6/4/07

This is Where I Belong


I love living in Kellogg, Idaho. This is where I belong.

It is not the city. It is not the country. It is a rural area, population around 2500. It is located within an area called the Silver Valley, with a population around 10,000.

I love living in the place where I was born, because there are so many connections, and I feel a part of where I am living. This is where I belong.

For me, Kellogg is in my very being. I am a part of her rhythm. I have climbed her hills. I have walked, biked, run and driven on her streets. I have swum in her creeks and fished in her rivers. I have played in her parks, and attended her schools. This is where I belong

I come from a mining community, where weather was never really a factor is our everyday life.

After college, I moved to an agricultural community, where they used dry land farming, it was in the middle of a drought, and all they talked about was the weather. That was different.

I grew up in a small, mountainous valley where the river and the Interstate split the two mountain ranges, and for me it was close, and safe and comfortable. I would travel home from eastern Montana, and as soon as I hit the Bitteroot Valley, around Frenchtown, Montana, I would start to feel like I was home. This is where I belong.

Some who came here were stifled by the closed in valley, and would need to leave every so often to keep from suffocating.

To them they were stifled. To me, I was comforted.

My next move was to the Treasure Valley of southern Idaho, to Meridian. It is the high dessert. Lots of sage brush, and foothills, and big, open sky. Over the nine years I lived there, that area became more and more “citified”, gaining more and more people. Malls sprouted up. Subdivisions covered the once fertile farmland. Traffic came to a standstill during the evening rush hour.

My husband and I knew we would eventually end up living here in Kellogg. We didn’t actively pursue coming back, just one of those feelings we knew would come true. And it did. In the summer of 2000, my husband started a job here in Kellogg, and we returned. Kellogg called us back, and we responded with yes, we will come. This is where I belong.

I love many aspects of the “city life”, but I can travel to a city, get my city fix for a day or a weekend, or even a week, then go back to my rural, mountainous valley and enjoy the slower pace and the connection I have with the area my grandparents traveled to and settled in the 1920’s, where my dad was born in 1930, and where I now live, 77 years after his birth, and know…

…this is where I belong.
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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this picture of Kellogg. For a few months I've had one from the opposite direction (looking down the street instead of up) from Kellogg, 1956.

It makes me a little sad to read what you wrote today, because for so long Kellogg was where I lived. It will always be home to me in a way that Meridian is not, but I am grateful that God has directed me here, at least for a season (I know the plans he has for me are for good).

Pinehurst in my Dreams said...

I love the valley, too. Kellogg is so much more beautiful than it was 30+ yrs ago. I love the photo, and had to check out the site to see if there were any other great photos. I think you chose the best one!

Love those trees!

Christy Woolum said...

You have strong images and emotions when you right about place, especially the Silver Valley. I was not surprised at your thoughts, but it is always nice to read them again.

MarmiteToasty said...

Good grief Kellog sounds right up my street........ :)

I have never lived any further then 10 miles from where I was born..... some think thats a saddo thing...... but me, well I feel comfortable knowing every nook and crannie within that 10 mile circle....... but that dont mean I wouldnt up roots and move somewhere else...... cos this place would be in my soul always, no matter where I live....... but I do understand that 'belonging' feeling....... most of me maties are friends that have moved into the area, and are astounded by the things I know LOL

xx

Carol Woolum Roberts said...

Thanks for your comments. Yes, Laurie, I know your love for this place, and I'm glad you get to come visit fairly regularly. PIMD, I liked the photo too. Hopefully this summer I'll take some time to take my own photos around town to use.

IEG--Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

MT--I'm sure you would love Kellogg. And someday I hope to see your little neck of the woods...I hear COWIE made it to England. Can't wait to see the pictures from your photo tour!!

MarmiteToasty said...

SilverValley :) YEP Cowie has arrived, Im blobbed about her today...... LOL

and dont you dare say Im a nutter!!! ;)

x

Anonymous said...

Yup, that's how everyone should live. I always wanted to live in a rural area, only coming to a city when I absolutely had to. I'd probably forget how to drive in the city and wind up driving really slowly and making everyone mad at me!

Anonymous said...

I lived in Kellogg for 4 years, back in the late '70s/early '80s. Personally, I had a hard time up there and I just had to get away. But for a long time, I felt about CDA the way you felt about Kellogg, because I grew up in CDA. After I left Kellogg, I moved back to CDA, living there another 23 years before moving to the Oregon Coast.

Anonymous said...

I came back and visited my folks in Spokane last week. I was lucky enough to get up to Kellogg and see my grandmother. Was great to see my birthplace and the town I grew up in for 13 years. Looks alot different and the tree covered hills are great!