Recently, I connected with friends that I hadn’t had contact with for several years. Our “catch-up” conversation was not the usual, as we all have had significant life changes to share. Without any prompting, they acknowledged mine were more dramatic than theirs.

When I told them of my move to Waitsburg, their first reaction was, “where?” I gave them the geographical high points and explained that I am not on the “wet” side of the Cascade mountains but in the country of wheat and wine. Next came a barrage of questions about how I cope with their perceptions of the hardships of...