Whatever Happened to Common Courtesy?

Trey Smith

One of the most annoying aspects of trying to find a place for Della, Lily and I to live in the area around White Salmon is the lack of common courtesy. I can't tell you how many times in the past 10 weeks Della and/or I have contacted a person advertising a place to rent and we have received absolutely no response. These ads keep popping up on Craig's List or Gorge.net Classifieds every few days and yet, if you contact them by email or phone, they don't contact you.

There is a particular larger-than-average studio apartment in BZ Corners that has been advertised off and on for nearly 6 weeks. About one month ago, I contacted the poster, but they didn't respond. I thought that, maybe, they had already lined up a renter. Then, at the first of last week, the ad appeared again on Gorge.net. (For this to happen, the person must manually repost it.) This time Della made the contact and here we are 6 days later and still no response.

What is the point of running an ad IF you won't respond to people who express an interest? (I should note that I googled the person who posted the ad and she is a prominent citizen in the White Salmon area.)

While that situation was maddening enough, one we faced a few days ago took the cake. Last Sunday Della went to look at a place in Hood River and thought it would serve our needs very well. She seemed to establish good rapport with the couple who were looking to rent it out. The husband sent me an email that said his wife would get with Della on Tuesday to give her the rental application. We haven't heard from them since!

Della sent a text to the wife on Tuesday evening. Neither she nor her husband has responded.

What is so damn difficult about contacting us to say that a) they decided to rent the house to somebody else, b) they don't think we would be a good fit, c) some unexpected emergency has come up to delay the process or d) they've decided not to rent out the house after all?

In terms of another apartment Della looked at, we had some questions for the property management company. The representative of that company told Della she would try to find out answers for our questions and then contact Della in a day or two. As I am sure you can guess, we have heard nothing for two weeks. In this case, we're not AS peeved because we probably wouldn't have decided to rent it anyway.

Still, it begs the question: What has happened to common courtesy?

Another One Bites the Dust

Trey Smith

When Della signed onto AmeriCorps, we sent an introduction letter to the various property management firms in the Columbia Gorge. This letter explained our own unique circumstances plus we included a standard note from the Washington Service Corps. The latter sheet explained the mission of the Washington Service Corps/AmeriCorps and asked potential landlords to consider waiving or lowering the fees associated with property applications, security deposits and/or monthly rents. The idea here is that, since AmeriCorps volunteers are choosing to serve local communities, those communities can give back by offering some modest financial breaks to the volunteers.

It is a nice sentiment, but it doesn't appear to be playing out in the real world, at least, not the real world in the Columbia Gorge!

One firm responded immediately by telling Della they had nothing to offer. A second firm seemed far more enthusiastic and the representative told Della that they were willing to "work with her." Unfortunately, as Della learned yesterday, "working with her" simply meant that they were willing to show her apartments and houses with no special financial considerations. This covered the apartment she looked at on Saturday. The large security deposit requested makes renting that place prohibitive.

Look, we aren't expecting someone to offer Della a $10,000/month apartment for $100. We realize in this financial climate that landlords -- just like everybody else -- need to pay their bills. On the other hand, we were hopeful that her decision to serve in the Washington Reading Corps would mean something to these companies. It would say something about her character as a caring person.

Sadly, the situation seems to be solely about money. If you have wads of cash, there are a plethora of choices to choose from. If you don't, then tough luck.

Since we keep striking out in the White Salmon/Hood River area, we're now taking a look at some of the housing choices in The Dalles, Oregon. The Dalles is the largest town in the area (population of around 13,600), but it is located 25 miles southeast of White Salmon. If we strike out there too, then it looks like Della is on her own until the middle of July and I'm stranded here without a car.

Maybe

Trey Smith

Apartment hunting in the Columbia Gorge has been a real challenge. As I've discussed before, affordable housing options there are few and far between. We have noted one basement apartment in Hood River, Oregon, that, while at the extreme upper end of our limited budget, might work for the remainder of Della's 6-month term. She will go view it tomorrow morning.

