HOMETOWN DREAMS

I greet you today from Oregon’s wine country, which I’ll introduce at length in book two (A Taste of the Kingdom). At the moment, I’m looking down on the Yamhill Valley and my former hometown of Newberg. I’m leading a wine tour today on a fabulous fall day. Lucky me. And I just finished my PB& J, yogurt, and honey crisp apple so I’m fed up, fueled up, and fired up!

Newberg is but one town in Oregon I’ve called home. Again, lucky me. It’s hard to pick a favorite because each has its own wonderful beauty, charm, and people. But there is one that still just “feels like home,” even though I moved away in 1982 at the ripe old age of 14. But it’s where I spent my “wonder years,” between 2^nd and 8^th grade, so I imagine that’s part of the reason. A close second is where my boys spent their wonder years, so I guess there really is something to it.

I just had the opportunity to visit my old stomping grounds of Prineville (pictured above) again while Stacie and I were in Central Oregon celebrating our 35^th. It was a happy errand for a couple good reasons. The first was another Ribeye at Harvey Prine’s Steakhouse to put a bow on the celebration. The second, was a new bookshop downtown near the historic courthouse.

What a joy it was to experience Oliver Books, and meet the owner, Hannah Oliver. I made contact with Hannah online and told her about my new book. She said she’d love to buy a copy and is now the first bookstore to carry The Childlike Kingdom on its shelves. And how cool that the first is in my hometown! My dream of being a writer began when I lived here and visited the Crook County Library. Oliver Books hadn’t arrived in town yet. Oliver Books is one of the coolest bookstores I’ve ever been to, by the way. Well done, Hannah, and thank you for helping to make my hometown dream come true! Having a bookstore was her dream, too.

So if you’re in the vicinity of Prineville, be sure to stop in at Oliver Books and say hi to Hannah. And grab a CLK if you haven’t yet. ;) Just look for the tall courthouse. You can’t miss it.

I’m thrilled to be living these wonder years with you, my friends.

JAY