Now that we're in, shut the damn gate!
We weren't the only ones dreaming of a quiet country life
In 1992, our family fled the congestion of the San Francisco Bay Area for a slower paced semi-rural life in Clark County (Vancouver), Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland.
We bought a home on five acres of former pastureland half way down a dirt road we shared with only one other home. We remodeled the house and on two of the five acres we planted 90 trees, countless shrubs, perennials and rose bushes, and a big vegetable garden.
We left the rest of the property as pasture and wetland, which in the rainy season became a pond just deep enough for ducks to land and our son to paddle a canoe. In the spring, the frogs who spawned there made a deafening racket.
We were in heaven. Our gregarious neighbor soon got us involved in community activities. Within a year it felt like we’d been there forever. (I was going to say “we felt like natives.”)
But not for long.
Turns out we were not the only out-of-staters with a vision of living the country life. Thousands of other seekers soon followed us, and where there had been raspberry fields, prune orchards and cow pastures, subdivisions cropped up almost overnight. A sprawling shopping center, a middle school and a high school appeared to serve the growing population. Where only one stoplight had impeded the drive between our house and the I-5 on-ramp, now there were five lights to manage the traffic.
I was incensed! What were all these strangers doing in MY special place? Shut the gate, flood the moat and pull up the bridge!
You don’t have to be blind to see my hypocrisy.
We’d moved, hoping for a better life. The local farmers who had tended their farms for generations appreciated the flood of us “immigrants” even less than we appreciated those who came after us.
However, let’s not forget that before those white settlers arrived and claimed the land for themselves, Clark County had been home for thousands of years to the Chinook and Cowlitz tribes.
[As of 2021, less than 3% of the US population identify as American Indian or Alaskan Native, or part Native. Which means that the rest of us, 97% of us, are immigrants or are descendants of immigrants.]
Our ancestors came to America for many reasons. With the significant exception of those who were enslaved and brought here against their will, most immigrants came to find a better life for themselves and their families. “A better life” in many cases actually meant survival. Life in their homelands had become untenable: their very existence was threatened by persecution, genocide, drought, floods, famine, drug and gang wars.
Migration is a fact of life today—not just in the US, but around the world—and deadly climate change exacerbates these population shifts. Just like our immigrant fore-parents, these newcomers are grateful to be safe at last, and work very very hard to make a living. If Trump were to execute his campaign promise to round up and deport the 11 million unauthorized migrants living in the US it would be an unmitigated disaster, according to a variety of sources: ABC News, Scientific American, The Center for Migration Studies, and many others. The economic and humanitarian impact would be horrendous. Despite Trump’s claim that migrants are fueling violent crime, statistics do not bear this out.
The undocumented population comprises 5 percent of the workforce in the United States, working in industries such as agriculture, construction, service, entertainment, and healthcare. They mow our lawns, take care of our children and our elderly, clean our homes, cook for us at restaurants, and collect our trash. Without their labor, the US economy would experience a worsening labor shortage, and the costs of goods and services would rise.
No question, our border states and big cities are overwhelmed by the flood of migrants. Our systems are unable to keep up. For years, Congress has tried to devise legislation to ease the situation. The painstakingly crafted bipartisan border bill came within an inch of passing in February, only to have Trump pressure GOP representatives to vote it down, because he didn’t want the Biden administration to look effective. Shameful. Truly shameful.
NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF
Maya Rudolph dons her Kamala wig and suit, and is ready for election season on Saturday Night Live. Sooo good.
Keb’ Mo’ and Roseanne Cash: “Put a Woman in Charge.”
9-year-old boy plays the blues, “like he’s got a mortgage and three ex-wives.”
PUT YOURSELF IN THE WAY OF BEAUTY
I put myself in front of a crispy duck dinner ($21, including brown rice and Thai tea!). I was walking by the Red Onion on NW 23rd on my way back from the library and went inside on a hungry whim. It tasted even better than it looks. Enough duck for two meals. I’ll be back!
If you're new here, you can catch up on the last 25 issues of Alive! with Joy until I disconnect with Mailchimp. Over the years I've posted lots more on my various websites:
ColorstylePDX.com/blog 65 posts about color analysis and seasonal style.
joyoverstreet.com/ My author website. Learn about my book, the Cherry Pie Paradox: The Surprising Path to Diet Freedom and Lasting Weight Loss, plus other magazine writing, links to guest appearances on a bunch of podcasts and video interviews.
Di you ever read "The Egg"? So funny with homestead in Oregon and style ala Erma Bombeck.