valley girl

We just got home from our first return visit to Bend since moving away in mid-July. It was hard. I miss my friends, a lot. While we were there, I began doubting our decision to move away. Of course, it was sunny and 70 degrees; a far cry from the weather I vocally denounce, often...but, in true high desert form-the wind came, the dust swirled, and the lack of fall foliage prevailed my thoughts and I remembered how happy I was to leave that all behind...

I grew up in the Rogue Valley. I lived there for 27 years and never noticed the trees or mountains or green grass in March. It's funny, how you don't miss something until it's gone...after 3 years on the high desert in Bend, OR, it became clear to me-I am a valley girl, a Rogue Valley girl.

That distinction has to be made, because in Bend, if you say you're going home to the "valley" for the holidays, everyone assumes you mean the Willamette Valley and the Portland area. As it turns out, that is a pretty safe assumption for most people, since my husband and I were near the only people I knew of from Southern Oregon.

There are definitely warm fuzzy memories I have of the terrain and climate of Bend. None of which include tumbleweed, juniper trees, or iced over parking lots. I do miss hiking "the bid, bad, butte" with Deanna, walking along the river from Farewell Bend park to Red Robin with the Mackeys, and strolling along the hip downtown with Patty and the girls. I miss the awe of waking up in the morning with the entire town covered in snow, and the cool breeze that seems "just right" in the middle of summer.

But those memories are made most memorable by the people in them, and this post is about the physical surroundings in which I live...

I really, really love the valley. I know that more now, than ever before...I guess now I'm wondering if living in a place I love was worth leaving a place I loathed that housed so many people I love...