About

     Over 30 years of published writing has involved countless interesting people, ideas and interviews. Not all of them find homes on newspaper or magazine pages. This blog will allow me to share some of them with you. Sometimes it will be hot local issues, other times it will be snippets of stories, interviews, adventures or memories.

      I recently retired from almost seven years of writing a newspaper column every other week (my second) and look forward to spending that energy here on a broader spectrum of topics. This part of the country—Oregon's beautiful Willamette Valley—has a wealth of interesting people, places and happenings to explore.

      Besides writing columns and articles, I recently spent a year going through 40+ years of newsletters for the First Alternative Co-op Thymes to index the articles. Times (and the Thymes) have changed but it's striking to watch not just the Co-op's evolution, but that of a community through stories about people, events, organizations and businesses.

      Among the hundreds of articles I contributed to the Thymes were a few gems that stuck with me. I've posted three of them here. I feel a little old realizing how these distinct businesses have evolved (or not). Change happens.

      Most of my writing has revolved around farms, farmers, small businesses, food and people we don't see who bring it to us, and those who don't have enough of it. These will continue to be primary topics, but there are others I'll explore too.

      We've lived in the Willamette Valley for 35 years now, over half our lives. It's definitely home. My goal as a young woman was to travel as much as possible (and did), but I'm very content to have settled here and discover the heart of a place, season after season. This place – and its people – have taught me so much. My ears and notebook are always at the ready for the next interesting discovery.

      I grew up in a small farming community in northeastern Colorado, went to college in Mexico City and Colorado, joined the Peace Corps upon graduating and got my “graduate degree” over the next four years in Latin America. Later, my husband and I moved to Oregon and embarked on what we call our “Mother Earth News phase.” Among the idealistic homesteaders in the 1970s, we moved to the country, designed and built (much of it ourselves) our own passive solar home, making livings and a life. Many who sought the same dream have long since moved back to town. Though that temptation has occasionally teased us (me, anyway), we plan to stay as long as we can physically handle growing and processing food for ourselves, keeping the woodshed filled (our only source of heat besides the sun), managing several acres of woods, and the long hilly walks on logging roads all around us that have been our primary health plan.

      This neighborhood alone has been a rich source of interesting people, stories and lessons, some of which will be shared here too.

      Thanks for dropping by. Please visit again.