We are hopeful that the letters we sent to the various property managements firms will be of some assistance. If the company that manages this particular apartment sticks to their general requirements -- very HIGH security deposits -- then this will be a no go. On the other hand, if they are willing to make allowances for a volunteer's AmeriCorps service to the community, then it might be doable. I will still need to crunch some numbers.

I've warned Della not to get her hopes up. The transition to living alone in a strange town has not been easy for her. I don't want to see her feel crushed if this apartment doesn't work out. She tells me she's trying to be realistic, but that can be hard when a person feels as if they are living in a very unreal situation.

The best we can do right now is to cross our fingers.

A Matter of Timing

Trey Smith

When you are an individual who always is a few steps ahead or behind social society, it should come as no surprise that you experience bad timing. Throughout my life I have tended to arrive on the scene either a few moments too early or a few moments too late! Whatever the optimal time frame is, I consistently seem to miss it.

For example, when I decided to go to grad school to pursue a Master's in the Social Sciences, this wasn't a flippant decision. I did a lot of research which showed that community colleges were begging for instructors in my soon-to-be chosen field. Little did I know that, while I was attending grad school, universities all across the nation began the great paring back of their budgets and handing pink slips to long-time adjunct professors. The upshot is that, when I graduated a mere 2 years later, community colleges were awash in out-of-work instructors with PhD.s! They weren't interested in those of us with lowly Master's.

Had I started my grad school program two years earlier, I probably would have found a teaching job at a small community college rather easily. But the time that I graduated was among the worst times to do so. Despite sending out hundreds of resumes, I only received a handful of interviews and not one job offer. Such bad timing!

When Della and I applied to USDA for the Rural Home Loan program, our completed application arrived on the last day of the quarter. It turns out that things would have gone far more smoothly if it had arrived a day later! Of course, we had no way of knowing this, but arriving on the last day of the quarter ended up slowing down the process by several months. Again, such bad timing!

And the bad timing bug hit us again this week. Affordable housing in the Columbia Gorge is hard to come by. An apartment opened up that was within our price range, it was close to Della's AmeriCorps site and it even allowed for, at least, 1 of our dogs. The problem? The apartment went on the market the day AFTER Della drove home to South Bend for her medical appointment. We made arrangements to view it on Wednesday evening when we both would return to White Salmon, but the landlady called us about 30 minutes before the viewing to say that someone who had looked at it earlier that day had decided to rent it.

Had Della decided not to come home a day early to see me and the pets, she could have gone the few blocks from where she is staying to view this apartment on the day it came open. If she had found it acceptable, then our little family could have been reunited sooner as opposed to later. But her innocent decision to drive home one day early took us out of the running. Needless to say, when Della received the call that this option had gone bye-bye, she was crestfallen. She had really pinned her hopes on it.

I'm not saying that she and I are the only people in the world with seemingly bad timing, but it tends to strike us more often than most. Almost always a little too early or a little too late.

Out of My Element

Trey Smith

I am penning this post from frosty White Salmon. We ended up traveling here late Tuesday night because the Wednesday forecast looked bad. It called for high winds and a combination of freezing rain, sleet and snow. Of course, the weather today hasn't been bad at all, so it turns out we could have driven here this morning with little worry. Still, it's best to err on the side of caution.

If all goes as planned, I am on a westbound train right now headed for Portland, Oregon. I will get to cool my heels for two hours at the Portland train station before boarding a second train headed north. My friend Dan will pick me up in Centralia around 2:00 pm and then we'll head on back to South Bend.

While I don't like being in a strange house -- trying as best I can to sleep on an uneven futon -- and being away from my "babies," this trip is worth it because it has afforded me the opportunity to spend an extra day or two with Della. After I leave tomorrow, I probably won't see her for 2 or 3 weeks! 

WAAAAAAAA!

Coming Home

Trey Smith

Della is coming home today. Yay!! She will be here until Wednesday morning when we both will leave for White Salmon. My sojourn there will be very brief, though. I will board an Amtrak train at 8:04 am Thursday and, after a boring 2 hour layover in Portland, I'll arrive in Centralia around 2 pm. My friend Dan has agreed to pick me up and tote me back to South Bend. Dan also will look after our animals while I'm gone.

