What Might Have Been

Last weekend, Darling Wife and I went up to southern Oregon to visit an old friend of mine. When we moved to the west coast, my friend and I thought we would get to see each other more. With him in northern OR at the time and me in northern CA, there was still some distance to contend with. So we knew it wouldn't be often, but we both like to travel, and at least we were in the same general area. But you know what they say about best laid plans and good intentions. During the four years DW and I have lived in CA, we've seen my friend maybe three times, and only once for any significant length of time. What's more, my friend has also gotten married during that time, and I only met his new wife for about five minutes during their wedding reception last year. So it was with great enthusiasm that I planned our visit.

Oregon is an absolutely beautiful state. It has mountains and coastline to rival that of its more famous southern neighbor, although the former are not quite as high and the latter is somewhat colder and wetter. But there are also snow-capped volcanoes, which I have to say, are slightly scary but awesome at the same time. And what about the Columbia River with its gorge and spectacular water falls the likes of which CA cannot rival. It is true that it rains a bit much in the northern part of the state, but that only means lush green valleys and an abundance of flora and fauna that appeals very much to the outdoorsman in me. And southern OR is much drier. Not as dry as this burnt-out hell DW and I live in, but dry enough to lower the humidity and require irrigation for farming.

We spent the weekend hiking in the mountains, where we saw a black bear in a closer encounter than I've ever had when I wasn't in a car, exploring caves (on a tour at the Oregon Caves Nat'l Monument), and wine tasting. It was so pleasant. DW and I both wonder how our lives might have been different if I'd gotten into the University of Oregon in Eugene instead of UC Davis. What would it have been like if we had friends close by and a landscape we prefer so much more than this one?

What, indeed?