The Magic of Multnomah Falls
Many years ago, I worked at MCC in Austin. It was my first job outside of school, and I learned a lot. Looking back, it was one of the best experiences of my life. Not only did I learn a lot, I also made friends that are still very much a part of my life to this day.
One of my fondest memories of MCC was a trip we made to Portland in early 1989. The purpose of the trip was to demo our research software at one of the major database conferences. But that’s not what I remember. What I remember is good times and good fun with great friends.
The thing about academic or research travel is that there’s always some free time. We spent ours visiting Multnomah Falls and Mt. Hood. I liked Mt. Hood, but it was Multnomah Falls that made the more lasting impression. I remember hiking up to the top of the falls. I remember the roar of the falls, the spray on my face. I never thought about waterfalls before, but right then I was hooked. To this day, I will go out of my way to visit a local waterfall, no matter where I am.
This past week I was back in the area with my family. We were dropping Mona off in the Washington-Oregon border, so she could cycle all the way down the coast to the Mexican border. On the way back, the kids and I stopped by Multnomah Falls and climbed back to the top. They say you can’t go back again, but in this case it was simply not true. It’s no exaggeration to say that I grew up, became an adult, while at MCC. And Multnomah Falls was a part of that for me. Taking my kids there was another milestone, and one I’ll treasure.
If I have any regrets in my life, it is only that I settled down away from the Pacific Coast. A part of me changed when I visited the Northwest for the first time, a part I like. And every time I visit there again, I reexperience the region’s pull. I know I’ll succumb to it one day, move to Washington, Oregon, or Northern California, somewhere close to the coast, close enough to see it, hear it, smell it. I don’t know when that day will come. Maybe a year from now, maybe ten years, maybe twenty. What I do know is that it’ll feel like coming home.