Dan Goes Fishing

Several years ago, I wrote a blog post about how I entertain myself when my husband, Dan, goes out of town. Last weekend just happened to be Dan's annual fishing trip with his father, and I once again filled my days with some fun activities. 

 

 

One day, I went on a solo hike in the foothills and cooked myself a tuna steak with lots of tomatoes. (If it wasn't already obvious, Dan doesn't like tuna steak or tomatoes.)

 

 

I saw a hawk and a deer while hiking that morning.

 

Another day, I drove down to Thousand Springs State Park and hiked with my brother and my nephews. 

 

My nephews are super fans of the Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario Brothers franchises. They showed up for the hike as several different Sonic characters.

 

The twenty-something worker at Ritter Island recognized them right away. 

 

"I see we have Knuckles and Sonic visiting us today!" 

 

 

In fact, we had ALL the friends with us, and they hung out in my brother's backpack. Every few yards, the boys would stop and say, "I want Luigi now" or "I'm going to be Tails now," and my brother, Steve, would patiently dig through the backpack to find the requested mask or stuffed animal.

 

 

"Usually, we only have two friends with us, but they decided to bring all of them today," Steve said.

We also had to stop a few times to help the boys with debris poking them in their shoes. Other than that, we (and all the toys) had a great time hiking. 

Aunt Becky learns all about Sonic the Hedgehog from Desmond.

 

Now we are hiking with Sonic and Shadow.

 

Osprey in her nest

 

Osprey guarding his nest

 

Eventually, it got a little hot for the Sonic masks.

 

 

Time for lunch!

 

Aunt Becky counts Benny's freckles. My favorite 💕!

 

Of course, not everything was fun and games with Dan out of town. I may or may not have watched too many true crime TV shows that weekend. I may or may not have had a little trouble sleeping at night.

 

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

Things I Love Now

 

 

I love some things now.

 

"Your husband?" Dan asked when I mentioned this to him the other day.

"No, silly!" I paused. Oops! "I mean, yes, obviously!"

Okay, so he's on the list now too.

 

 

But as far as "things" I love, let's start with the Neti pot. 

 

I've actually used a Neti pot for a long time, but I was thinking about Neti pots a lot when I came up with this list. It was a high pollen week. 

 

Many people won't use them because it involves a weird process. It's. Worth. It.  

Nasal irrigation has helped put me out of my misery during countless cold and allergy seasons. It was even useful when I had COVID (I had a breakthrough infection in the spring), although my sinuses seemed to be never ending faucets throughout that ordeal.

 

 

Just make sure you use filtered water, or you might end up with a brain amoeba or something. I learned that from Dr. House. (#NOTamedicalexpert) 

 

Also on my list: All the many fun phone apps for grownup life! Here a just a few.

 

Google Pay has made grocery shopping fun. I don't have to dig through my wallet for my credit cards or cash, and the little blue checkmark is quite satisfying when the reader accepts my payment. 

 

 

I recently downloaded Venmo. I know, welcome to 21st century. In my defense, I don't have friends, so I never have to split checks at restaurants or pay people for things. 

 

Then I was in a show, and a lot of the cast was younger than me and had Venmo accounts. So I tried it out. All of a sudden, I could pay for wig rentals, make gift donations, and sell discount tickets without having to figure out where to break a bunch of twenties into smaller bills. Amazing!

 

 

I also love the Vrbo and Vacasa apps. I've always wanted a vacation home, and with those apps, you can pretend like you own a different condo every time you go on vacation. 

 

Don't worry, grumpy neighbors. We are good vacation home renters, in bed by 9:00.

Of course, sometimes I just browse through the pictures for fun. 

"Are you looking at places on Vrbo again?" Dan will ask me in the car, usually on our way to one of our rentals.

 

I think I love Vrbo, Vacasa, etc. like the Millennials love Zillow. Millennials are fantasizing about being homeowners. I'm dreaming about vacation homes. I already own a house. 

 

Of course, everything I know about Millennials and Zillow, I learned on SNL.

