Places I have known . . .

Who would have thought I would end up in Washington? Certainly not me. . . but I had wondered about it when my twin moved here after high school graduation and a stint working in San Rafael, CA. Actually, she never lived in Vancouver. . . she worked as a Vice President of the telephone company in Bothell. That was a long time ago. The only time I had ever been to Washington was in high school when our SGA Boarder Girl's bus went over the Idaho State line to Clarkson, WA for a basketball game.

I was 40 when I graduated from college. . . and I wouldn't have graduated then if my advisor hadn't said, "Paulie, get out in the world and make some money and then return to college if you want to learn more." But that's another whole story that I won't write about now.

I chose Vancouver,Washington for two reasons . . . well maybe three. First of all, I found out in some big, thick college directory in the Education Department at Idaho State University that Vancouver had TWO school districts! Surely, with all those schools, I could get a teaching job easy enough. The second reason was purely selfish. I had friends who were moving to Portland, Oregon and I could move with them which would be a big help since I didn't drive. Only the Columbia River would separate us. The third reason I moved to Washington was because I read that the precipitation was HIGH! You see, I LOVE SNOW and growing up in southeastern Idaho "PRECIPITATION" meant snow. I honestly did not come here because it rained and rained and rained so much I thought I was on Noah's ark!

Much as I like Vancouver , Washington . . . if I could go back and live in upstate New York between the Adirondak and Catskill Mountains, I would.



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