Three minutes with… Donna Anderson

Published 4:42 pm Wednesday, December 15, 2021

How long have you lived in Hermiston?

I have lived in Hermiston somewhere between 30 and 40 years.

What do you like about the town?

It’s home. It seems like if you go away from Hermiston, you come back. You just can’t stay away for some reason. I lived in Indiana four years after my first marriage, and I hated it… hated it. I had to come back to Oregon, so I moved back to Hermiston.

What is it about Hermiston that brought you back?

It’s so many things. It’s the people, and the community, and the things you can do and experience. It’s a hub for whatever you feel like doing. You go one way, and you’re at the coast. You go the other way, and you’re at the mountains.

What do you like to do on the coast?

I love to watch the ocean, walk along the beach and pick up shells. It’s the typical tourist stuff.

What do you like to do in the mountains?

I love the snow. I play in the snow. That’s my favorite.

Are you looking forward to Christmas?

Absolutely. Christmas is my season. I go all out for Christmas — not so much this year because I’m recovering from surgery, but I usually go full boar when it comes to Christmas. And I decorate different colors from normal red and green. I decorate in purple and gold.

Now, why is that?

I love purple. I got a white, fake Christmas tree that I use. I put purple lights on it and then I put purple birds and bows on it. That’s what I decorate with.

Where did you get this idea?

Just in my head. The first time I decorated the tree in purple, white and gold, I brought my husband over to look at it. He walked in and gasped and said that it was like something from a magazine. Then, I knew I was onto something.

You are an artistic person, aren’t you?

I guess you can say that.

When did you discover your artistic sensibilities?

About two or three years ago. It was then that I realized I could do things. I wrote books that aren’t published. I wrote a series of books, and if I could find a literary agent, I would.

What are your books about?

The first one is about my husband who passed away — he and I, how we met, fell in love, got married and some of the things we experienced. That was the first book. The rest of the series of three is based on my life. It becomes fiction half way into it, telling about a woman named Jeanette. It tells of her childhood and then follows her to the end of her life. It’s interesting. The people I’ve talked to have looked at it to see if it was worth publishing. They liked it. Maybe one day I will have it published. Did that go over three minutes?

Just a little, but that’s OK.