 

 

 For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

July Road Trip!

 

My husband, Dan, and I just returned from Sun Valley. Of course, those of you who know me will say that's not really news. 

 

It's not, but it was still a fun mini vacation. We didn't have a lot of time for travel this summer because I was in a musical, and then a couple of other projects came up unexpectedly. Plus, journeying too far, especially by plane, seems annoying right now.

 

You know what's not annoying? Being in Sun Valley over the the 4th of July. 

 

 

Blaine County (which includes Sun Valley) banned fireworks, other than professional shows, this year.

 

 

Boise NEVER bans fireworks, and this year was no exception. Our neighborhood sounds like a war zone for about a week around the 4th, and on the 5th of July, a thick yellow, sulfuric haze settles over the city. Nothing like celebrating 'Merica with explosions. Seems appropriate.

In other words, Sun Valley was the perfect place to spend the 4th. We were even able to pretend it wasn't happening, and that was fine with me this year. 

 

 

Yeah, I've already heard it. I should be thankful to live in this country. No other country is better than this one even though it's going through hard times right now. American Exceptionalism, blah, blah, blah . . . 

I mean, sure. Whatever. 

Some countries have universal health care, stricter gun laws that result in less (not "none" but less) massacres, better maternity leave, and protected reproductive rights for women. Those don't sound like terrible places to live either. Remind me why the United States is the best country in the entire world? 

 

Oh wait. Don't. 

Anyway, one thing I do love about America is the scenery, and I live in a perfect part of the country for that. So, this year, that is what Dan and I celebrated. 

 

 

By the way, in case you have forgotten, I just turned 45 AND I am extremely scared of heights, as in mental-disorder-level scared. In spite of those two limitations, I mountain biked during our entire vacation.

 

 

I think that's pretty rad of middle-aged me.

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

The Day I Mowed the Lawn

 

 

The other day, I was teasing an adult friend who didn't know how to use a lawn mower. Then I realized, neither do I.

 

Theoretically, I know how a lawn mower works. I just never had the opportunity to mow the lawn. 

 

I lived in apartment complexes during my pre-marriage adult life, and when I was an adolescent, my dad and my brother, once he was old enough, mowed the lawn. It's not like I did nothing as a kid around the house. I had chores, but mowing the lawn was not one of them. 

Now here I was, having recently turned forty-five years old, worried that I might have been playing into the patriarchy for almost half of a century.

 

"What if you die?" I asked my husband, Dan. "I need to know how to mow our lawn!" 

"Just hire someone. That's what our neighbor does," he said.

 

"She's like eighty."

 

Dan paused. He seemed unsure if he wanted to continue his line of thinking.

"I'm kind of worried that our mower might be too big for you," Dan finally admitted. "It's a tough job, and you're little, and we're not as young as we used to be."

 

"Women mow the lawn all the time." 

"I think you might need a self-propelled mower."

 

Eventually, I wore him down and convinced him I needed to know how things worked . . . in case he died. (The death thing was also how I got him to share his passwords with me.)

 

I wore a mask because my allergies were INSANE while mowing the lawn.

Dan taught me how to mow the lawn in the backyard because I was too embarrassed to learn this brand new skill in the front yard. 

 

I would hate for anyone to the think I am incapable as a homeowner. I already practice the Throw-a-Bunch-of-Seeds-Around-the-Yard-and-See-What-Happens method of gardening.

"Trust me. The neighbors don't need to see this," I told him.

 

 

My first challenge was starting the motor. Dan stood and watched (in amusement, I'm sure). It took at least five attempts every time I tried to get it to turn over.

 

 

"You don't have to mow the whole lawn," Dan said. I had successfully mowed one section.

 

"I'm fine. Maybe I'm not as wimpy as you thought."

 

"Yeah, maybe," Dan said carefully. "I might have to go back and redo some of these spots though."

 

 

"I guess this is how I get you to do things for me," I said, okay with ending the lesson early.

"What? You mean, look pathetic?" Dan asked.

(Down with the patriarchy!)

 

 

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.