Della is returning home for 3 reasons: 1) She wants to take more of her stuff back; 2) Her mammogram is scheduled here on Tuesday; and 3) She misses me and the "kids." I will accompany her back to White Salmon for 2 reasons: 1) To help her get all her stuff up to her second floor bedroom and 2) To help her get better acquainted with the overall area. I have spent more time in the Gorge than she has, so I sort of know my way around. I want to take her to The Dalles Wednesday after work because that's where the discount grocery store is located -- something a person on a budget needs to know!

I will be making a big sacrifice. My return trip will involve sitting on a crowded train -- something I haven't done for 15 years or so. While I like traveling on trains a lot, I do not like having to do so with lots of people scurrying around! I'm not looking forward to that aspect. I'm also not looking forward to sleeping in a strange house. I will be more than happy when I return home and I can go hide in my isolated "cave"!!

A Roof Over Our Heads

Trey Smith

As it stands right now, both Della and I have roofs over our heads. I remain in our house in South Bend awaiting the foreclosure process and Della is in a room share arrangement in White Salmon. The goal, of course, is to find rental housing in the Gorge for the two of us and, at least, one pet. Let me tell ya, it is turning out to be a difficult assignment.

Like a lot of areas -- particularly those in touristy regions -- affordable housing in White Salmon/Bingen/Underwood (Washington side) and Hood River/Mosier (Oregon side) is hard to come by. I check Craigslist and the gorge.net classifieds daily. Most of the available rentals go for $900 or above. This amount simply will be out of our price range. There have been a few listed for below $900, but the least expensive ones generally don't allow pets. The houses and apartments that allow pets would put a great strain on our meager budget.

Della met with some of her new co-workers for lunch today. They told her what we already have figured out. Though service jobs are relatively plentiful in the region, there just are not that many housing options for service-based workers. It's as if the wealthy of the area -- there are A LOT of well-to-do folks in the Gorge -- want to be served by people who don't actually live there!

I am nowhere near being ready to shove off from South Bend (though I'm making good progress), so we have time on our side. Maybe we will luck out somewhere along the line. I guess the best we can do right now is to keep our fingers crossed.

Seized the Night

Trey Smith

Our very brief trip to White Salmon this weekend was interesting, to say the least.

When we pulled out of South Bend on Saturday morning, the temperature was in the mid 40s and, of course, it was raining. By the time we entered the Columbia River Gorge, the temperature there was in the upper 20s and we drove through a mixture of freezing ran, sleet and snow. We were very thankful that we were driving my friend's 4 x 4 because, at one point, we might have gotten stuck had we been in our little car!

We were in White Salmon little more than one hour unloading Della's stuff. With the forecast for the evening and next day calling for copious amounts of snow and near gale force winds, we decided to start back west pronto. We made it as far as Woodland, WA (a few miles north of Vancouver) when we decided we were both exhausted, so we checked into a Motel 6.

And that's when the real fun began.

Sometime around midnight, I heard terror in Della's voice as she kept asking me "What's wrong? Honey, what's wrong?" As I had been sound asleep, I was having trouble getting my bearings. Della continued to plead with me to answer, but I couldn't get any words out. When I finally was able to figure out where I was, it didn't make any sense: I was on all-fours on the sidewalk in front of our motel room!

From Della's perspective, I had just had a psychomotor seizure. All I can remember of the incident is hearing her repeated questions and having the feeling that I couldn't breathe.

According to my wife, this is what happened. We both were sound asleep when, all of a sudden, I woke up so abruptly that it woke her up too. She said that my eyes looked blank and I was smacking my lips wildly. I staggered out of bed toward the motel room door, opened it and then collapsed on the sidewalk. She initially thought I was having a heart attack or stroke.

As alarming as this incident was, it is not the first time it has happened to me. Over the course of the past 25 years or so, something similar has occurred, maybe, ten to fifteen times. The particulars sometimes are slightly different, but these incidents seem to come from the same script. They have always occurred when I am asleep and, once each incident ends, I am unable to sleep for the rest of that night because each time I start to drop off to sleep, I am jerked awake. No matter how exhausted I am, I will not be able to fall asleep for several hours.

