My Happy Place

I've always loved the water. Growing up, summer meant daily swimming lessons at the local pool and returning in the afternoon for the public swim. Visiting my mother's relatives in far northeastern Oregon meant swimming lessons at Radium Hot Springs in Haines with my cousins. Yearly summer camp at the Episcopal church camp in Cove had daily sessions in the hot spring-fed pool where we'd dive for the smooth black river rocks at the bottom of the deep end. Radium Hot Springs in Haines, Oregon, circa 1960. As kids my brothers and I played for hours in the freezing ocean water off the Oregon coast—it was easy once your legs went numb—and dove into the swimming hole at Cline Falls in the Deschutes. There were myriad camping trips in Central Oregon's Cascades, and diving off rocks into the deep clear waters of alpine lakes. A town kid, I didn't grow up with boats, but when friends took us out on their double-masted ketch and the engine shut off, the sails unfurled and the only sound was the…

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