I have moved away from Oregon what seems like enumerable times. Every time I return I am amazed by Oregon’s unparalleled beauty, the freshness of the air and the rain in the Willamette Valley. Up until now, my thoughts after a couple of weeks in the state have generally been, “I do not remember it raining this much.” Now, though, on the way up to Oregon from Tempe, Arizona through California we drove on dry pavement and have had several days of the couple of weeks we have been here with sunny days–I took the picture in the post out the window of our apartment. There is not a cloud in the sky. I think the East Coast is getting all our precipitation. This does not bode well for the coming summer. There appears to be almost no snow pack in the mountains which means low water levels in rivers and lakes and drought in Oregon. We have even seen rationed water here in the summer under these conditions.
The other thing that seems to get a little more intense every time we return is the coarse political and social environment in the state. Assisted suicide is legal here. Think of that. Assisted suicide–something that not so long ago would have been called murder. I would expect the same kind of abuse that has occurred in Holland with euthanasia will soon come here. Oregon has some of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country along with a high abortion rate. Any place that makes it legal to kill babies, the hope of the future, is in big trouble even if you are not talking about the immorality of the practice. Marijuana will be legal in that state starting later this year. Oregon has dropped to the bottom third in terms of educational performance from a very high rank a couple of decades ago and they continue to drop. The governor who presided over much of this mess resigned in disgrace last week, only to be replaced by the avowed bi-sexual Secretary of State. Homosexual unions are legally and oxymoronically called “marriages” in Oregon. And there is much more including it status as one of the most unchurched states in the Union and the abject failure of their Obamacare implementation.
Our plan has been to look for a home to buy here in Oregon. We are going to take that very slowly now that I am reminded of how it is here. The intolerance toward “my kind” here is palpable. I have a commitment to be here for awhile so we need to make some decisions about how to meet that commitment. If something does not go sideways, we have our house sold, so we have to do something before too long. We are in a nice apartment close to my work, so we will take our time and see what happens. Right now, on Sunday morning, it is funny that I am missing the crazy good biscuits they make at McDonalds in North Carolina. It seems like they just do not have the formula right out west.
Betty Blonde #260 – 07/17/2009
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