Yesterday, I went to see my family doctor and, after Della described the Saturday night incident to him, he agreed that it sure sounded to him like a psychomotor seizure. His office will make a referral to a neurologist.

Great. Just what I need. With all my other physical and mental challenges, will I get to add epilepsy to the list?!

First Leg

Trey Smith

If all goes according to plan, I'm on the road right now headed toward White Salmon. We have borrowed a friend's Ford Expedition and are taking most of the larger items (e.g., computer desk, stool, computer, etc.) for Della's move. We should arrive at our destination between 2 - 4 pm. Once we unload her stuff, this should leave a little bit of daylight so I can help my wife get a little better oriented to the geography of her new home base.

I am much better than Della at finding my way around strange places. As an object-oriented person, I more readily recall buildings or the look of an intersection with particular streets or routes. Generally speaking, once I drive a certain route, I remember it. Della, who is far more people-oriented, has a lot more trouble in this area. She has to drive a particular route several times before it becomes imprinted on her.

So, we will spend a good deal of this afternoon and early evening helping her to get to know where the AmeriCorps site, grocery store, bank, library, hospital and other important locations are in relation to the house she will be staying at. After spending the night at her new abode, we will drive back home and, along the way, we will trace the route to Vancouver and the ESD 112 office where she will report on Wednesday, January 16.

Hopefully, I will be on the back half of this nasty cold and will be able to do my share of the driving. I have greatly limited my activities the past 3 days, so I could concentrate all my efforts on getting well. No one likes catching a cold, but it sure beats being immobilized with the flu for a week or more!

More Than One-Dimensional

Trey Smith

As we worked to line-up appointments for possible room shares for Della, we zeroed in on one that is in Odell, Oregon. By looking at a typical highway map, it appeared that Odell would be an easy trip to White Salmon. Located only 6 miles south of Hood River, Della would take Highway 35 to the Hood River Bridge and, once across, it would only be a few more minutes before she arrived at her program site.

But, as it so often happens in life, our one-dimensional analysis collided head-on with a three-dimensional reality!

You see, while Odell indeed is only 6 miles south of Hood River, it is straight up. It is on one of the highways that leads to the ski areas of Mount Hood. Odell itself is in a valley, but the road between it and Hood River climbs several hundred feet in elevation. When the weather is nice, traversing Highway 35 would not be an issue, but in inclement weather, it would be very dicey, particularly in a small two-wheel drive car.

For us, this situation is emblematic of a problem that most people face at one time or another. We base our decisions on scant information -- often information that seems to agree with the direction we want to go anyway -- and we are stunned when reality slaps us in the face. It is the problem of superficiality versus depth or, as the old adage goes, ya can't judge a book by its cover!

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Trey Smith

On our trip to the Gorge, we visited quite a few homes. The place Della decided to rent will be good for her. The price is reasonable and it is only 1 block from the business district. The proprietor is a woman roughly Della's age and so she will have a "friend" in the area.

Here's the description of the place Della settled on.

Our vintage home is in a quiet neighborhood in beautiful White Salmon. We are within walking distance of 10-Speed Coffee Shop, Everybody's brewery and restaurant, the public library and Thriftway. The room available is furnished and spacious as are the shared kitchen, laundry room and garden. The perspective of guests has been; the home feels like a bed and breakfast.

If the roles had been reversed -- I was the one looking for a room share situation -- I would not have chosen this one. There were two other places we looked at that were more my cup of tea. The first one (you can see photos of it here) is located about 2 miles northwest of White Salmon. You have to travel down a rutted dirt road to get to it and I can imagine that, without a 4-wheel drive, it might be tough getting out during snowy conditions.

The home is old, rustic and beautiful. It is surrounded by forests and, best of all, you can hear the rushing water of the White Salmon River! Heck, just being able to sit out on the deck and listen to the river 24/7 sold me in an instant. But I understand why Della didn't choose this location. We don't own a 4-wheel drive and it's imperative that she get to her service site each day.

The other home was located about 7 miles east of White Salmon a little more than a mile northeast of the tiny hamlet of Lyle. It sits high on a bluff that provides a darn picturesque view of the surrounding country. The proprietor there is a rather odd fellow about my age -- he was quite funny too!

