Celebrating Amy

Although Bob had visited Amy in Oregon when he was a traveling auditor, I had not, and neither of us had been to their new home in Cottage Grove. To remedy this, we would visit Amy and Jasper on her birthday. This intention blossomed into a thirteen-day trip.

We began our long vacation in Denver, spent a day with Amy’s older sister, Emily, and another day with Amy’s younger sister, Molly, visited some friends, and then flew to Oregon.

Bob had rented a place outside the tiny town of Drain, half an hour from Amy and Jasper. When I told our host I was a walkaholic, he pointed out a woodsy path behind our room and, in the other direction, the gravel road we’d driven in on.

I walked both ways both mornings, taking note of two little deer who were as curious about me as I was about them.

It was berry season, which added time and calories to the walks.

On the woodsy side of things, we encountered moss and lichen, something we have in much smaller amounts back home.

We stopped at a bakery on the way to Cottage Grove and scored some hand pies for breakfast.

Amy and Jasper live in a surprisingly spacious tiny house built inside a large barn.

When it was time, we sang the Happy Birthday song, which I am certain we are somehow born knowing, since I cannot remember ever not knowing how to sing it.

I’ve only met one person in my life who didn’t know what to do next. You make a wish and blow out the candle! Equally important, you must keep your wish a secret or it will not come true.

Amy was born on a Saturday, for what that’s worth. Bob was Thursday-born, and I arrived on a Friday.

Osha, now a mature dog (we remember her as a pup), has been with Amy and Jasper for as long as they’ve been together.

And we met their cat, Scrumpie.

Bob gave Osha’s comfortable bed a test drive after she got up to lie beneath the table.

Stools are cool, perfect for small spaces, portable for camping, and close to the ground for tending fires and petting dogs. By the end of the day, I had an appreciation for Amy and Jasper’s well-crafted lifestyle of simple relaxation, and saw how it reflected their down-to-earth values.