My husband and I moved here in 2001. Our son and family had found this lovely town. We came to be near them.

Born on an Iowa farm, went to one-room country school.

High School with 25 in my class. Off to IA State Teachers’ College. Taught all grades 1-12 at a some time in 41 years.

Husband and I lived 33 years in Bay Area CA before we came here. He passed on 17 years ago.

You can see the varied venues of our living. Coming here

has highlighted it all, summarized in this little story:

In Iowa when I was ten years old I joined the 4-H Club.

It was sponsored by the County Agent out of our State

Ag. College. We learned skills of holding meetings,

planning speeches, demonstrations, bookkeeping,

poster making. There was not a day of my teaching

years I did not use some skill I learned in 4-H.

At my time, Iowa State sent out phonograph

records. We found our own wind-up record player.

They were of operas. We had to listen, memorize

the pieces, the opera, the composer. This was an

unknown world to me but I did it.

And now near the end of my varied experiences in

life, we moved to a mid-population city that had Rocky

who signed up The Rose Movie Theater with the  Met

Opera Seasons where I am seeing and hearing

live from New York those memorized but unknown

operas from my youth!

How is that for a memorable come-around experience, just in time for me to turn 95 on April 6?

Jean Clark Kaldahl          

Port Townsend