Saying Goodbye

A bittersweet farewell to our favorite place on earth.

Earlier this fall we said goodbye to our little patch of woods tucked in the Siuslaw National Forest, transitioning it to the capable care of our neighbors. Walking away has been an admittedly hard end to an eight-year adventure driven by our vision of living closer to nature—something we’d been dreaming of since our first date in 2008. Not all decisions are the product of logical discussions that lead to clear conclusions. Sometimes they're just a slow, sad release. And yet, letting go has been a relief, too, giving us more spaciousness and freedom and alignment for our partnership; a difficult choice that’s ultimately brought us closer together.

Still, we’ll always ache a little when we think of the tiny Douglas squirrels who ceaselessly prattle on as they munch on pine cones, the drifts of False Lily of the Valley blanketing the forest floor, the cacophony of bird songs echoing across the meadow at each morning light, the Sitka spruce so wide six of us couldn’t wrap our arms around it, the way the fleeting light crawls across dead alders draped in skins of moss, and the silence of countless lives being lived under your feet.'

But it’s a good ache, to have loved a place like this. We are so much better for it.