talent is a place

    So, a year ago today (02.26.08) my family and i, after driving through falling snow- for the first time- in the Siskiyou Mountains, seeing our first bear crossing sign and getting lost on the very dark I-5, arrived in Talent, Oregon.  We had just missed a big snowstorm and were awed by the shimmery drifts and snow-covered fields in which a few families were frolicking.  It was a little after midnight when we parked the U-Haul in front of R’s uncle’s home, grouchy and exhausted, excited and sad.

    i didn’t know what to expect from this fresh start.  i had researched the town, had been reading the local papers back when we were just thinking about Oregon.  Though i miss my family, our church, noise and diversity of SoCal, i’m glad to be here.  

    Even with that research, there are things i’ve learned by being here.  Here’s some:

~Southern Oregon and Northern California (i’m talking north, like Redding and Yreka) want to secede from their respective states and become the State of Jefferson.

~There are a lot of people from California in Southern Oregon.  i sometimes wonder where the people born in Oregon went.

~People who’re actually born & raised here hate Californians.  i’m a ‘californicator’.

~i want a t-shirt that says ‘californicator’ on it.

~Oregon is beautiful.

~There are seasons here!  All four of ‘em!

~If you’re not a nature lover, then there won’t be anything to do here.

~The Downtown Café is my favorite place in Talent.

~It takes mail a long time to get here.

~You never truly realize what a 1% Black population is until you start playing the ‘count the black people’ game and the only people you count are you and your husband.

~Even if you love rainy weather, after weeks and weeks of it, you want to cut your hands off.

~Still in the Oregon State Constitution there is a law banning Blacks, Mulattoes and Chinese from the state.  Uh, maybe that should be amended because, um, hello!

~Folks in Talent are very friendly.  i was concerned about cross burnings and being harassed, but not one bad incident in Talent.  Ashland- well that’s another story.

~i finally get to wear sweaters!!!

~Watching deer prance about a pear orchard at sunrise is freakin awesome.

~Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the U.S.

~Falling snow is magic.

~There are no fast food joints in Talent.

~The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is expensive.

~When the grocery store is forty-five minutes away, you can find amazing things to do with ketchup.

~Horse shit, hay and pear blossoms mixed together on a spring breeze smells pretty wonderful.

~Geese look beautiful against a blue sky.  They also make for a wonderful alarm clock.

~My dream now is to own a horse ranch or stables.  i want a horse.  i would name it Roses.

~i like it here.

~i never knew what quiet was until i moved here.  Sometimes it’s too quiet.  It feels lonely.

~i can’t wait to visit my mom and sisters in August.  (Las Banditas por vida!)

    Talent is a place i am learning to love.  Talent is my home.