I grew up in the pear orchards of the Rogue Valley. As orchardists, everything is weather dependent. It is impossible to ignore the undeniable interconnectedness of all living things. As a Human Biology Major at Stanford, the hard science of that awareness was hammered home. I graduated knowing that individual decisions matter, both as creators and consumers; they all have consequences and the earth’s resources are not infinite. After marriage, my husband and I were conscious of recycling, weatherizing the home, making choices about heating and cooling—ie. standard ’70’s young home-owner concerns. As a professional musician and a church music-director, I created conference materials for west coast clergy that taught how to initiate the hard climate conversation within congregations, using music as a means.

Widowed by the time Energy Oregon began to offer the solar initial rebates, I contacted True South Solar in Ashland to do the install. I haven’t looked looked back. 

I moved to St Johns in 2022, after the 2020 Almeda Fire in So OR. The housing choice is a 2018 build, with some amenities like a tankless water heater, but the essential measure had to do with walkability and a planned ferry system that would get us downtown in 22 minutes. Even with a Prius hybrid, I wanted to avoid driving as much as possible. My first call was to A & R Solar, to see if we could qualify—I had worked for Jay Inslee as a presidential candidate, so his choice of A & R was all I needed. After panels and storage batteries were installed, I called a local supplier to put in a ductless healing/cooling system for the third floor. We tore out lawn and planted pollinator flowers and trees, including appropriating the adjacent rat-infested PGE easement to put in large garden for the neighborhood.

All of these decisions were no-brainers for me, even on a musician’s income. The planet is in peril and time is not on our side.