The Arid West, Oregon Country

I’m going to miss being so close to the dusty spaces of Oregon after I move back to the Portland area. I like these kinds of landscapes where you can see past the trees, and the grass turns golden in June. Being a transplant from Pennsylvania didn’t prevent the West grabbing me by the collar, and saying, “Look there! See that? Now, try to forget it. I bet you can’t.” This landscape speaks to me in ways I would never have imagined.

I’ve lived here half of my life now. It’s been a long road since I drove my pickup to Oregon in 1991, and never moved back like I had intended. I don’t believe in fate, or luck, or hidden purpose. I do believe in this Earth, and its wonders. It can be touched, tasted, heard, seen, and smelled.

I’m here because a high school friend tried to talk me out of moving to Oregon by telling me that I belonged in that small piece of PA, in that community, and I should never go anywhere else.  I made up my mind to go to Oregon during that conversation.  I wanted my future to include more than that.

I still miss PA, though.  There is something to be said about being around kin. I get homesick when I travel back there and smell the soil, or hear the wind rustling the leaves of the desiduous forests, or feel the summer thunderstorms approach. I want to stay, but I always return to Oregon.

I will miss living in Hood River. I will miss being about 6 miles from the rainshadow, where the Cascade Mountains block the moisture coming from the West, and drops the yearly precipitation by 2/3.

But, I can still visit.

I am starting up a new web site where I will continue this blog.  I have been building that site, as well as getting ready to move.  Sometime this summer, after I move, I will be back to let everyone know how to find me.  Until then, I won’t be blogging very often.