Why I Love Oregon

Oregon is easily my favorite state, Eugene my favorite city. I love it for its dichotomies. During the bleakness of winter, you have spectacular combinations of sun and storm, of rainbows and lightning. When you live in Eugene, you are an hour away from the coast, or an hour away from the mountains. Eugene is small by city standards, but at the same time its residents are incredibly diverse.

Here’s a short excerpt from Quitting the Grave that describes Eugene:

Other than the rain, Eugene is not an easy place to encapsulate. It’s hard to even call it a city, though it’s not so small as a town. It’s quaint enough for you to be on a first name basis with your city council representative, but big enough that police officers can work undercover. Eugeneans frequently use words like unique, queer, eccentric, peculiar, unorthodox, or even exotic to describe themselves or, more likely, their neighbors. Everyone agrees you won’t find another city like it.

Perhaps the distinction is born of nothing so much as the idea that we as a community are different. Eugene is special because we believe we are different, we believe people of whatever ideology or profession will be accepted here. We are a convocation of eccentrics. No matter what the reality might be, no matter how divided the community becomes, this conviction takes on a power that supersedes the truth. Even when this notion of acceptance is directly contradicted by riots and hate crimes and partisan politics, people cling to their world view no matter how slippery when wet it becomes.

I love Oregon for its off-brand coffee shops and larping festivals. I love the mountains and the coastline and everything in between. I especially love the trees. Oregon has the best trees. I love the mixture of personalities, the Shakespeare festival and the Hood-to-coast Marathon, even if I’ve never gotten around to participating. I love passing runners and bikers along the Willamette and always giving a little nod or wave and always getting one in return, even from Mary Decker.

But most of all, I love the sense of community. No place quite feels like home to me the way Oregon does.

Among other things, Quitting the Grave is my love letter to Oregon. It’s got 150 years of Oregon history in it, and 150-years-worth of crazy characters you could never find anywhere else. Please have a look at my Kickstarter campaign for Quitting the Grave. I really appreciate everyone’s support!

Check out Decater's new novel, available now at Amazon. Plus, don't forget his earlier books: Ahab's Adventures in Wonderland and Picasso Painted Dinosaurs.