Living in the Countryside

Living where we do is like living in a nature park.  In fact, Tryon Creek Park is adjacent to our property; we do live in a natural setting. Before being diagnosed with ataxia and working away from our home, I took my living environment for granted.  Now that I'm home most of the time, it is my serene refuge.  Lake Oswego has its own mayor, city council, and small town identity, but it's really a suburb of Portland—only fifteen minutes from downtown.  It just feels like we're out in the country.  While we consider ourselves exceptionally fortunate, there is a downside to living here.
 

Hey–the Schumans are out of town.

We're surrounded by quiet, beauty and lots of upkeep.  Whoo, boy!  I thought I was high maintenance.  Our property makes me feel relatively low cost.  The front lawn is mostly flat and enjoyable for kids and dogs to run on, play, and chase frisbees.  It's also very attractive to the local mole family and we have the holes in our lawn to prove it.  Moles turn my good natured husband into a homicidal maniac.  They're no doubt entertained, rather than intimidated by his 'Jekyll and Hyde' transformation.

Hiking in Tryon Creek

Earl and I recycle, conserve where we can, and have an image of a couple that "lives simply".  The truth is, we don't.  We may be responsible and try to not be wasteful, but we're still "haves" in a world of "have nots".  Maintaining a green lawn (along with a pool, hot tub, and water feature) insures that the Lake Oswego water bureau has us identified as high users.  We earned the label and Earl is, consequently, delaying retirement.

The blackberry patch

A hedge of blackberry borders our property and keeps us supplied with fresh breakfast fruit in August.  They provide cover for the wild rabbits hiding from the hawk and coyotes.  Blackberries also grow like wildfire, are extraordinarily hearty, and aren't easy to control without using a toxic poison or a herd of hungry goats.  I think we've lost the battle.  Sometime in the future, Earl and I may be found struggling for daylight under a canopy of blackberries.

We live on a dead end street, so there is no traffic noise.  Our nights are peaceful and quiet except when the coyotes start in.  We can't tell if they're fighting, eating, singing, or mating.  It probably doesn't matter, since neither we nor the neighbors are interested in checking.

The good, the bad, and the coyote ugly

Year three of new landscaping gave us an abundance of beautiful flowers.  Well, we call them flowers.  The deer call them dinner; another battle lost.  There are usually more of them than us.  Like the moles and coyotes, they're smarter or at least more persistent.  One of our resident squirrels likes to perch on the pool cover and taunt us.  If the squirrel could flip Earl off when he tries to shoo it away, it probably would.

Are you talkin' to me?

The Lesson: Animals–4; Growing things–2; Earl & Tammy–0.  We did move into their neighborhood.