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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play

Time flies when you're having fun...which is the only excuse I can think of for going this long without posting.

I've been knitting up a storm*, taking long drives around the valley, making full dinners for the parentals and myself, watching the kids have a ball in the great outdoors and just enjoying being back in small-town USA.

Did you know that people routinely smile and chat you up in grocery stores, on the street and just in general? I know! I'd almost forgotten as well.

I love driving my dad's big ole pick-up truck, and love that when you're driving 60 miles an hour on the highway between my old stomping grounds and the big city, otherwise knows as L.A. Grande, that people will wave because they recognize your car.

I love putting the boys in the double stroller every afternoon and getting out for a nice long walk down through the town. I love having a yard that they can run, and run, and run in every day. Seeing H's 'Californy Quail', for whom he tosses out cracked corn every day, and the deer that boldly jump the fence into the yard to clean up the extras after the quail have settled in for the night.

I love that Charlie has started making all the barnyard noises because we're actually seeing barnyard animals everywhere we go.

I love going out for beers with my friends and only spending $20 for a roaring good time.

I love that this time is helping me make the mental transition back to rural America. Most likely J's job will not land us back in Portland as we'd hoped, which was really disappointing at first. What will I do without sushi restaurants, major movie theatres and an endless stream of entertainment possibilities right at my fingertips?!

But the more I'm home and see the kids of my friends, and my friends themselves with the comfortable lives they're able to afford and enjoy, it's getting more and more palatable. Maybe even, gasp, something I'm looking forward to? Wherever we land, it will be an adjustment. After three years I feel like I'm settled. We have a routine, we have friends and we have our home.

The next six months are going to go so quickly, and I'm realizing that what this time in Oregon has really given me is an appreciation for how much I've loved living in New England. Yes, there are many things about it that this Pac Northwesterner finds 'wicked retahded', but it is a great place to be, and it will be hard to leave. There. I said it.

*So far, I've knit two of the Georgian Lace Cap, a baby lace cap, most of a pair of socks, part of a scarf, and I started on the Scandanavian stranded colorwork stockings from KnitPicks. Pictures to come when I can figure out how to make my camera work with my parents' computer, or when I get home...whichever comes first.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hope you're having a GREAT time at home. I remember feeling somewhat like you did after living in Seattle for 2 years (gasp - move back to the country??). However, getting away from the big city does have its advantages and though I wish we were closer to PDX, I know my daughter is going to grow up with a good foundation (plus 15 acres to roam). Your boys will look back on this time you're spending with your parents and think how cool it is to be in the country! Enjoy your Thanksgiving and the moments you have back in your old "stomping" grounds.

Maggie Bahnson said...

I'm having similar feelings about small town rural living while here in my hometown in Wisconsin. First of all, I feel like I can tell my life story to the check-out clerk at the grocery store. It must be a small-town friendly thing! And I feel the same way about Portland in that it WAS at the top of our list, but now a few smaller towns are ranking above PDX. It'll be fun to see where we all end up!

Enjoy your last few days at home and your last several months in New England!