by, I cut them off one by one because I have not gone to New Seasons, because I have gone to New Seasons and forgotten the coupon, or because I have gone to New Seasons and brought the coupon but forgot to use it.

And eventually, there are no coupons on the refrigerator.

And then the cycle begins again.

Newport Municipal Crabbing Pier

As we were driving over the Yaquina Bay Bridge, I noticed a very long dock. What might it be? It turned out to be the Newport Municipal Crabbing Dock and it provided us a long walk out into the bay, plus a close up view of crabbing.

There were also seagulls lying in wait for any crabbing spoils they could grab. They perched along the railing, and as we walked along the dock they flew off in succession, reminding me of a Broadway chorus line.

As you can see it was cold and windy, but it was also a fun find on our trip.

Books Read in September, 2025

*book group selection | bolded means favorite

Picture Books

*The Littlest Drop by Sascha Alper, Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney
*Sundust by Zeke Peña
*The History of We by Nikkolas Smith
*A Place for Us by James Ransome
*This Year, a Witch! by Zoey Abbott
*Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson and Dan Santat
*Dancing With Water by Gwendolyn Wallace and Tonya Engel
*The Invisible Parade by Leigh Bardugo and John Picacio
*In the World of Whales by Michelle Cusolito and Jessica Lanan

Middle Grade

*A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation by Pablo Cartaya
*The Winter of the Dollhouse by Laura Amy Schlitz

Grownup Fiction

The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand

One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon

Turns out that Yoon doesn’t only write great YA fiction, she also writes incredibly readable thrillers.

Young Nonfiction

*The Black Mambas: The World’s First All-Woman Anti-Poaching Unit by Kelly Crull

Grownup Nonfiction

[Turns out that this book was so nice, I reviewed it twice. There’s an August review, too.]
SEW . . . The Garment-Making Book of Knowledge: Real-Life Lessons from a Serial Sewist by Barbara Emodi

I’ve read or paged through a lot of sewing books this year. They are mostly all the same. This one is different. It gives an overview of how to make garments and it also includes practical tips about various things you didn’t know you need to know.

I was hoping this book was one sewing book of many by Emodi, but she seems to have switched over to writing fiction. Too bad.

Newport: Biking on the Beach and Sea Lions

We had an open window of about an hour with no rain forecast, so we rented fat-tire bikes at Bike Newport and had a very fun ride on the beach.

The riding was great because all the sand was very wet from the torrential rain the day before. It was my first time riding a fat tire bike, and I had a blast.

It was also significantly harder than riding on paved streets. I got very sweaty.

From there, we went to check out the sea lions, who were living their best sea lion life on the Newport docks. You can see them for yourself on the livecam.

They were incredibly fun to watch.

So much so that we ate at the Clearwater Restaurants so that we could continue watching them.

I got fish and chips, my favorite thing to get at the beach. Both fish and chips were delightfully hot and seasoned and I felt I had made a good choice.

After lunch, we stopped by the exterior of Ripley’s Believe it or Not so Matt could get a picture with the Hulk.

From there, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium where it wasn’t very cold, but it was raining. I made the unfortunate choice to not wear my rain jacket. It’s a mostly outside aquarium.

We did, however, time it perfectly, fun-wise. We first watched the birds get fed, then continued on to the seals and sea lions’ feeding, and then finished up with the sea otters’ feeding.

I have no pictures, but I had a great time.

First Day of Newport Trip

While most people said, “You will have amazing weather!” when I told them about our trip to South Beach State Park outside of Newport, Oregon, planned for late September, it poured rain all the way from Portland to South Beach.

We stopped at the park near the Pronto Pup in Rockaway Beach to do a short walk (in the rain) to see a big tree.

Along the way, we encountered some upper elementary students who wove a tall tale of a creepy monster they encountered. They were amusing, though their tale telling could use some work.

The tree was big, as advertised.

Here’s a Matt-person for scale.

Thankfully, it had rained itself out by the time we got to our yurt, so we didn’t have to unload while the rain continued.

We took a walk to the beach, and then settled in with an Exit escape room game. This time, it was the Catacombs of Horror.

The game was a challenge, as usual. We took 189 minutes and needed ten help cards. That gave us a score of five (out of ten) in the assessment.

We thought our favorite riddle was the last one, and the last one was the trickiest. Our score sheet answers the question “The player who solved the trickiest riddle was…” and we answered “The help card.”

Exit games have been a fun addition to our vacations.

Paradise Blue at Portland Playhouse

I kicked of my vacation with a trip to Portland Playhouse to see their latest production.

It’s 1940s gentrifying Detroit, and will the Paradise Club survive? Netta McKenzie, Mikell Sapp, Lester Purry, and Cycerli Ash put us through the paces of this engaging show. It required a few of the actors to act like they were playing instruments in parts, and they did a good job with that tricky task.

I also enjoyed the set design. There’s a hidden room that appears later on.

Instructions (If Only Someone Find Them in Time)

When we sold my aunt’s house, we moved all her photo albums over to my mom’s house. My mom and I took my aunt out to lunch today, and I brought along one of the photo albums to look at.

But what’s this thing sticking out of the top of the album?

It’s a note! That might as well be addressed to me.

The picture in question:

My aunt and I are in agreement; and I’m glad I found this note before it was time to write her obituary.