So if aliens did ever saucer over Sausalito or stop by Roswell to put up some plastic flowers and crosses, I'm bettin' they don't notice the humans at first. Most likely they'd think the world was inhabited by cars and then realize that the cars are in some type of symbiotic relationship with frail pink monkeys who scuttle from car to the nearest shelter like some kind of ousted hermit crabs. Seen from above, humans probably seem as skittish as crawdads at a creole festival.

One glaring difference we've noticed in Oregon is the relative newness of the modern worlds' influence. Fortunate to be one of the last places beaten into submission by asphalt and evangelism, Oregon has a few generations less of senseless and irresponsible occupation by the great white tribe. I like to imagine that when the settlers got to the coast and realized that they were actually gonna run out of forests to clear-cut, they rubbed their chins and said "hey, uh, we might wanna leave a few of those trees up. you know, just in case."