Our son Tony, his wife Cammie, the two-year old Connor and the nine-month-old Christopher just completed a visit to our new mountain home in Oregon. It was obvious they loved it.
They also liked the historic community of Jacksonville. In fact Cammie raved about the town. I was surprised, however, when she asked Peggy why we hadn’t chosen to live there instead of at our more rural retreat in Applegate Valley.
On one level, I understand the question. It is great to have good restaurants, cultural opportunities such as the Britt Festival, a library, a variety of shops and a grocery store all within walking distance. Finding such a place is rare in our world of urban sprawl.
My ancestors apparently liked the community; I have Great Grandparents buried in the cemetery overlooking the town and a related family, the Colvigs, owned a home there that is now on the National Historic Registry.
But there are also inherent values connected to living in the woods. Peggy quickly related them to Cammie and assured her that I hadn’t forced my lovely wife into a world of isolation. (Jacksonville is only a short 30-minute commute away from our home plus it is a beautiful drive. There are no clogged freeways.)
I was thinking about Cammie’s comments last night as I stood outside our house and looked up at the Milky Way. It’s a view you rarely get in urban areas or even small communities. The bright lights and pollution hide the stars. I could hear the Applegate River rushing by the front of our home and some small animal rustling around in the bushes behind me.
Earlier in the day I had given Connor a wheelbarrow ride up to the back of our property so he could say ‘bye-bye’ to the deer that hang out there. He’d been up to visit them several times. The herd comes down from the Rogue National Forest that forms our back property line. They are eager for Peggy to put in a garden.
Connor also waved goodbye to the swing that Tony and I had put up for him in a White Oak.
We had carefully surveyed our property looking for the perfect swing tree and a future tree house site. With over a hundred White Oaks on our five acres plus Douglas Fir, Red Cedar, Ponderosa Pines and Madrones there are numerous options.
Don’t get me wrong about Jacksonville, we could live there quite easily and may someday. But for now, our retreat in the woods with its beautiful views, abundant wildlife, national forest and rushing river is exactly where we want to be. It’s a place that we are eager to share with family, friends and children.
And it is a place where our grandchildren can come and wander through the woods to their heart’s content. It was this freedom and the introduction to wilderness that I loved most about growing up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I can’t think of a better gift to give to our newest generation.

While we haven't been snowed in, we have seen a fair amount of snow this past week as demonstrated by one of our Red Cedars.

A distant Peggy stands in the middle of our White Oak forest, points to our distant house and says "mine."
You captured our thoughts beautifully! How fortunate we are to have had a choice in where we would eventually land.
For those of you who don’t know the story, Peggy was tied up with our kids in Hendersonville, Tn. when I came out to look at the property and decided to buy. I was pretty sure I knew what Peggy would like but wasn’t totally sure until we drove down our long driveway and Peggy fell in love with the house, property and location. Whew!
Hey, now! I was misrepresented!! I may have liked Jacksonville, but if I had your choices, I wouldn’t have picked living in town either (nor did I wonder for a second why you chose to live farther out!). Just to make that clear… I’ll assume you just changed my views for the sake of a better story… 😉
Thanks again for a lovely visit!!
Ah, maybe Cammie. I had a secondary source. 🙂 Anyway, Peggy and I are glad you and Tony enjoyed your visit to our little slice of the wilderness and come again soon.
Curt and Peggy, I’m enjoying your blog. I found it while searching for images for a project I’m working on. I’m wondering if you would consider licensing the mountain photo above for use on the web site of an Oregon University prof? Sorry for asking this in a comment; I couldn’t find a contact link on your site.
Thanks and feel free to delete this comment.
Hey Jack, Consider permission granted as long as you credit the photo to Curtis Mekemson and share the website.