During our visit to the Land of Enchantment this past June, Brian and I felt so interested in the area--and he so strong a connection to the land--that we decided to go ahead and purchase property. We had been ready for a change for a few years and had been looking into places in the western half of the US where we could buy as much land as we could afford with very little money. And it must be a place with a lot of natural beauty, especially trees. A lot of trees.
We have been living in southwest Oregon for 14 years. We chose to move here so that we could live closer to Nature and closer to the majority of my side of the family in Washington state but not too far away from our friends and most of Brian's side of the family in California. We also just needed to get the heck out an increasingly expensive and overpopulated area of California. There were just too many people, houses, buildings and cars. Too much hustle and bustle that drowned Nature out or chased it away. It was difficult to have peace and quiet we were yearning for.
Here in Oregon we have certainly lived closer to Nature. Deer in our yard. Hawks in our trees. Tree Frogs in our garden. Short drives to immense forests, rivers, waterfalls and the ocean. The population is much less dense. We have had much more peace and quiet. However for much of the time that we have lived here we have never felt "at home" in spite of our best adapting efforts. Most likely because we were wanting a home with property of our own to set down roots and finally create the garden of our dreams. We came close to buying one of the houses that we were renting that we were all fond of even though it didn't have enough land. But that fell through when our landlord at the time underwent a divorce and his ex wife wanted that home and got it.
We are looking very forward to living quite a bit more rural and much more self-sustainably in New Mexico. We have a lot of work ahead of us but we look forward to the eventual adventure. For now we are choosing to remain here until after our two youngest sons graduate from high school so we don't have to disrupt their last years of high school and drag them out into the middle of nowhere with us.
In the meanwhile we are discovering that finding ways to continue to live here contentedly while renting when we have our own property now feels like a challenge. But we are fond of Oregon and appreciate the immense natural beauty that it offers. I try to spend my days focusing on savoring the present and feeling grateful for the natural world that surrounds me here. I try to be patient as time has its way.
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