Since our 80/75/50 trifecta to Ecuador a year ago (my 80th, Sooney’s 75th, our 50th), we’ve been busy. Birding trips to favorite local places are frequent draws; this past January we chose a different path: severe winter conditions in Eastern Oregon in pursuit of the Snow Bunting and other hardened migrants accustomed to temps in the mid-teens. We were based in Joseph, Oregon, and spent several days exploring birding hotspots (actually quite cold!) in Wallowa County and learned a lot in the process.
En-route to the north-east corner of Oregon, we spent a couple nights with Alicia in Bend, laid over in Burns one night, paid a visit to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (The Narrows), and motored on icy roads to Baker for an second overnight. Winter driving is challenging, as was the birding. It was an enjoyable trip, however, traveling with dear friends, revisiting distant memories, and envisioning future adventures. That vibe abruptly changed with the sale of our house; that, in turn, led to us thinking more about the uncertainty of our lives, and the likelihood of us aging in place. But where? And would we be able to take actions and make decisions that will so profoundly affect our lives?
We’ve lived on Paradise Lane for over 30 years, and it has left an indelible impression on our souls. It’s also been a ton of work maintaining our beautiful home and ½ acre—aging hasn’t made it any easier. The actual sale had hints of a storybook tale. A neighbor was aware of us fantasizing how nice a smaller house would be, and the word got around. Sooney was contacted by an older couple wanting to buy our place—like yesterday—and when that didn’t work out as planned, a follow-up offer came in that sealed the deal. So, within a month, we were renting back our house and negotiating for a much smaller floorplan in a new, “Net-Zero” development that’s walking distance to our favorite city park. When that transaction came to fruition, our brains were engulfed by the suddenness (and magnitude) of these changes and how the future would unfold. It became clear that once construction began in the early spring, we’d be back in the home-building chapter of our lives lived 30 years earlier.
A narrow window opened while awaiting city approval of our construction design. Furthermore, mid-May is a perfect time to revisit Summer Lake and Malheur. It got even better when Alicia and our good friends, Stacey & Rowan, chose to car-camp with us that first night. We hadn’t expected snow but, hey, you can’t always predict springtime weather in Oregon. The silver lining was it killed all the mosquitoes. The next day we hugged our good-byes and proceeded to Page Springs Campground located on the southern-most section of the Refuge. Our arrival on a Sunday afternoon was optimal as several primo spots were vacated. #27 had our name all over it. We quickly set up camp and grabbed front row seats on the site’s picnic table for the dimming of the day. With warm sun on our backs, Sooney videoed the scene, complete with a soundtrack of rambunctious Yellow-bellied Chats and Common Yellowthroats. It was a glorious evening, and the farthest one could imagine being from building a house!
For the next several days, we explored all the wonderful amenities available to us. Hiking, cooking, playing music, reading and, of course, the endless task of processing photos. Being nesting season, we patiently observed some species and followed them to their nests. We loved parking the truck and walking silently along the gravel roads through the fields—that’s where all the magic is. Some birds had recently arrived from as far away as Argentina (Bobolinks) that would pop up out of meadow grasses and regale us with their non-stop songs from atop wispy flower stalks. And then there were the locals, who were introducing their fledges to the ‘hood. A first for us was spending time with a pair of Sandhill Cranes grazing with their young colt, who was barely tall enough to peer above the grass in the meadow.
We returned to Ashland vis Bend where we spent a couple nights with Alicia and her LoveBug. Once home, our weekly schedule was resumed: Yoga, exercising at the YMCA, yard work with José, Sooney singing at Hospice bedsides, and us both bewildered about where all the time goes. Two new activities are on our plate: 1) making all the decisions required when building a new house, and 2) monitoring and photographing the development of a species nesting in our area for the first time—the Lawrence’s Goldfinch. We’re stand-in ambassadors for viewers from all around the state. It’s satisfying, nonetheless, knowing there are magical spots awaiting our return. And return we will, with a confidence that all is good.