I am Smitten

To those who are thinking, “Oh thank goodness, she finally has a boyfriend”, I say, “Think again, grasshopper”.

I am indeed smitten, but it’s with the State of Oregon. I had traveled to and through Oregon a few years ago. Twice. Each time I enjoyed it. Like I enjoy a lobster roll. It’s really nice while it lasts, but I don’t think about it a lot. I don’t finish with the lobster roll, and then suddenly decide to stay a little longer and maybe have another.  I don’t walk back to the table and look longingly at the empty plate that once held the lobster roll. Like a lobster roll, Oregon was high on my list of things I liked, and that was that. Now to move on from this ridiculous analogy…

On this adventure, everything changed. We were lucky to be able to spend two months in Oregon, and six weeks on its coast.  I was planning to leave the state a little sooner than we did, but I lingered longer. We drove into the state on a late August day with a temperature an unseasonably warm 100 degrees, and we left it in full autumn. I am certain that I could not tolerate Oregon’s famously long damp winters, but it’s a place that is under my skin. I will return again, and hopefully again after that.

A few of our favorite things…

We have moved on from Oregon and are enjoying our current travels. But at the risk of sounding like a goober, I have to admit that I’ve thought wistfully of the state since our departure.

Trax is also wistful. He is also unashamed at being a goober.

Sally says, “Mom, did you say we are having lobster rolls for dinner”? No goober this one.