Dear family & friends,
The new house
On Sunday morning April 5, we moved to Forest Grove, Oregon. We're renting a 2-story, three bedroom house on 15 acres. It's about 5 miles northwest of town (outside the urban growth boundary), at 600' elevation, on the north slope of David Hill. The back half of the lot is covered with 100 year old trees; the front lot is (non-lawn) meadow, mostly overgrown with raspberry vines.
Built in the 1970's, the house has a complete set of appliances and is in great shape. The floors are supported with 12"x12" timbers, the windows are double paned, and it has forced air heat. There's a 2-car carport. Wysteria grows over the front door. The cabinets doors have etched glass, there's a working fireplace, and we have a lovely view down the valley from our picture windows. Living in our new home is like staying in our own bed & breakfast. Our new surroundings look nice, smell nice and sound nice. It's just the home we imagined for ourselves. US Highway 26 is about 10 minutes away. We're only 5 minutes further from Portland than where we were in Hillsboro.
Two weeks ago, Carol bought a 1995 Toyota Tercel with 23,500 miles on it (replacing her late 1981 Datsun 510). Last week, she started art design & computer graphics courses at Portland State and Portland Community College. With the move, our year of change is complete. It's time to stay put & rest - time to unpack the cookbooks, the 4-track tape recorder, and the power tools. We have plenty of room for guests - please come visit us!
Love,
Tom & Carol |