10 years in Oregon

The Three Sisters Mountains in Central Oregon

This week it has been exactly 10 years since I arrived in Oregon for the first time. It was the middle part of January 2003 when I came for a brief visit of the Diocese which would eventually become my home. I stayed with Bishop Vasa and spent most of my time in the Chancery office. I did not see much of Oregon in those few days, other than the growing city of  Bend and maybe some areas around Sisters with the Three Sisters mountains range, which were snow-capped at that time of the year.

Lining up the ducks....in a row!

When it was time for me to leave I had asked Bishop Vasa what would I do next, as to my eventual arrival to be assigned in a parish in the Diocese. And then he used an expression that I never heard before, and which made me go into a fit of laughter, leading him also to join in the laughter, when he realized I had never heard it before. His expression was “Father Julian, let me line up the ducks, and then I will let you know....” I could only imagine how difficult it is to put a group of ducks in a row. Of course I returned for good in mid-March, but that expression stayed with me even now, as I laugh just thinking of the phrase, which I hear being used frequently by local people, always with a smile on my face.