Transition from Green to Brown.

Central Oregon is NOT GREEN!
When we first moved to Bend in 1981 from Washington, It was almost like culture shock.
In Olympia Washington where I grew up, green was GREEN! Dark or light, deep or pale, it was all green. Central Oregon is not truly green, but shades of tan, brown, and a dusty blue green. Every season brings out nuances of the tones, but the lack of the green I was used to made me think that this place was dirty brown all the time! It took several years to acclimate, and once I did I began to notice that it was really not all brown, but many shades of earth, tan, brown and many different greens.
My husband had lived in Central Oregon as a child and did not understand my homesickness for the GREEN that I missed in Washington. He had only lived in Washington for a few years and all he could see there was the gray skies and the rain! After living most of his life in Sunny Central Oregon, the gray rainy days were depressing to him.
Yes, compared to Western Washington where I grew up, Central Oregon is very different. The sky is brighter, the rain is lighter, the land is much dryer, but now, 30 years later, I no longer want to go back to the wet, damp, mossy, rainy land to live! There is so much beauty here that I had to learn to see! At first, after living in a cocoon of green trees all my life, coming to a place with miles upon miles of visibility was almost frightening. Now, I love the fact that we can see the mountains almost anywhere we go. Just driving from Bend to Redmond is a visual experience! Gardening, on the other hand, has some challenges. Watch for future posts on my garden experience with my friend and yours, the DEER.