Again, I can understand Della's reluctance to choose this home. It sits off of a bumpy county road that might not be too easy to traverse in snowy and icy conditions.

I liked both of these latter two locations because OF their remoteness. As a bloke that's not too keen on people, in general, and feeling crowded, in specific, my preference is to be far off the beaten trail. Both of these homes met that requirement quite well!!

Of course, each did have one major drawback: other people! I would like each location far better if I had the opportunity to live there alone or with my dear wife and animal friends. Living in a home with other people is not something I would choose unless it was my ONLY option. ;-)

Within a Scant Few Miles

Trey Smith

photo by Scottywong

The Columbia River Gorge is a magnificent area. As described in Wikipedia,

The Columbia River cuts the only sea-level passageway through the Cascade Mountain Range here between the Deschutes River and the Sandy River, also marking the state lines between Oregon and Washington. The wide range of elevation and precipitation makes the Columbia River Gorge an extremely diverse and dynamic place. Ranging from 4,000 feet to sea level, and transitioning from 100 inches of precipitation to only 10 in 80 miles, the Gorge creates a diverse collection of ecosystems from the temperate rain forest on the western end (with an average annual precipitation of 75-100 inches) to the eastern grasslands (with average annual precipitation between 10 and 15 inches), with a transitional dry woodland between Hood River and The Dalles. Isolated micro-habitats have allowed for many species of endemic plants and animals to prosper, including at least 13 endemic wildflowers.

Not only can the weather be significantly different as you traverse the Gorge's length, but there are differences as well on either side. From what we learned during our brief trip to the Hood River-White Salmon area, when snow falls, there tends to be more of it on the Washington side!!

If you ever travel to this area, the biggest change is experienced in the 20 or so miles between Hood River and The Dalles, Oregon. In the Hood River area, there are trees everywhere. Travel just a few scant miles east to The Dalles and the trees become very sparse. If you travel east a bit more toward Arlington (another 20 miles or so), they almost disappear altogether. In other words, in less than one hour's travel time, you go from majestic forested mountains to grassland slopes dominated by sagebrush.

It's awe inspiring.

The Water Below

Trey Smith

We crossed the Hood River Bridge -- the second oldest span across the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington -- twice yesterday. The second time was uneventful. It was just like crossing any bridge. The first time was more interesting. We were parked about mid-span for nearly 30 minutes as road crews were performing some bridge maintenance.

There is something different about this bridge from your average bridge. While the roadway is sturdy, it is not a flat slab. There is no concrete or asphalt. The bridge deck is made up of iron gratings.

While sitting on the bridge yesterday, Della gasped. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Oh my gosh! You can see the river underneath us!" Sure enough, I cracked open the car door and looked down. You could clearly see the mighty Columbia flowing beneath the bridge and our car!

I later asked a few locals WHY the bridge surface was so constructed. No one knew for sure. After thinking about it, my guess is that the lack of a flat continuous surface makes it safer to traverse in inclement weather. Snow can't build up and I would guess that ice isn't much of a problem either.

Of course, both snow and ice ARE problems at certain times of the year once you get off the bridge!

Through Solid Rock

Trey Smith

In the next few posts, I'm going to share some info and photos (none taken by me) of the Columbia River Gorge region.  It is an interesting place.  There are numerous ecosystems and the topography changes significantly throughout its 80 miles.  For example, the climate is different between The Dalles and Hood River, Oregon, even though they are little more than 20 miles apart!

Anytime Della and/or I have traveled through the Columbia Gorge over the past 30 years, we've done so via Interstate 84 on the Oregon side. It is a well constructed highway and you can make good time.

For our little trip this week, we decided to travel down Highway 14 on the Washington side. While Hwy 14 offers the same kinds of beautiful breathtaking scenery as the Interstate, the terrain is far more rugged and you can't make half as good the time.

Highway 14 hugs the Cascade Mountains and there are places that you are driving on rugged bluffs a few hundred feet about the river. Not only that, but you must traverse through a series of tunnels cut through solid rock.

Road and Railway Tunnels No. 2

By the time you reach Tunnel No.5, the train tunnel is on the OTHER side!

