Oregon: Divided

Every once in a while, when a girl gets a little nostalgic, her thoughts turn to the green valleys of Oregon. I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic lately, thus my thoughts have been close to my home state. And since I think lists are the number one best way to relieve stress, I made a couple of them concerning Oregon.

Sadly enough, I’m not an Oregon native. I actually only lived there for around 12 years. Since I left when I was 13, I don’t know Oregon culture as deeply as Oregonians like my Dad, and since I’ve been gone for two years I tend to generalize things. But I do know some basics.

Oregon, in my mind, is divided into two main camps: Loggers and hippies. I think the rest of the country thinks ‘hippie/environmentalist’ when they think Oregon, but most of the people I know are loggers. I’m told there’s also a hybrid called a logger-hippie, but you can’t be both. If you claim to be both, then you’re definitely a hippie. Each camp has many subdivisions and many traits. Here are a few examples.

You may be an Oregon ‘logger’ if:
You’re a farm kid
You’re in Portland/Eugene/Corvallis but not of it
You’re a transplant from some state in the Bible belt
You live in Klamath Falls
You live anywhere in Eastern Oregon besides Bend
You’re a rabid member of the NRA
You’ve ever cut down a tree

You maybe an Oregon ‘hippie’ if
You’re a rabid environmentalist
You’re in Portland/Eugene/Corvallis and proud of it
You’re a vegan
You’re a non-mainstream-sports junky
You’re a California transplant
You sport a gray man-ponytail or astrologically themed jewelery
You’ve ever hugged a tree

Of course this is highly stratified and generalized. I’d like to call myself a logger but I’ve never cut down a tree or shot a gun or lived in Klamath Falls (although that would be way cool). I’m a bit of a hypocrite actually. Gun rights are awesome! But I would never kill an animal for fun. In Oregon we recycled all the time. And I think I hugged a tree once. Actually our family is more of a small town family than anything. Not pure enough for either camp, we’re stuck in a muddy little purgatory.

Thank goodness we’re in North Carolina now though! I don’t have to figure out what camp we’re in here because I still don’t get it.

What are you?