Soft fluffy snow flakes are falling outside the cabin windows as I begin this letter. Orange tongues of flame lick at the logs inside the country wood stove sending a gentle heat out into the room where Elsa lies sleeping with Siena snuggled on her chest, and Leia is curled up in her beanbag snoring softly under two layers of blankets.

The snow is 18 inches deep, a rare treasure at this altitude of less than 2000 feet, but a treat none-the-less for we who see more rain than snow at our home in Happy Valley. Elsa and I are spending the last few days of 2007 at this comfortable family retreat, soaking in our time with each other, savoring the beauty of nature, and reflecting on year that is coming to a close.

This year could be broken into three acts. In act I, we lived our working lives.

Elsa teaching children how to read, Eric working on a series of interesting projects, small weekend trips to visit friends. Nothing major or monumental (except the purchase of a Kayak for Elsa) Just a pleasant pastoral daily existence.

The summer would be act II. This Act was comprised of a series of mini-vacations.

Kayaking in Port Townsend, a return to Michigan to visit friends, extended time in Colorado to visit friends and family, trips to the cabin on Mt Rainier, more time in Port Townsend. It was all play and no work. I could get used to this!




And then Act III began and set the stage for 2008.

Two houses sat on a hillside. I took the one less traveled, or in this case, the one on the left. You are looking at Eric’s new home for the next few months. No, not because Elsa finally got fed up with my annoying tendency to leave cupboard doors wide open so she kicked me out. This house is a temporary residence until we can find a new house in Otis, Oregon, a coastal town just north of Lincoln City.

Act III began in late August with Elsa scanning the job postings on idealist.org, a website that lists jobs for people that want to make a difference in the world.

“You should look at this job,” she told me.
Not looking up from my email I replied, “I’m not looking for a job.”
“You will be when you see this one,” she responded back.

The posting was for an Executive Director at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, a small non-profit organization located

next to one of my all time favorite hikes on the Oregon Coast, the Nature Conservancy’s Cascade Head Preserve.

I had a month before the application was due so I mulled it over for about 3 weeks and then crafted my letter and resume and sent it off. The job was interesting, working with artists and naturalists to enhance the relationships between Art, Nature and Humanity. What could it hurt to apply?

In early October they called to invite me to a phone interview on October 12.

The phone interview lasted for 20 minutes and having spent 3 days at the cabin preparing for it, my answers were thoughtful, witty, and well informed. By the end, I managed to convince them that it made sense to bring me in for a live, in person, how-you-doing interview.

When you drive to the campus of the Sitka Center, you leave highway 101 and weave long the rural Three Rocks Road. A quick turn on Savage Rd and then you encounter the long driveway that leads past a herd of grazing Elk (on permanent loan to this valley it seems)to the small but charming cluster of buildings that make up the Sitka Center. As you pull into the parking area, it feels as though you’ve left civilization behind and entered a place where magical things are possible. The buildings and the hillside beckon to be explored, and if you turn around,

the Pacific Ocean puts on a dramatic display by crashing waves across the rocky outcroppings where Oregon’s Salmon River enters the Pacific.

After two more interviews the candidate pool narrowed down from 80 applicants to just me.

And after elaborate deliberations with Elsa, we have decided to leap into the fray and have me take on the role of leading this very interesting organization. I start officially on January 2, but I’ve already spent several weeks combing through their finances, their board minutes, and the wild and turvy history that has seen the Sitka Center go from a single room studio in the 1970’s to an elaborate tapestry of workshops, artist residencies, and public presentations that make it what it is today.

This job will necessitate a move to the Oregon Coast for me in January and for Elsa in June when she finishes her school year at Linwood Elementary. Neither of us is wild about living apart for the next six months and there is some feeling of dread as we anticipate readjusting to a bachelor-like existence in different cities.

So these last few weeks of 2007 have felt ephemeral and fleeting. We know big changes in our lives are only weeks away. Fun exciting changes: living on the coast, new job, new people, new adventures. And yet there is a sense of sadness about having to let go of a life that we had only just begun to really savor and enjoy here in Portland...Our house in Happy Valley that we have grown to love, our friendships that have solidified in the last year.

My friend Gregg told me once he thinks it takes at least two years before you really get to feel comfortable in a place. That was certainly true in Michigan and it has been true again here in Portland. On that level it’s been a hard decision to leave so soon after arriving.

But there is much to like about living within walking

distance of the Pacific Ocean. Millions of people from all over the world come to this area to see the Oregon Coast...and we’ll be living there! Sunday mornings will see us with a latté in one hand and the dog leashes in the other as we stroll on the beach next to crashing waves and soaring gulls. Instead of slogging it out in the city and then driving to the coast for solace we will be doing the reverse commute. Sounds like my kind of lifestyle...

So today we’ll walk in the snow and hold hands, smiling as the dogs run from tree to tree, joyful in the freshness of the world. Next week we will embark on the next phase of our journey and see where it takes us. What new friends we’ll make, what new adventures we’ll have with the friends we have already.

And thus the curtain falls on Act III of 2007. Only to open again on Act I of 2008 with all its richness, drama, and unknown plot twists.  As Shakespeare said, “all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players:
they have their exits and their entrances; And one man (or woman if you are one) in his/her time plays many parts,”

Let the show begin!

Happy 2008!

Love Eric and Elsa