Home.

I was talking with some friends the other day and they were talking about how they wanted to see my parents house some day. I guess I talk about it a lot? It got me thinking about how much I love where I grew up. 

I was five when we moved to our house in Corbett, Oregon. We had lived in other parts of Oregon and Washington previously. It is a 1906 farmhouse that belonged to a great-great (there are possibly more greats in there) uncle. My great Grandpa Don (on my mom's side) grew up in a house just down the road. My grandfather grew up, went to college, married my great grandma, lived in Portland for awhile, but ultimately moved up to Washington. So, there have not been any close relatives living in Corbett for many years. It is important to know a bit of the history as this house feels so right. It has a happy feeling in it, as if it has witnessed many happy memories inside its walls. Houses have feelings, at least I think so--especially old houses. This house is not spacious or fancy, but it is cozy, clean, and friendly--plus my mom has good taste.

The house is wonderful, but the property and view are stunning. Our house sits on a cliff looking out over the Great Columbia River Gorge. We also have twenty-seven acres of forests and fields to explore, many of those acres are also steep hills covered in (un-explorable) blackberry bushes. Blackberries grow wild everywhere. Delicious, yes. Very difficult to control and kill, also a yes--which is why we had a goat (he kept the blackberries from encroaching upon the lawn).

The four Scott kids, Ian, me, Jessica and Erik with out dog, Nessie.

Since I saw this view everyday going up, I sort of took it for granted. I have not lived at home in six, almost seven years and when I go home, I am always so amazed by the beauty of this gorge. Oregon, is beautiful, my friends.

 I love how different it looks at different times of the day and year.

My siblings and I were explorers. We spent many hours in the woods behind our house, exploring, building forts and I named everything. There was a large hollow right near the house and I named this place Fairy-Elfkin Dale. Fern Hollow, Ivy Glen, and Mud-Puddle Square were also areas in Fairy-Elfkin Dale. We were fairies of course, the boys were elves and we spent many long summer days down there building a fairy village. We dug out stairs, made nice paths lined with sticks, we all had houses, there was a bank (walnut shells were the money), a town square and it was so much fun. Many good friends also built houses down in Fairy-Elfkin Dale and I have many happy memories of this lovely spot. I do not have any pictures of it unfortunately!

We also had a tire swing, which was on a large walnut tree. Near the tire swing was Cherry Tree Forest (they were actually plum trees, but when I was 5 or 6 I thought they looked like cherry trees), where we were often orphaned children running away from a horrible orphanage. This mini forest was made up of small, young trees that grew very close together and was right on the edge of a large and grassy field. This walnut tree, little forest and field were up the hill pictured above, but a little more to the front of our house.

We had a large and grassy backyard, which led into The Forest. A real, proper and large forest, unlike the Cherry Tree Forest. The main forest path (wide and fairly grassy) led to The Point. It was a clearing, which overlooked the river. We had a campfire out there and at one point it was a Merry Men camp and later changed into a Viking fort.

It is mostly just a fire pit and a good view nowadays.

Throughout The Forest, we created many paths. My brothers have expanded on what we did and now there is a very nice forest path which goes on for miles.

In the forest there were, The Cliffs of Wonder (I think that was it, it was mostly shortened to The Cliffs),  and a large rock area named The Ruins. 

The Ruins

Atop The Ruins was our very favorite spot. It was mossy and peaceful and we would often come out here to read.

My mom took this picture in early spring, so usually (as in when we would go out there to read) there would be leaves on all the trees.

Elanor on a forest path this past October.

Coming out of The Forest, this is the view of the house and backyard (taken in early spring).

This is not at my house, but near it and was taken on a hike. Isn't Oregon beautiful?

I am so happy Elanor loves this place too! She might even be ready for the tire swing this year!

I did not do any of this incredibly long post to brag about where I grew up, but rather I feel so completely grateful and blessed.  It was so much fun to grow up in place where it facilitated imagination, exploration and magic. Fairies live in these woods. There are Indians living up on the grassy hill by the tire swing. Orphans have found shelter and food in Cherry Tree Forest. Vikings have attacked and knights have battled valiantly. Happy memories were made in this cozy home, surrounded by the woods, by four kids and their wonderful parents. 

So thank you, Mom and Dad.

I hope Tyler and I can provide a similar environment for our children in the hopefully not too far off future.