I HATE tunnels and Della wasn't too enthused with them either.  The majority of the tunnels are located between Stevenson and White Salmon.  Della was so unenthused with driving through these tunnels that one of the places we looked at in Stevenson was immediately crossed off her list!  She remarked that she would hate to have to traverse them daily both ways, particularly in inclement weather.

Just to give you an idea of the rugged terrain, the photo below shows some of the bluffs we were driving on.  (It's damn beautiful country, though.)

Yackety-Yak, Can't Talk Back

Trey Smith

During our tiring sojourn to the Columbia Gorge, we ran into a serious problem. We had 8 appointments set up to view room shares for Della and, since we don't have a cell phone, we found it next too impossible to contact people when we found ourselves ahead or behind schedule.

Ten years ago this wouldn't have been a problem at all because ten years ago we could have made the various calls we needed to make from...a pay phone. But it seems that pay phones have gone the way of the dinosaurs!! We had a hard time finding any.

Oh, we did find signs that indicated that a pay phone was present at several locations -- only they weren't there!! The booth was there, but the phone itself had been removed!!

Yesterday, we searched and searched and searched. We finally found one that worked. Of course, the one we found was in Cascade Locks, Oregon -- about 20 miles west of the White Salmon-Hood River area. We were already on the road headed back home. We had to call two different individuals to apologize for missing scheduled appointments.

We DID find Della a place to call home for the next few months. It's located in White Salmon about one block south of the downtown area and a little less than 1.5 miles from where she will be serving.

Still, we found it quite irritating that we couldn't find a pay phone when we needed one! We decided that -- despite our Luddite tendencies -- we're going to have to join the 21st century. Yes, before Della leaves for her AmeriCorps assignment, we're going to have to get her a damn cell phone!!

And So the Adventure Begins

Trey Smith

If all goes as planned, at the time you're reading this, my wife and I (with both dogs in tow) should be somewhere between Longview and Vancouver headed toward 2 days in the Columbia Gorge. As so often happens in the Pacific Northwest, we are traveling during a period of high wind warnings. This alert caused us to change our route as we decided it would be better to get inland as quickly as possible -- the highest winds will be along the coast.

The first trip will center around two things: 1) Finding Della a place to live and 2) Setting up a bank account. We have appointments to look at house shares (people advertising for roommates) in 7 different locales: Stevenson, Carson, Lyle and White Salmon in Washington and Odell, Hood River and The Dalles in Oregon. Since Della will be living in an area where she knows no one and her dear husband -- yours truly -- won't be with her initially, we have decided that a house share arrangement would be best as it is both less expensive AND she won't be alone.

Mr. Organization -- that would be me (again) -- has this all worked out. I've printed out Google maps to all locations. I have created a grid of our itinerary which lists the address/town, contact person, phone number, rent price and a description of each home. All of this information will be housed in a loose leaf notebook with added space for notations.

We've put together a tight schedule, so there won't be a lot of time for sightseeing. I figure that, once Della arrives to begin her assignment, she can utilize her weekends to get a better feel for the area.

Water Here Or Water There

Trey Smith

When Della and I moved to the Washington coast in late 2005, we thought we'd never leave. Living near the Pacific Ocean had been a dream of ours since the mid 80s and, since that time, we had slowly worked our way across the country from Arkansas to Kansas to eastern Oregon to western Oregon to coastal Washington. Once we moved to South Bend, we figured that we would retire and die here.

And yet, here we are getting ready to move away from our beloved ocean.

We aren't moving away from water -- we're simply moving away from close to the ocean to being close to a major river.

We're both glad that it has worked out this way because we both find a lot of spiritual rejuvenation from waters. While we will miss the ocean mist as it descends on our small coastal town, we can still rejoice while gazing at and walking along the Columbia River.

One aspect in common for these two divergent ecosystems is wind. Every winter we have gotten slammed by storms rolling off the ocean. It is not uncommon at all to experience wind storms in excess of 75 mph. While the Columbia Gorge region receives significantly less rainfall than South Bend, it has its own wind storms as well. The gorge acts as a wind funnel and the area around White Salmon is famous for its wind surfing.

