Tag: Oregon

Umpqua River, Boomer Hill-Oregon

by Penny Wilson Writes, posted in Life

At the top of Boomer Hill where the Lodge Pole Pines stand straight & erect, reaching for the sky; this is where my heart is.  It’s among the moss and pine cones scattered on the forest floor.

North Umpqua River

It’s riding the air currents, alongside the bald eagles and hawks as they search for prey.

My heart yearns for the splash and laughter of the Umpqua River as it weaves its way across the valley floor.

Oh, how I miss my Beloved Oregon!!

Don’t get me wrong.  I love my life!  I have many, many blessings!  But sometimes my heart just aches to be among this beauty.  I’ve lived from coast to coast in this Great Big U.S. of A. and much of it is beautiful.  But I’ve never lived anywhere more beautiful than Southwest Oregon.

Where is the most beautiful place you’ve ever lived?

Beloved Oregon

by Penny Wilson Writes, posted in Life

June 15th, I leave.  It’s settled.  Tickets are bought, car is rented, plans are made.  I’M GOING TO OREGON!

For those of you that know me or have followed my blog for some time, you know that I’m from Oregon.  I moved to Texas in 2011.  Texas has been good to me.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love my life and I’m glad that I’m here.  But Oregon is HOME.

It’s been Way Too Long since I’ve been up.  I’m going to be seeing my oldest brother and my BFF.  I’m so excited! I’ve got a while to wait.  But the Countdown has already started!  🙂

One of the things that I miss the most about Oregon is the Natural Beauty.  The picture above was taken at Salt Creek Falls in Southern Oregon.  It’s a corner of the state where with every corner you turn, you are seeing Picture Perfect scenery.  It’s truly a Paradise feast for the eyes.

Do yourself a favor and Google the Umpqua River.  You will see beauty so amazing, that you will think that it cannot possibly be real.  But it is.

Can’t wait!

Copyright (C) 2018 Penny Wilson

 

Travel In Oregon and See the U.S!

by Penny Wilson Writes, posted in Life, Uncategorized

 I recently received the great honor of doing a Guest Post on https://mohamadkarbi.com/ Mohamad’s blog.  He has a fascinating blog about travel, writing tips and a variety of other subjects.

You can see the piece I wrote here:

Travel Oregon and See the U.S!

To my Friends and Family in Oregon: Yes, I know I left a LOT out!  There is only so much I could cover in this post.  Perhaps I will do a more in-depth post on some spots in particular in the future.

To my Friends and Family in Texas: No fear, I’m not going anywhere.  Texas is my home now and I’m glad to be here.  But they say “write what you know” and I know the state of Oregon a lot better than I know the state of Texas.

To my Friends on WordPress: I hope I did not deceive or confuse you with this piece. I didn’t mean to.  I was born in Oregon, although I traveled all over the country, I spent many years there.  I now reside in Fort Worth, Texas.

Signs!

by Penny Wilson Writes, posted in Life, Uncategorized

“Signs, Signs, everywhere a sign.  Blocking out the scenery and breaking my mind.”  I guess I’m dating myself.  Some of you will get that and some of you won’t.   🙂

Looking at the picture above, the first time I was faced with going through this intersection, I kinda freaked out.  At first my brain could not decipher what the hell I was looking at!   I’d never seen a sign like this before!

I managed to figure it out without causing any fender benders going through the intersection, but it sure caused my heart to skip a beat at first!

Living in rural Oregon, “traffic” is when you have to wait for more than 2 cars at the stop sign to get onto the main road.

When I first moved to the Fort Worth area, I was pretty intimidated by the traffic here.  Just getting on the freeway was daunting!  Where I used to live, the freeway looked a lot like this:

But where I live now, they look like this!

Actually, it looks more like this:

In Oregon, I lived about 8 miles from work.  It took me roughly 10 minutes to get to work.  Here, I live Less than 8 miles from work.  On the average, it takes me about 25 minutes to get to work.  On a good day, 20 minutes.  I’ve had it take as long as 40 minutes to go those less than 8 miles!   Crazy!

But I digress.  The reason for this post is the Sign! The Sign!

That Crazy traffic sign!   I really, really hate the traffic here.  So coming upon a Crazy sign like this just blew my mind.

I have a Wonderful life here in Texas and I do my best to show my gratitude to the Powers That Be.  But Dear TXDOT people, please, please, no more signs like this!

G-Gratitude

by Penny Wilson Writes, posted in Life, Uncategorized, Writing

bluebonnets

This is my version of the A to Z challenge

G – Gratitude

Meaning: being grateful or thankful

I know I’m a bit behind with the letter G.  I was trying to think of a good word to use and my thoughts kept coming back to Gratitude.

Ever since I moved to Texas, I kept thinking about what I was leaving behind in Oregon.  More than anything, I miss the beauty.  The woods, the mountains, lakes, rivers, all of Nature’s glory to behold.  I also have a very dear friend there that I miss terribly.

What I saw of Texas was, city, city, city.  I saw the traffic, the noise, the throngs of people.  And the heat!  I thought I was going to melt!  I had blinders on, because that’s all I saw.

Now, I’ve loved my job and have been grateful for it and the people I work for/with, from day one.  But other than that, I couldn’t see the forest for the trees.

All I saw of Texas was the negative.

It’s taken me almost 5 years to decide that living in Texas is a good thing.  Sure, there are still things I miss about Oregon.  But now, I’m able to see the beauty around me.   Now I’m enjoying the shorter, milder winters.  The growing season here is so much longer!

I also have made life-long friends here; people that I love and cherish for being in my life.  These are now people that I can hardly imagine my life without.

Gratitude.  Yes.  Absolutely.

I have so many blessings here.  I am thankful to have the wonderful life that I have now.

Movin’

by Penny Wilson Writes, posted in Life

CAM00297

It’s strange how eerily quiet it got when I asked for volunteers to help me move.

Above is a picture of SOME of my stuff.  I have boxes EVERYWHERE!  Under the bed, behind the couch, in the closet, on and on and on…

When I came to Texas 3 short years ago, I had very little.  I left all my furniture behind.  I brought just the essentials and my most treasured keep-sakes.  And my cat, Otis.

 Otis 2

I moved from a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home into a one bedroom apartment.

Now, considering all of this, WHERE DID ALL THIS STUFF COME FROM?

I honestly didn’t think I had much as far as possessions go.  Apparently I was wrong.

I think that the move from Oregon was easier.  Either that or I forgot what a giant pain in the butt it is to move!

You may not hear much from me in the next few days.  Thursday is the Big Day for me!  Wish  me luck!

By the way, if anyone of you shows up to help, I promise pizza and the beverage of your choice!  🙂