Rain on the Horizon

This weekend it began to rain in earnest. Although it cleared up before dark on Saturday and Sunday had moments of clarity too, it was an overall gloomy weekend and a hint of things to come. Getting out and about on both days I feel like a foreigner in a strange country trying to fit in with all these "Ducks" of native Oregonians. Just as I have done while traveling, I attentively watched to see how the locals do it with hopes of picking up tricks and not looking completely stupid when I leave the house in the rain.

In my first oversvations, I was amazed to see people walking (with full confidence at a slow pace) around town without any sort of rain gear. These folks strolled as if it were a perfectly sunny day and like they had much more serious things to worry about than the rain. They didn't scurry, they didn't cover, they just walked. WHAT? Who does that? Who has had that much time in the rain that they simply submit to getting drenched through without any visible effort to stay dry. I was baffled unitl I realiezed that all of these first "calm walkers" were in fact dumb teenagers who were too concerned with strutting their stuff to risk looking dumb in the rain.

Later in the day, I observed sane adults who did, in fact show changes in their behavior on account of the rain. It turns out that when it rains in Oregon Oregonians:

• wear hats. It's amazing the difference a dry head can make. I have a sneaking suspicion that my lovely sun hats (the ones with big brims) may also double as rain hats before long.
  
• wear jackets. It doesn't have to be a rain jacket per-say but any kind of light jacket will help keep the rain off your skin. A full rubber suit, as it turns out, is not necessary for a trip to the grocery store.
  
• wear plastic baggies on their heads...OK, that's only something I saw an old lady at the grocery store do but it had been a long time since I had seen that number so it made me laugh.
  
• wipe their feet well before going inside. It seems polite enough right? I'm amazed that all businesses and homes aren't shoeless in the winter as it must be a HUGE pain to wipe up the tracks even when people do wipe their feet.
  
• go camping. OK, it was Labor Day Weekend so I guess people were just determined to have one last hurrah before fall but still, they were out there. Based on what we saw in the campgrounds most folks came prepared with their satellite dish RV entertainment systems but there they were nonetheless.
  
• fight forest fires. While you'd think that the rain would douse those flames, we still saw lots of forest service folks bustling around town in the rain.
  
• otherwise go about their normal business. Drew and I thought we were really tough for venturing out for a hike in the rain but ran into more people (3) on that trail than we have on sunnier days. Rain, apparently, is no reason to stay inside.
  

So, although I'm well prepared with varying weights of rain jackets, rubber boots, a new umbrella, and sun/rain hats, it appears that the best way to fit in, in an Oregon rain, is to take simple steps to stay dry and get the heck over it. With that said, I'm still working on my own little survival guide for rain and have created the following list of things to do to help myself keep sane through the winter. I had a great time making 3 batches of jam on Saturday but don't think I can do that all winter long.

Top 10 things to do on a rainy day in Oregon

10. Wear a brightly colored hat...and shirt...and skirt....and sandals. Inside.
9. Listen to Jimmy Buffett and sing along...loudly.
8. Dehydrate fruit in the oven. "Accidentally" leave the door to the oven open.
7. Make bread, jam, cookies, soup, and all other things homey and warm.
6. Say, "Yeah! It's raining!" over and over until it sounds convincing.
5. Admire how peaceful the lake is without all the motor boats on it.
4. Give thanks for not having to water the garden anymore.
3. Pet your chickens and tell them you love them.
2. Pet your husband and tell him you love him.
1. Make a cocktail with the blackberry liqueur you made when the sun was shining and sing more Jimmy Buffett. Boat drinks...the boys in the band ordered boat drinks....:)

Welcome, and a note of explanation.

At the ripe old age of "Still Not 30" I resigned my position as a high school Spanish teacher, got married, and moved 1,000 miles away to care for my new husband's grandfather. Before moving I had all kinds of romanticized ideas of how great it was going to be. I may not have been wearing a cape in my day-dreams but I was definitely saving the world one elderly grandfather at a time. Grandpa would look, act, and feel 10 years younger under my care. He would spring from his recliner to dance his way out to meal times and then follow me outside to putter on our various projects. On top of that dream, I was going to be a natural gardener, chicken rearer, goat milker, cheese maker, local eater, party hostess, jewelry dealer, and all around enlightened modern (but oh so traditional) woman.

Now, after 2 weeks of fun fun fun on the Oregonian home front, I'm confronting a new fangled thing called "reality" and working to find my way again. I keep telling myself and others that this will be a "good learning experience" and that I'll probably look back on these days as some of the best of my life but I think that people tell themselves those kinds of stories any time the road is rockier than it appears.

A bit part of my plan (projects to keep me busy) here was to raise chickens. They, like Grandpa, would adore me and I, in turn, would keep them well fed and happy. I had visions of airy and savory soufflés crafted from their gladly surrendered eggs and a well groomed and fertilized garden too. It took me a week to build the coop (more on that later) and now I'm just waiting to return from a week visit back home to bring the ladies home to roost. In the mean time, I've had time to pause and reflect on the imagined Golden Eggs or the big Goose Egg that this Oregon adventure will bring.

They say that when life gives you lemons you're supposed to make lemonade. Here, I'm on an adventure to make all my eggs golden. Over the next two years I'll battle a sometimes grumpy grandfather, cloudy skies, long distance friends and family, with a commitment to give it my darnedest to make sure my "eggs" end up sunny side up. This blog will explore the nuggets of learning I'm able to glean from days on the farm and, hopefully, help me keep my sanity despite relying on Grandpa and chickens to take the place of my amazing friends and family back home in Colorado.