In my books, my characters are often trying to find the place where they feel they belong. Aren’t we all? A few people are lucky enough to start off in the perfect location with the perfect family and community; they feel like that’s where they belong from the  day they are born. I envy those individuals. For most of us, it’s a journey of exploration, trying out new people and new places until we find the place that feels like home.

Happy farm cow

I am a native of rural Kansas, but I also lived in Ohio and Oklahoma while I was growing up. While I love my family and I often feel more in tune with farmers than with most big city dwellers, I never felt that any of those places was where I wanted to stay for the rest of my life.

When I first visited the Pacific Northwest, I knew I had finally found home. I have always loved nature and wildlife and the great outdoors. With its mountains and rugged coasts, its abundant rivers and trees, the Pacific Northwest provides the landscape that makes my heart sing. Maybe there’s something to the fact that I’m a water sign on the Zodiac. I seem to need all these bays and islands and rushing rivers and waterfalls.

Books are big here.

Perhaps because I have always valued variety over stability, I like the eclectic and generally laid-back population of the west coast. I like the fact that in my town, people talk more about books and movies and outdoor activities than they do about who does what for a living or who makes how much money. My town ranks high in per capita usage in the following three categories: coffee shops, brewpubs, and library usage. The motto here is “The City of Subdued Excitement,” and that is totally descriptive of attitudes here.

But this place is not for everyone. Our lack of attention to style drives fashionistas crazy. I’ve heard outsiders make fun of wearing socks with sandals. Most people here would respond to that comment with surprise–why should a stranger care about what someone else wears? I once heard a big city dweller say “Cities are all different, but why would you go to the wilderness? All mountains are just alike.” My friends would be more likely to make just the opposite comment.

Orca!

The laissez-faire attitudes of the Pacific Northwest about many social issues seem downright immoral to some who live by stricter guidelines. And some people just need more sunlight and heat than the northwest corner of the U.S. can offer. That’s all good–it would be a boring and much too crowded world if we all wanted to live in the same places and do the same things.

“Home” to me is a place where you feel safe to be yourself, to say what you truly think, to totally relax, to easily find kindred spirits.  I always encourage everyone to travel and sample different communities until they find the place that feels like home. I hope you have found yours.