Wednesday, March 22, 2006

La Grande....

I seem to be back in business. As you may have noticed, I'm rather undecided when to blog in English and when to blog in French. There is really no need to blog in French since Cecile has complete and total command of English (the King's English); nevertheless, when the impulse strikes me I'll not refuse.

It still seems too early to speak publicly about the Fulbright Exchange, but then again, this blog, while technically a public space, seems like something in between public and private right now...so let me just say to those few of you who are visiting this site that Beth and I are elated over the prospect of trading places with Cecile and Gerard. We hope this works out. If it does, they will be living at our house in La Grande in northeast Oregon, and we'll be in Lege Cap Ferret on the Bassin d'Arcachon in southern France.

That is why from time to time I'll be posting more specifically with Cecile and her family in mind...using the blog to help them see what this La Grande thing might be all about. Transparency...that's the mantra from the people at Fulbright...no unpleasant surprises if you can avoid them.

In that spirit I'm inviting all of you who have ever lived here in La Grande to contribute any and all perspectives on life here. Put them in the comments. Cecile...they're for you to read.

We'll see if this blog has any readers. Suspense...

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cecile, we are friends of Beth's and Kevin's and former residents of La Grande. We had to begrudgingly move to western New York several years ago. We miss the west, the kindness, generosity and openness of the people, the georgeous mountain ranges and majestic coastline. We really miss Oregon, La Grande and, more to the point, Kevin and Beth.
--sharri and doug anderson
p.s. we named our then newborn daughter after Mt. Emily before we moved.

11:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Cecile, I am Kevin's oldest daughter, and I wanted to share with you some of the reasons La Grande is my favorite town in America. Let me preface this by mentioning that I work for the National Park Service, so I get to live in the most beautiful places the US has to offer. That said, La Grande is home to some of my favorite things: Mt Emily's profile is something that stays in a person's heart forever. In addition to beautiful scenery, there are wonderful people: the librarian who read stories to me when I was 5 years old remembers me (I am now 28 years old)! My favorite tree ever (yes, ever!) is the huge Maple at the corner of 6th and Jefferson streets. It grows around a streetlight, so that in October, when it's leaves are at their most golden, they filter the streetlight- creating the most peaceful, warm little place inside the city limits. A new snow adds to this effect. I could go on forever, Cecile, about the things that I love about La Grande. I know that Dad and Beth will love your home in France, but it is them, also, that I associate with La Grande, and that makes me love it even more! Enjoy, Cecile
~ Erin Cahill

7:14 PM  

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