Still, it is going to be very different living there. The gorge receives a lot more snow than we're used to and White Salmon is on the edge of the high desert. As you go toward the east, trees become far less frequent and sagebrush dominates the landscape.

But through it all, we still will have the water and that's what we will hang our hats on. ;-)

Eastward Ho!

Trey Smith

It looks like my wife and I are on the cusp of a new adventure! Yesterday she was offered and accepted an AmeriCorps position in the small town of White Salmon, Washington. While we had expected her start date to be Jan. 16, we learned that instead it probably will be two weeks earlier on Wednesday, Jan. 2 (or, maybe, Monday, Jan. 7). This means we have even LESS time to find Della temporary lodging.

We think we will take an overnight trip that way next week. We need to scout out the possible living arrangements. I've been doing a lot of web research, but we need to look at the housing options with our own eyes. We also need to set up a bank account for Della.

Needless to say, both of us are excited...as well as a tad bit nervous. The excitement is caused by the idea of getting to reinvent ourselves in a new locale. We've been working on downsizing our lives -- what my brother calls right-sizing -- and we're going to need to downsize in a BIG way. Della, of course, is excited about joining the Washington Reading Corps program as a tutor. I'm very confident that she will do quite well.

The nervousness is borne of several things. First and foremost is the challenge of finding adequate and affordable lodging. When you have a lot of time and money, you can be as picky as you want. When you are lacking those two things, you can't afford to be very picky at all!

Another daunting issue for us is that we will be separated for a time, maybe as much as 2 or 3 months. For a lot of couples, this wouldn't be such a big deal; it is for us. Over the past 20 years, we've rarely been apart for more than a day or two at most. Della will begin OUR new life alone. I will be stuck here in South Bend without a car (though my friend Paul has already told me that I can borrow one of his two rigs from time to time).

As has usually been the case, I will be responsible for packing the majority of our belongings that will go with us for our new life and selling or donating all the stuff that isn't going. I also get the unenviable task of cleaning up the house and property. What fun!!

The variable we are most nervous about is our three pets. Chances are great that one, two or all three will not be able to go with us. We are holding out hope that all 3 can go or, if not that, at least Lily (the xolo-dachshund) can make the move. Giving away ANY of them will be heartbreaking, but we may not have a choice.

I guess we'll just have to see.

Diving In?

Trey Smith

Over the past 6 months or so, Della and I have done a lot of soul searching. We've questioned the wisdom of owning our own home and we've come to the conclusion it's probably not for us. While Della enjoys her job as a care provider to elderly folk, the sometimes strenuous nature of the work is taking a toll on her physically. In general, we've been examining where we are and where else we could be.

During this time, my brother Sean began exploring possibilities through AmeriCorps VISTA (something I have been suggesting to him for years!). He ended up applying for several positions and was recently selected by a program in the Kansas City Metro area. He began his year of service this past Monday.

Sean, of course, suggested that Della might take a look into AmeriCorps. In looking at the opportunities here in Washington state, she found one, in particular, that really piqued her interest, the Washington Reading Corps (WRC). WRC members tutor young students who are having a difficult time with learning to read. With 7 years of experience as an Assistant Teacher in the federally-funded Head Start program, Della decided these positions were something she would like to pursue.

The timing of her decision was a bit off of the typical AmeriCorps schedule. She began to look seriously at opportunities about one month AFTER most sites had made their selections for the 2012-13 year. That was okay by us because we realized we have a lot of things we would need to get in order before taking this plunge and so she began the application process early for the 2013-14 year.

She eventually applied to a program that serves school districts in the Columbia Gorge area (on the Washington side). We didn't expect to hear from them for several months. To our utter surprise, they contacted her two weeks ago and she has an interview scheduled for Monday. Even more shocking, they still have several openings for THIS service year!

So, we may be diving into this new world a lot sooner than we anticipated. If selected for one of the open AmeriCorps positions, Della's start date would be January 16, not September 1 (as we had planned for). Talk about a shock to the system!

Putting this situation in Taoist terms, we're prepared to go with the flow...even if that flow has a few more rapids than we were expecting.