Are you an Ore-fornian?
by Cheryl Nelson
Sacramento, CA
Ore-fornian noun: Any native Californian who relocates to Oregon, falls in love with the place, and eventually decides they prefer the Oregon lifestyle better (for any number of reasons) so they end up staying there forever.
I moved to Cave Junction, Oregon in 1979 as a college student. I fell in love with the beauty of the surrounding mountains, the cold clear creeks and rivers, the changing seasons and the abundance of native wildlife. For the next 26 years…I was the definition of an Ore-fornian!
An even better element of this story of immigration is the fact that my future husband, a native of Seattle, WA was already living and working in Oregon - one could say we sort of met each other half-way (refer to map of US West Coast).
We were married at the Grants Pass Court House in 1984 and began raising our two children in a modest home on 6 forested acres at the end of a long gravel driveway.
Jim was employed by the local sawmill and I found seasonal work at the US Forest Service. While Jim milled the trees, I planted them. I sensed there was a nice balance at at work.
I would have been happy to never leave this oasis, but alas the economy was a driving force.
We lived through the tumultuous Spotted Owl conflict and regrouped for the new Oregon economy. This prompted a move to the more urban setting of Medford, Oregon. Jim diversified into a marketing/sales position while I pursued a Bachelors degree in English from then Southern Oregon State College in Ashland.
Our children attended Lone Pine Elementary and after that, Hedrick Middle School. Their Oregon education culminated at North Medford High School. Son and daughter alike have gone on to achieve great things. Rika is persuing her MBA in Museum Studies at a Californian university while her brother Ty is hot on the creative trail - making music, designing jewelry and clothing and being an ambassador of Oregon quan - his Jazz Band buddies and he from North Medford are a musical force to be reckoned with. Both of our children pay homage to their mentors from Oregon – both are proud of their Oregon heritage.
Last year, our daughter chose the Halloween costume to beat all others, she went as the state of Oregon! Ironically, she was a big hit amongst an audience of mostly Californians!
Having lived in Sacramento for the past three years, I miss my ‘second home’. I visit Oregon as often as possible (five hour drive when it isn’t winter) and I’ve kept the 541 prefix on our cell phone in hopes of returning some day.
If the Oregon lifestyle had a motto, it would be:
‘Natural beauty throughout,
Naturally beautiful within…’
Time for an Arnold-ism (in the plural)? “We’ll be back!”
Note:
Both of our children are native Oregonians now living and working in California. Guess they’d be called Cali-gonians?
