What's an Oregonian?

Whether you were born and raised here or not, you know you're an Oregonian at heart if you:

* rescue recyclables from the trash and bring home cardboard, bottles, and newspapers from places without recycling programs

* lose sleep at night because of that piece of paper accidentally put in the trash
 

* suffer mightily when the temp is over 70 degrees, and welcome relief from the heat in the form of deary black clouds and pouring rain

* carry on, rain or shine, even if it means climbing Saddle Mountain in a deluge, because that is what you planned for the day

* are severely vitamin D deficient

 

* know what the UGB is

Urban Growth Boundary

* go insane when traveling in an unplanned, sprawling, traffic-choked unrestrained metropolis (Salt Lake Valley, Phoenix, Southern California, etc.)

* feel compelled to explain to Easterners why school is cancelled with a sparse inch of snow on the ground (hilly terrain, no chains for school buses, only 2 snowplows cover 3 entire counties, etc.)

in  the 32 years living in my current house, I have seen one of these things in my area exactly once, and that was on about the 12th day of our 14-day snow fall in 2008

*leave work the second you hear forecast of an ice storm so that you can hunker down at home before the apocalypse begins

* wardrobe is almost exclusively Columbia Sportswear, or maybe Nike if you are tall and skinny

* can't stomach fast food except for Burgerville USA

* are out walking, running, hiking or cycling in non-Oregon places, and suddenly feel weird because the place is an eerie ghost town; you get to wondering if you missed the nuclear war memo, and everyone else is hunkered down in bomb shelters

* cut your own Christmas tree from a nearby tree farm and enjoy the bonfire and hot chocolate that comes with

* pick your own fruit from nearby farms

* know why Portland is sometimes referred to as stumptown 

 why did 19th century settlers think a clean sweep was a good idea?

* shop with re-usable bags or carry an arm full of items out of the store with no bag at all

 

* know how to pronounce Willamette, Siskiyou, Clatskanie, Klickitat, Aloha, Champoeg, Detroit, Scio, Siuslaw, Tigard, Yachats, Couch
[Will-LAM-ett, SIS-k-you, CLAT-ska-nye, KLICK-i-tat, A-LOH-a, Sham-POO-ee, DEE-troit, SIGH-oh, Sigh-YEW-slaw, TIE-gurd, YAH-hots, Kootch]


* think a 5-minute traffic jam is intolerable and consider moving to the Yukon


* have your own brick at Pioneer Courthouse Square, or have seen one belonging to someone you know

* attend your local county fair

* wear either green/yellow or orange/black and are proud of the dorky sports team names, DUCKS and BEAVERS

*relish drinking Bull Run water out of your kitchen faucet--it's tastier and purer than that stuff you can buy in bottles--it comes right off the slopes of Mt. Hood; we have had visitors from other states bringing empty gallon jugs that they take home full of Bull Run water

I have now lived here for over half my life.  Guess that makes me an Oregonian aside from all the above!