One of the nicer aspects of my job is that I get to check out a fairly wide geographic area in finer detail than I have up until now. I now realize that when I did fee appraisals, the range of properties I examined were really quite narrow. With rare exceptions, I only appraised properties that were eligible for mortgages. As an appraiser for the County Assessor’s office, however, I look at everything in my assigned area. With this dramatic expansion of job description, I have an entire new lexicon to learn, including the rating system by which building quality and condition are rated, and property types that I had the luxury of being able to dismiss and disregard in the past.
While I’m out and about, I get to see a lot of beautiful scenery, and sometimes I get shuttled down memory lane. The town of Index (WA) is nestled in a valley, beside a river, and is surrounded by sheer cliffs that make some of the best rock climbing in the area. It reminds me strongly of living in Salamanca (NY), and how much I hated the way the surrounding hills shaved two hours of direct sunlight of both ends of each and every day…
The Skykomish River, with a buildup of logs from past springtime runs. I would find it scary to live along most of the rivers in the PNW. They get into terrifying rages when the mountain snows begin melting, along with runoff from three months of continuous drizzle.
