Getting Old in Portland

I flew into Portland Wednesday afternoon for a short visit. My plan was to spend time with my Nana. The women in my family age well. They stay independent, brown haired and crotchety well into their 90’s. Nana lived independently until her ninetieth year. Last September she moved into a retirement facility. She wasn’t happy about the move. It was necessary though and she knew that. I stayed at the old folks home with her this weekend in a room right across the hall. It was kind of like living at church; it was so quiet I could hear the heating and cooling system in the hallway and I had lots of little white haired ladies telling me what to do. Of course it rained off and on during my entire visit but I would call the weather fairly nice for the beginning of June in the Northwest.

Living in the retirement center for four days made me think a lot about what my life will be like when I am older. I also thought a lot about how easy it is for me to fall back into the Northwest. I lived in the cool and the damp for so long. It is my place of roots. I know the smells and the bird song and the names of the flowers. I took a long walk in the woods with a friend I made 33 years ago. We spent our walk talking about growing older and the concept of home. I’ve decided that I have several home places. I can’t just pull the Northwest girl out of me. I love the coffee too much. I also know that living in the sun has made my life immeasurably better. For now I’ll be content with duel citizenship.

Morning sun over the Columbia

What’s An Ag?

One of the first things I did when we moved to Valley Center was to coordinate and consolidate the school calendars with our family calendar.  After all, I’m a mom and a former teacher.  I’ve got a kid with Type 1 Diabetes in second grade and another child in preschool.  I understand the importance of being prepared for field trips, pizza days and book fairs.

I noticed that in April the Primary School and Elementary School students would be attending Ag Day.  At least I thought they’d be attending.  I wasn’t sure exactly what Ag Day was and therefore had not a clue about what one might do with or for an Ag.

It’s okay to laugh, you won’t be the first one.

I spoke with my husband and said, “you don’t suppose this is referring to agriculture?”. He told he was pretty sure Ag Day was really Agricultural Day and would in some way be relating to the fact that we now live in an agriculturally based community.

A beautiful Ag Day

I have a lot to learn.  When I mentioned Ag Day to my sister-in-law she said, “Is there also an Urban Day where you can get a coffee, do some shopping, go to a book store and then get Vietnamese for lunch?”.  I have a LOT to learn about being in the country.

I’ve now attended two Ag Days.  Valley Center School District has a school farm.  Parents and volunteers came together to showcase the agriculture, the ranching and the beauty of this paradise we live in.  It’s very dusty.  There are lots of kids and my fear of snakes was on overload.  I’m not going to lie, I was a fish out of water or perhaps a better metaphor would be a Mama far away from Starbucks.  It was lovely though, to see the children learning about palm trees,  planting and how to be better stewards of our environment.  It was also priceless to hear my son at the dairy exhibit exclaim slightly horrified, “Milk comes from THAT?!”.

Benjamin inspects a milk cow

Along with the whole country community thing comes a wonderful sense of belonging.  At this last Ag Day I saw quite a few parents that I am beginning to know.  They were all kind.  They laughed with me about my ignorance.  They checked in with B.  They offered us cool water.   This really is such a great place to raise our boys.

 

Pumpkin Patch Then and Now

When we lived in Vancouver we always went to Bi-Zi Farms http://www.bizifarms.com/ and Pomeroy Living History Farm http://pomeroyfarm.org/ .  Both were beautiful in their own way.  On an early morning Bi-Zi could be amazing.  I remember looking up the field, watching the fog just lifting off the ground framing the tractor that we rode on.  Pomeroy was my favorite because of the hills of bright yellow, orange and red leaves surrounding the patch.

Pomeroy Farm Pumpkin Washing station

Bi-Zi Farm

This year we had a fabulous time at Bates Nut Farm http://www.batesnutfarm.biz/.  Bates happens to be down the road from our home in Woods Valley.  The kids had a great time.  It’s the first time I’ve every worn shorts to the pumpkin patch!  It wasn’t the same kind of cold crisp autumn beautiful but it was lovely.

Checking out the pumpkins in the morning sun.

Knott’s Berry Farm Hangover

Yesterday we drove up Interstate 5 to Anaheim.  Mike’s company picnic was at Knott’s Berry Farm.  It was a quick drive.  Hello California driving!  We had a really great time.  It was hot.  I bought cute hats for the boys.  I took adorable pictures.  At the end of the day we were all ready to go home. 

I was struck once again how amazing it is to drive home following highway signs that say, “South to San Diego”.  We drove through San Clemente along the Pacific Ocean just as the sun was glinting down on the water at the horizon.  We drove through Escondido up over our mountain pass and down into Valley Center.  We were all so tired but it was a good day.

Ferris Wheel

Monday is here.  There is nothing like a day at an amusement park with two little guys to wear Mama and Dada out. Mike went to work.  I drove the boys to school and came home past the orange and grapefruit groves.  I was struck once again by the beauty of this place.  We are starting to transition to the idea of this place as “home”.  We still miss our places and people in Vancouver but this feels like a home base now.  Making a change like this is frightening.  It’s a huge deal to move away from all that I’ve known.  It’s unnerving to not know a school system or a neighborhood or even where to get groceries.  I hate the whole rattlesnake thing as well but that is a topic for another blog.

I’m proud of us.  We are doing a really hard thing. We’ve moved forward on our adventure and found all of this beauty.  I think we’ve found we are stronger then we thought.

Brave at the top of the Ferris Wheel