I don't know why I love her like I do
Discover more from Snale Trails: A Travel Adventure
I don't know why I love her like I do
there's a river running through us all
What’s up, y’all!
Things have been moving right along here at Snale Racing. We’ve started the process of listing the car for auction. They tell us it may take a few weeks to get all the details squared away, but the important thing is that it’s finally happening.
We’re trying not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but gnob has already made a list of all the parts left to buy for Danny Bonaduce once the Fairlady sells. Then we’ll get that truck listed for sale, too. If you know anyone who may want a 1985 Toyota 4Runner that’s been hooked up for rock crawling adventures – pass it on – coming soon!
Selling the Fairlady is the rock hard ice core of a snowball that’s going to start rolling fairly quickly towards Costa Rica. A friend reminded me the other day that once we go, we may not be back to Oregon for a while, if ever, and it made me start thinking about all of the things that we will miss here.
It goes without saying that we’ll miss our friends, but then we’ll also make new ones. It’s the cycle of life, isn’t it? People come and people go. Some are more important to us than others, for a time, anyway. Some of them we may never see again, but some of them will be with us to the very end, whatever that is.
Even the ones that we never see again sometimes live on in our memories. And just in case Southern Oregon becomes like a friend lost to time, I want to imprint something about it that I’m going to miss.
I’m going to miss the Rogue River. It’s always there, no matter where I am. I’ve been fortunate enough to live and work near it for years. My commute follows the river from one place to the other. Some brilliant people also created a bike path that runs for miles along it, and so I run for miles along it, too.
No matter the time of year, or the time of day, it never stops racing towards the Pacific Ocean. Every day that I look from my front porch to the mountain on the other side of the valley, it blows my mind that the river did that. Long before I even existed, and (hopefully) long after I’m gone, the Rogue River will still be flowing to the sea.
The river offers me many things. I gauge the seasons by how the river is flowing. I’ve watched nest after nest of osprey chicks grow up and fly along it. I’ve startled deer taking a drink too many times to count. I’ve also learned that everything is connected, when the debris from a fire that was miles away floated down Bear Creek and into the Rogue, directly above our town’s water intake plant.
It doesn’t just supply water to the towns here, it also supplies water to the vineyards. While I don’t drink alcohol anymore, I still love to look at the orderly rows of grapevines along the river banks. This area is starting to get better known for its wine, not only its marijuana (which is also watered by the river).
The Rogue River flows through the Siskiyou National Forest (which I will also miss), and it meets the Pacific Ocean in Gold Beach. Having spent some time living in Southern California when I was in the Navy, I can attest that the Oregon coast is nothing like that. It can be foggy and mysterious, especially in the forest nearby, with the lush ferns and tall trees.
Though we didn’t take advantage of it nearly as much as we should have in the last few years, it’s nice to only be a short drive away from the ocean. Next to looking at the stars, the ocean is one of the few things that can really impress on you the size of the universe and your place in it. We’re really not much bigger than the grains of sand on the beach, from that perspective.
While feeling small may bring with it feelings of inadequacy and doubt, I disagree with that interpretation. I may not be a giant piece of the tapestry we call life, but I am still a piece of it. And my piece is going to continue to send love and compassion to the rest of the pieces. I can’t change the whole universe, I’m too small. But I can make a difference to all of the pieces that touch mine.
Wow, funny how talking about a river led me right back to philosophy. I should clarify – I don’t think of philosophy as dusty old books that only academics and intellectuals bother studying. To me, philosophy is the word that describes my search for how I can become my best self, and how I can encourage others to find themselves, too. People have been considering these very same questions for thousands of years, so why reinvent the wheel?
I study the words of old dead guys and modern-day philosophers because they have already been there, done that, and if I can absorb their knowledge, I might be able to skip some painful mistakes. Though I have no doubt that instead I will find different painful mistakes to make, we all gotta start somewhere, right?
If you have something beautiful in the region where you live, take a moment this week to go appreciate it. Tomorrow isn’t a guarantee, so make the most of today. Stop spending so much time thinking about the 40-hours-a-week part of your life and go spend some of those other hours outside. Preferably with someone you love.
See you next week!
Video of the Week
No spoilers, but we’re gearing up for another long road trip in the Snale. This video is from the first two days of our last trip, and it was such a great way to start the journey.
Quote of the Week
That wraps up another week with Snale Racing! We’ll leave you with the quote that was most powerful for us this week. Peace!✌
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