2/28/2010

Each year seems to have its own character. Some years are like an old highway that meanders along familiar towns and then dumps you onto a superhighway lined with shopping malls as it moves toward the end of the year. Other years are like a vast wilderness with infinite valleys and mountains unexplored, each day a discovery, each month a new adventure. This year to me felt like a river system. Despite our written out plans for how the year would be, we went cascading down the channel, pushed along by the current, battered by rocks, cutting new pathways and then finally dumping out into a wide but fast flowing river that moved inexorably toward the ocean. We seemed to be riding someone else’s wave rather than our own and it left us wondering how to make 2011 more of an adventure of our own making.

Not to say it was without its highlights. In February,

Eric’s sister had her first baby which precipitated a trip to Bend to see Monica, Brian, and the new Tiana.  In March, we took a romantic drive to San Francisco, following the California and Oregon coastlines. Eric appeared in an independent movie called “Wetlands” that explored the intersection of nature and art making. In April, we flew to Fort Benton, Montana, the highest point on the Missouri river for steamboat deliveries in the old west, a town that history hasn’t forgotten,

but the rest of the world has. My cousin Kelsy was married there and it provided an excuse to stay in the elegantly appointed hotel that is all that remains of an optimistic past in an otherwise dying town.

In the summer we spent time with our friends Gregg and Tana, savoring their rich hospitality and healthy cooking in Southwest Michigan. Eric spent a few days in Providence, Rhode Island and was amazed by the art culture of the city and by the Art collection at the Rhode Island School of design.  Elsa traveled to Sedona, Arizona for an education training session. (She loved Sedona and I expect we will be going back). For

Thanksgiving we traveled to Mead, Colorado, relaxing with Micheala and Troy and their two brilliant children in their home that looks out on the Rocky Mountains. And Christmas we spent with Eric’s parents, Monica and Brian and their super cute baby Tiana.

But the year was punctuated by some losses, most notably, the

deaths of both my (Eric’s) Grandmother and Grandfather. Eloise on August 2, Tony on December 28. Both deaths precipitated trips to Montana, never a bad thing, but I prefer trips for weddings rather than trips for funerals.

2010 also saw the completion of a major goal for Elsa and I. We started looking for investment property in 2003 and this year we finally closed on our first property, a new home in Lincoln City that will ultimately serve as a vacation rental. It’s a cozy three-story cottage that is surrounded by trees on three sides and sits within a five-minute walk to the beach. It’s charming and we are very pleased with it.

In the same year we tried and failed to close on a 2-acre property near the Sitka Center. It had an amazing view of the Ocean, but

also included a dilapidated little house that proved to be the property’s undoing. The house was so small and poorly constructed that it didn’t qualify for a conventional loan, but its existence disqualified it for a construction loan. In the end the only way to buy it was with cash and that was beyond our capacity at the time. We had to let the property go and the next day, Mike McMenamin (of the McMenamins restaurant chain) bought it. He got a great deal on a stunning view and it was a good lesson in having ready cash available.

Another failed adventure involved Eric’s run for City Council in Lincoln City. Despite a strong start, with endorsement from the current mayor and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, my passionate argument for a sensible gas tax to fix the streets was unpopular with a slight majority of the voters and the Tea Party candidate who opposed all taxes and all government won by 34 votes. Our long serving mayor (who had been endorsed by the governor, both Senators, and our US representative) was also defeated.  The process of running for office was an interesting if somewhat humbling experience.

As we wrap up the year we have much to which to look forward. Eric is heading to Serbia in January for 2 weeks to facilitate leadership training for Serbian students. In March we are heading to Morocco to visit Nancy as she wraps up her year long sabbatical. This summer will see us heading back to Montana for cousin Kyle’s wedding and with any luck at some point in the year we’ll see you too.


Until then, Happy 2011!

Love Eric and Elsa

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