Personal Essays

This January, I left a job that required a daily 60-mile commute and started working for a nonprofit organization in downtown Grants Pass – about a mile from my house. That change has made a huge difference in the way I relate to the town I live in. I feel like a resident now, not just a weekend visitor.

Downtown Grants Pass is full of old brick buildings, many built in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. There’s a wonderful feeling of the past bumping up against the present here: a Pilates studio across the street from the old Newman United Methodist church, built in 1857; newly-painted signs next to faded murals advertising “Pepsi Cola – 5 cents”; a satellite dish perched in an alley next to an old, rusty fire shutter.

I love walking around town during the week, becoming part of the rhythms of everyday life, taking in the small details I would miss if I were driving through. I catch intriguing glimpses into the second-story windows of some of the older buildings and desperately want to find a way to get in and photograph them.

Participating in the daily life of Grants Pass, I get a strong sense of the many lives that have moved along these sidewalks, and delight in the fact that I’m adding my footsteps to the mix. I feel a part of the human community here now, a new thread being woven into the fabric of this place.

It’s a grand thing to work where you live!