About Oregon Du Drops
“I invite you to imagine a light-filled drop of Oregon rain as it falls to the ground.
What if it was large enough and suspended in space long enough for you to be able to appreciate the beauty of nature reflected inside?
This is the question that has been behind my creation of Oregon Du Drops, and the nearly fifty-year quest to see, with a naked eye, what there is to see in a drop of water.”
James Stephen Du Bois, Oregon Du Drop Creator
Whether you are looking for a uniquely expressive gift, an exquisite memento of a loved one’s passing, or a one-of-a-kind work of art for your home, we invite you to linger through our website and enjoy the many Oregon Du Drops on display. They are treasured by thousands of people who have ordered them over the last twenty years to commemorate events in their lives, or in the lives of their loved ones; some with rain or dew from the very day of the milestone. Many others have found Oregon Du Drops in our gallery, or on the web, with rain from the their birthday month, or wedding, or other significant event in their life already made.
Oregon Du Drops are handmade by James Stephen Du Bois. He harmonizes recycled light bulbs, Oregon rain and brass temple bells from India, forged especially for Oregon Du Drops. More specifically, Du Bois cuts the tops off of thin recycled and repurposed glass light bulbs, then introduces rain and dew from our Oregon Rain Cellar (est. 1999) into the bulbs, ultimately, topping his finished Oregon Du Drops with the aforementioned bells.
That’s right, we’ve been collecting samples of Oregon Rain for over twenty years. What has happened in your life in that time to celebrate or commemorate? If your event occurred since October 5, 1999, there is a chance that, in addition to the month and year the rain fell, we might even have rain from the very day of your event to introduce into your Oregon Du Drop.
the closest thing to “Time in a Bottle” that we know
Oregon Du Drops are not only considered beautiful, they are very meaningful to many and the closest thing to “Time in a Bottle” that we know. The month and year that the rain inside them fell is engraved by Cat, right on the thin glass. This procedure not only identifies each individual Oregon Du Drop, it adds her energy to the result. That’s always a good thing. Each of the twelve months of the year is represented in our gallery, so Oregon Du Drops can be found with Oregon rain in them from whatever month you or a loved one was born, graduated, got married, or experienced any other event you would like to commemorate for yourself, or as a gift.
Perhaps you would like an Oregon Du Drop made especially for you, to commemorate a life experience from your past with rain that fell then. The first step is to visit the Oregon Rain Cellar to see if we have any rain from that year, then look for the month within that year and, finally, for the specific day. If we don’t have the exact day we may have the year and month.
After deciding what rain you want in your Oregon Du Drop browse through all of the styles in the SHOP gallery to pick just the right one to have Du Bois make for you with rain of your choice in the mix, and its date engraved on your special Du Drop. Then, either call Cat @ 503-355-2541, or fill out our custom order form with the rain and style of Oregon Du Drop you like.
Company History
Oregon Du Drops debuted in Eugene, Oregon at the Saturday Market in the Spring of 1999, though the idea behind them was hatched in Bloomington, Indiana in the 1970s. For more details on how Oregon Du Drops came to be see The History of Oregon Du Drops on the blog page of this website. In the year 2000 I moved to the Oregon Coast and began showing them at coastal art shows and craft fairs. It was at just such an affair, a wine and jazz festival, that I met my wife. She was fresh from singing her original songs onstage. I was displaying my Oregon Du Drops with the Sun setting over the ocean in the background. See Cat Comes Back to the Beach on the Blog page of this website.
We moved to Rockaway Beach in 2003 and remained in the same location until Oregon Du Drops supported our putting a down payment on our own place, five doors north, in 2014. We’ve been at 450 Highway 101 South ever since, where people from all over the world, here to discover the beauty of the Oregon Coast, discover Oregon Du Drops, and have become happy, satisfied and, in many cases, loving customers. You are invited to visit.
About us
Du Bois makes Oregon Du Drops. Cat greets our welcome guests and distributes Oregon Du Drops across the country and the world, while keeping track of our daily business. They are both published authors. Cat wrote, Less Than Perfect, a book of poetry that sold out of its limited printing. Du Bois self-published, Have What You Will. Start Here. Start Now, that sold hundreds of copies, and Alcoholism’s Antidote: Self-Discovery, now available as an e-book.
Cat also has several CD’s on which she sings her original music, including Cat’s Eyes and Songs for Everyone’s Child. Many of her songs can be heard on Youtube. Click on the links below to appreciate some of them.
Du Bois, a retired Certified Hypnotherapist, has developed a relaxation trance based on his experience, entitled Metaphysical Massage: A Trance-enhanced Meditation. It is available on CD but, also has been downloaded onto YouTube so anyone can access it for free. Click on the link below for a very relaxing 45 minutes.