I live in a houseboat on a river in Oregon. It’s a floating home, permanently moored, not something that putt-putts around. Otters, beavers, and muskrats are my neighbors, along with a variety of birds, including eagles, hawks, ospreys and herons. Other houseboats are moored here too, so I also have human neighbors. For the most part, houseboat people are kind, maybe a wee bit eccentric, and generous. They keep to themselves unless you’re in trouble (like, say, a log stuck under your houseboat for many years is one day forced free by a strong current and thrusts itself up through your deck, causing alarm and wreckage; this actually happened to me). Then they come immediately to your aid.

We all love the quiet we find here on the river and in the nearby forest.

I’m a writer and editor. I do book consultations as well as lead writing workshops and classes in and around Portland.

(Photo by Michael Mathers.)