Getting to know the Townfolk...

Halfway, Oregon
Volume 2

I was greeted at the door of church this week - greeted by name - by the sweetest 9 year old you ever saw. He had remembered my name from clinic - where his little brother had his face stitched up following a harrowing bicycle accident. He grabbed my hand and introduced me to those looking on - as “my friend Katie, she works at the clinic”. I was invited by his family to join them in their pew in the front row - what an honor.

After church - I crossed the street to one of "the other churches” in town to have lunch with some of its members and visiting missionaries. During the meal at the local tavern (the only restaurant open every day of the week) I was already being recruited along with my absent and unsuspecting husband to be the next newest residents of Halfway. Well…let’s hold on a moment and think this over…

You know your're in Halfway, or the nearby towns when there's donkeys for sale at Safway...

or in the breakroom at the clinic there's a calendar that says, "...did you know that 'Select Sires' offers semen from a wide variety of beef breeds ....getting the most out of your reprduction program is essential ...."

Did you know that to breed a new colt - for your horse to have happy relations and reproduce with a male horse that belongs to someone else - there is a FEE?? You actually have to pay money - a lot of money - to let your horse do it's duty with another. Isn't that called.....
oh ... I'm such a city girl.

The other night I got to don a well worn leather jacket, black leather gloves, large eye shields and a tight black riding helmet. Then I swung my leg over a deep red Harley Davidson. I’d been graciously invited and encouraged to join my preceptor in various extra-curricular activities and a recent one involved "riding" to dinner down the Snake River canyon. (I'll post pictures of me in leathers someday soon....)

The thunder and lightening have kept me awake more than one night - and what a thrill it is to watch the big steel grey clouds march across the sky bringing gusty winds and bright lightening and big fat rain drops. The smell is amazing when the drops join the thick green grass, hay and rich dirt of this valley and create a humid brew that smells of life.

I have - against much resistance - shifted into first gear. Life has slowed to include the basics like studying, cooking, reading, running, writing and long talks on the phone.
It’s a joy to discover the pleasure of good books, reconnecting with folks, listening to my heart and trying to decipher the Lord’s still small voice...even in this faraway land...

I've come to a place...

Halfway, Oregon
Volume 1

...I’ve come to a place where the sky is deep blue, the air is bone dry and smells like pine when I walk outside my front door. Folks wave or expect a wave each time you pass them on the road…especially when they’re driving their tractor pulling hay. I’ve come to a place where I don’t recall seeing a stoplight when driving through town and where the cattle out number the humans 7 to 1 in all areas of the county. I also just bought my first latte in town - a surprise find during my lunch hour errand to the fabric/quilting/gift store. As they took my money for the pillow forms, they brewed up a mean iced double tall Almond latte.

...I’ve come to a place where the lovely 83 year old woman, A.T, who I rent square footage from won’t give me a house key and has asked that we not lock the doors. ‘What’s the purpose?‘, she asked… and then proceeded to tell us of ‘that one pastor’ and his family who insisted on locking the house every day…!

Folks have started calling me by name.
Folks I’ve never met.

...I’ve come to a place where the town and its 350 residents are surrounded by breathtaking snow peaked mountains that are unbelievable each time I gaze at them. I have begun carrying my camera in my car because every time I go somewhere new I want to pull over and snap a few shots. Last night, as I ran down the 1.5 mile road to my house the sky was painted with pastel water colors - a wash of purple, pink and blue.

...I’ve come to a place where the songs on my iPod - from my old life - don’t quite fit in. As I jog along the pasture lined gravel roads - Old Blue Eyes, or my good friend Michael Buble, or even Michael W. Smith for that matter - seem a bit out of place. Or at least they make me feel like I’m in the beginning scenes of a movie or have lost my way … I have in my head Buble singing ‘summer wind’ as I trot past a black and white Jersey chewing her cud staring quizzically at me with her big black eyes. The cows stare at me, the horses whinny and I find myself turning off the music to hear the priceless sounds of the country side - the babbling creek and whispering trees.

...I’ve come to a place of solitude…for better or worse. This place is a hard one for me and it is even harder to admit that I’ve already shed a few alligator tears of loneliness and the summer has just begun. My social desires, my need for speed, my multitasking brain are all going to be forced into a summer of scheduled tranquility. I found myself driving over the speed limit yesterday after clinic and after I got the disgruntled look from a fellow rancher I thought, ‘what in the world am I hurrying back to’? I didn’t have a thing planned for the next 5 hours.

Finally…I’ve come to a place of humility. I have officially forgotten everything I ever learned. I have already proved that I know nothing of importance. And yes, I have already said “I don’t know” flat out…no fancy talk…I just said “I don’t know” at least 7 times today. And it’s day #1.

And the worst part….I truly didn’t know.