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Wednesday, January 11, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
PLOWING: Neighbors
are helping neighbors
in heavy winter
Cancer and me: I wanna go home
By Jim Williams
Columnist
By early 2015, it was
time to leave. After having
spent the better part of a
year debating the merits of
a move to Portland, or wait-
ing until we retire, the itch to
move grew more intense.
Things were not going
so well where I worked. A
regime change then, in one
fell swoop, changed the
entire culture, and I no lon-
ger wanted to be a part of it.
A rather heated discussion
with my daughter over the
merits of coming over to see
me, also left me feeling like
it might be time. Throw in
the fact that after 17 years,
the Sisters fishbowl was get-
ting small.
A couple of unexpected
job opportunities arose and
were both too good not to go
for. Initially, I received a job
offer at the City of Portland.
After discussing the oppor-
tunity with my wife, Katie,
we determined that now
seemed like a better time
to leave than waiting until
retirement. With some trepi-
dation, I accepted the offer
with the City of Portland,
and now found myself with
the reality that the place I
called home for the last 17
years was no longer going to
be the case.
After a month at the
City of Portland, I eventu-
ally found myself work-
ing for the City of Oregon
City, which was a much
better environment to work,
and gave me better oppor-
tunities to grow. Since my
acceptance of the Portland
offer in March, till May of
2015, I had made numerous
car trips, moved into a stu-
dio apartment, later found a
house which would take all
the animals, and waited for
Katie to find something so
she could join me. By June,
she found a job in the Tigard
area and we packed up the
truck and moved to Beverly,
so to speak. No swimmin’
pools, or movie stars, just
the same town I had grown
up in, only bigger now —
much bigger.
It didn’t take long after
we had settled in to our
rental, that we missed
Sisters. That was to be
expected, I thought, because
we had been there a long
time and now we were gone.
Eventually we realized
that it was more than that.
Our friends were there, my
daughter was there; the roots
we’d planted all those years
ago ran deep and were tug-
ging us back.
We decided since we’d
made the commitment that
we were going to stick it
out. We ended up buying a
new home in Oregon City in
February of 2016. We loved
the house and the area, but
the lingering pull of Sisters
was still there. I made the
mistake of sending Katie
some ODOT camera shots
of a snow one day and she
called me back crying.
Katie, who always liked an
adventure and was tired of
“small town” Sisters, wanted
to go home.
Opportunities arose for
both of us on the job front.
Katie’s replacement at her
job didn’t work out and they
were practically begging her
to return. I had an interview
in Redmond already sched-
uled, which I’m quite sure
I would have gotten if I had
pursued it. Calmer heads
prevailed and we decided to
stay. We had just purchased
a house and wouldn’t have
gotten all of our equity back.
It was a great opportunity to
go back, but it was too soon
to make the move, as much
as we both wanted to.
As spring rolled into sum-
mer, things were going well.
We had settled into the new
house and were enjoying the
new surroundings. Then in
late August, I got the cancer
diagnosis … again.
Initially, Katie thought
if we ever went back, that
Bend would be the better
option. More to do, and you
don’t have to drive 30 miles
to do your heavy shopping.
Now, though, the things
Sunday mornings
we open the bar
at 9:30 so you can
catch the 10:00
NFL games over
breakfast and a
Bloody Mary.
541-549-RIBS
sisterssaloon.net
190 E. Cascade Ave., Sisters
we took for granted are the
things that continually draw
us back.
We miss riding our bikes
out our front door, either to
challenge the mountain bike
trails, or going on a long
road bike ride. We miss the
30-minute drive to Hoodoo.
We miss the spectacular
beauty of the mountains.
In the 10 years we lived in
Crossroads, I never tired of
the view as we drove home
out McKenzie Highway. We
particularly miss our best
friends at Rancho Viejo. If
Edgar caught us walking
across the street, our favor-
ite cold beverage would be
awaiting us as we entered
the building. In the almost
two years we’ve been here,
we’ve yet to find a place like
that. A place we can all our
own. Like going home.
Katie and I both love the
snow and have been envious
of the winter weather this
year. The weather in Sisters
can be a challenge at times,
but it’s all part of the charm.
Sisters, in a word, is spe-
cial. For all of you who live
there, you should consider
yourselves lucky. No place
is perfect, and Sisters cer-
tainly isn’t. But to me, it’s
just about as close to perfect
a place as you can find. As
hard as I try, I don’t think I
have the words in me to ade-
quately describe it.
All I know is that its
home, and I wanna go home.
There truly is no place like
home.
Continued from page 3
more — individual plow sites
be grouped together for the
sake of efficiency. STA mem-
bership is not required.
“Right now we have
but one big red tough truck
equipped with a seriously
effective plow blade, and we
are blessed with several will-
ing and competent volunteer
operators,” Calvin said. “It
is not efficient or effective to
respond to every individual
call for plowing service, nor
is it realistic to think we can
respond quickly to all in need
after a big dump of snow. But
I’d sure like to see Big Red
put into cost-effective service
as much as possible for the
benefit of STA.”
Calvin cites Suzy Ramsey
as a great example of serving
as a neighborhood plow orga-
nizer and scheduler. “Suzy
recently coordinated 11 plow
jobs within her neighbor-
hood,” he said “and together
she and Michael (Grant)
knocked them all out in a cou-
ple of hours, raising what we
think will be at least $440 for
STA but, more importantly,
raising awareness of STA
efforts to build and maintain
multi-access trails in and
around Sisters.”
That kind of neighborhood
organizing is what Calvin
hopes to see more of. “Makes
sense to me,” he said, “that
we work to locate a few more
neighborhood plow advocates
who can serve as liaisons
between the geographically
concentrated plow jobs and
our team of plow operators.
We have a rather interest-
ing and hopefully good thing
going raising respectable dol-
lars and public awareness and
appreciation of the Sisters
Trails Alliance...”
STA member Ann
Richardson reported that $750
in donations had been earned
as of Monday morning.
Individuals interested
in forming a neighborhood
group of persons needing
snowplow assistance are
invited to contact Calvin by
email at Kris@earthwood
homes.com. Phone messages
are problematic because he
is out plowing most of the
time. Persons without access
to email can leave a telephone
message 541-549-0924.
The Sisters Trails Alliance
is an all-volunteer, 501(c)
(3) nonprofit community
organization dedicated to the
planning, constructing and
maintenance of walking, hik-
ing, cycling, and equestrian
trails in Sisters Country. The
STA believes that trails are
an indispensable ingredi-
ent for the quality of life and
economic vibrancy in Sisters
Country. Volunteer help and
new members are always
welcome.
For further information
about STA or performing
volunteer work on trails or
other outdoor-related proj-
ects, contact the organization
at 541-719-8822. Additional
information can also be found
on their website at www.
sisterstrails.org or follow
STA on Facebook at Sisters
Trails Alliance.
One person,
over time,
can turn a life
around
Become a mentor for
a child in Sisters!
• Work with kids kindergarten onward
• Are you too busy to mentor?
Consider co-mentoring with a friend
or family member.
Learn more: 541-588-6445 or info@acircleoff riendsoregon.com
— Circle of Friends is a 501(c)(3) nonprofi t organization —