From Our President: There’s No Place Like Home

Each time I travel away from Oregon, I’m happy when I return to the Willamette Valley. We live in a beautiful, green location surrounded by awesome scenery, clean air (relatively) and in an area where we can easily find a respite from cars and people.

Each time I travel away from Oregon, I’m happy when I return to the Willamette Valley. We live in a beautiful, green location surrounded by awesome scenery, clean air (relatively) and in an area where we can easily find a respite from cars and people.

This spring we visited my husband’s relatives in the Midwest and enjoyed one birding outing in Missouri. It is always fun to see species that are not our usual western birds. We took a brief walk near St. Louis and saw Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, Eastern Bluebird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, and Carolina Chickadee! Even though it was very cold and the migrants were not yet present, these birds were fun to find. It was a highlight of the trip for me.

Travel gives us a chance to contrast lifestyles and locations where people choose to live, to see a variety of different species, and, of course, to visit with relatives! I love to travel, but I love coming home again to our Lane County! The green valley and foothills, the variety of habitats, and our temperate climate with a prolonged spring gives us a slowly developing summer that is not too extreme (so far)! After waiting for winter to be over, we can look for the migrating and nesting bird species while gardening and spending as much time as possible outdoors in the spring and summer in Lane County! I am so ready for that!