Time flows slower in Greyback Creek

In the Mid 1980s my husband and I were in college in Ashland, Oregon and one of our favorite places to get away from the Rogue Valley was up by Oregon Caves at a perfect campground. Perfect because it was beautiful and the water was swimmable and the air was hot and dry, but no-body came. Even in July we could get our favorite spot easily because it has no running water, just an outhouse.

So for five years we brought almost everyone who ever visited us, there. My family, friends from Germany, Friends from high school. And if it got in the triple digits we stayed cool in Greyback, or we went into the caves where it is jacket cold year round.

WELL, we graduated from Southern Oregon and then we moved to the coast. In the Redwoods, and somehow, even though Greyback had this one big boulder, where I loved to climb out of the water, and where I would send myself mentally, every time I got stressed. I'd just close my eyes and tell myself, the ferns are still growing and the water is still swirling round the rock no matter what is happening here - there it is peaceful-but we went other places and didn't get back.

So for my birthday yesterday, we took our teens and a couple of their friends, and met some friends from Ashland, and grilled kabobs and hiked and swam all day. I'm not even sunburned, love sunscreen! And it was over 100* while here, just an hour and a half away, we have been downright cold. The swing my Dad loved 20 yeas ago was still there, strange to see because Dad died 13 years ago. Odd how things can outlast people so easily.

My Music Man and I have changed way more than this timeless place. I have pictures of us there in the mid-80's and yesterday. Time flows more strongly across us, as it should.

The trees had fallen across and damned the creek for a lovely, temporary waterfall - and yes, the water was still flowing over my boulder and still just as icy and crystal clear.

We didn't get into the caves, part of the deal on getting teens to come with you, is they have evening jobs to get back for - but Oh, It was so much fun.

The trails had been super manicured, It would all have been wheelchair accessible , so it was all lined with benches and viewing decks and a lovely bridge had been built, but still, on a July Friday, it was empty and we owned it for the day.

There has been a rope swing here as long as we have been coming, but it had been replaced and was sturdy enough to support even the adults

I assembled the kabobs and put them in an orange teriyaki, but my husband cooked them on the extra long, freestanding grill while I explored.

Now, I have new images to meditate on, and a renewed determination to get back a little sooner to Greyback Creek