I moved to the town of Ashland, Oregon in the beginning of July. It's about 20 miles north of the California border. Located between two mountain ranges - the Cascades and the Siskiyous. They call the area in between the mountains the Rogue Valley - that's where I am.
The wild and scenic Rogue River is nearby.
It's different being surrounded by mountains - you feel protected. Plus, watching a sunset over mountains is highly underrated.
Not to mention -- skiing! Ashland's elevation is around 2,000ft above sea level, while the ski mountain - Mount Ashland - is over 7,500ft! That's pretty high. Apparently they get dump trucks of fluffy snow up there.
The weather is starting to change. It has topped out over 100 degrees a number of days this summer, but autumn is decidedly in the air. A cold front is rolling through tomorrow, bringing rain and highs only in the 60s. I don't remember the last time it rained. There was one thunderstorm about a month ago, but that's about it.
I want to wake up with the rain... falling on a tinroof.
Ohh the life of a water molecule! Wouldn't it be fun?
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation... such a magical little cycle.
Up, down and all around!
It is exciting to anticipate winter. I've lived in San Francisco for so long that I've forgotten what it's like to anticipate winter, and to experience fall -- what I like to call football weather. Sweaters and scarves and the friendly cup of hot apple cider as leaves fall all around and you think about carving a pumpkin and perhaps getting lost in a maze of corn.
Ashland is a progressive town. They have co-ops and Granges. They love Barack Obama for the most part, although some people think he's the antichrist? I haven't been following that all that closely.
But you gotta love Sarah Palin, right?! You can see Russia from here!
Keep the quotes coming Sarah, you are breaking the unintentional comedy scales.
Following in the great Dubya's footsteps full of the Googles and the Internets.
Part of the town reminds me of a movie set. Quintessential main street. They have 4th of July parades, and a Shakespeare festival that runs all summer long.
Over 250,000 tourists cycle through the town each summer.
One woman moved here because apparently there is no law against being topless in this town. She applied for a permit to march topless in the 4th of July parade, creating quite the stink!
The town council or whatever they're called wasn't sure a topless woman would be such a good idea for the family event, so they denied her request - yada yada yada.
She was going to take the town to court - you're denying me my rights! Please.
Eventually she relented and decided just to march topless on the sidelines. So we had this woman marching up and down the sidewalks in a G-string. Talking about free-love and being one with nature and really she's just annoying. Put your clothes on dumb woman. She is just starved for attention, and I don't want to feed her mine. Most of the townspeople were unimpressed as well. Yawn.
She also rides her bike around topless -- I must admit it is a little distracting to be driving and to suddenly see someone without any clothes on -- it's just not something you're used to seeing.
There are a fair share of what I would call hippies. Pretty standard. You have to be careful in stores - or walking past people in general - because many of these fun-seeking free-loving people are quite pungent! They prefer to be one with nature instead of one with showers.
Many of the women seem to have misplaced their armpit trimmers.
I don't mind 'going green' or 'eating organic' - but there are people here who take it to the extreme. But there are always a few in every crowd. As an example, one of the yogi's email addresses talks about being 'earthlings' -- yes. Earthlings. I suppose that is better than being Aliens, right?!
I work in a yoga studio, about 15 miles north of Ashland. As I didn't have a car upon initially arriving here, I would ride my bike to work. My roommate was also very cool about supplementing my bike rides with occasional car rides. There is a bike path down the road from our apartment that meanders along a creek, following the Bear Creek, all the way to work. It passes baseball fields and parks, over railroad tracks and past llama farms. I cannot help but say 'lllllllamas' every time I ride by them. They seem unimpressed.
It also passes fields with grazing cows. I of course moo at the cows -- and they stare at me intently. I love cows because they are one of the few animals to actually acknowledge you! Horses just keep chomping on grass. Pigs continue oinking in the mud. Llamas just keep looking generally pissed off. But cows? They seem interested. I can see why they receive a holy designation in India.
Of course I then ask myself - 'Self? If you like cows so much, then why do you keep eating them?!' My answer to myself is, of course, 'because they are so tasty!!!'
I pedal as sunlight zig-zags through trees and leaves, shimmering off the stream hitting me in the knees. And eyeballs. The fastest I've made it to work was 49 minutes. Averaging about 18 miles an hour. Some mornings are brisk - requiring long sleeves and gloves if you got 'em.
Being back on my bike reminds me of last summer -- in fact it was almost exactly one year ago today that I arrived in Bar Harbor and jumped in the ocean. It's good to have that freeing bike feeling back.
Work in a yoga studio as probably as you can imagine it -- hardly work. As I know it anyway.
I don't wear shoes at work. Now, I know you people that work at home probably say 'yeah, so what, I work in my PJs' -- but for someone coming from 9 years of business casual, not wearing shoes at work is a big deal! Part of my job requires me to take yoga classes, so that I can knowledgeably inform customers of the differences between all the classes.
I took an 80% pay cut for this new life. At times I wonder how I was possibly able to justify that. Especially with what's going on in the world these days. But then I feel this new peace and relaxation that is so refreshing -- and I cannot possibly put a price-tag on it.
I practice golf almost daily. I got an annual range card at this very nice new golf course, meaning for the next year I can hit as many balls as I possibly can. The golf range faces the Cascade mountain range. It reminds me of how Colorado might look, even though I've only been there once.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of a well struck golf ball. Watching it rocket up into the sky, then watching gravity pull it back down against a backdrop of blue skies and mountain highs.
I do miss being near the ocean. There is something about water, and the expansiveness of the ocean -- that draws me to it. Makes me want to be near. But - we have rivers and lakes up here. Two of the rivers, the Rogue and the Klamath - have very good white-water rafting!
I have been a few times. One of the guys that practices yoga at the studio has been a rafting guide for 15 years. He has his own raft and has taken people out a few times. Rolling down a river. Passing blue herons and jumping salmons and twirling happy birds and flowing crystal clear water with the occasional floating leaf under crisp skies that are countless shades of blue -- it's hard to beat.
What role does money play, or the lack of money? I'm still figuring that out. I may need to get a second job. But then again there is less of a need for money. Rent is half of what I paid in San Francisco. I buy food once a week or so. Clothes once every year or so. I've been cooking more often, eating out less.
I try to play the guitar when I can. I've finally framed some of the pictures I've taken over the years and hung them all around my room.
I've decided that life can be whatever you want it to be. It can be stressful if you want - some people feed off of stress and thrive under it. You can race with the rats, or roll down the rivers. I feel like there is a happy medium, and it's different for each person.
In the end I think it just comes down to what makes you happy.
Which reminds me of that silly little song that says:
Happiness runs in a circular motion
Thought is like a little boat upon the sea
You can have everything if you let yourself Be
