Month: April 2012

Cherryville Cemetary

Life

A month ago this newspaper clipping mysteriously appeared attached to my locker at work. From this article I learned that the Sandy Historical Museum has taken over the care of the Cherryville Cemetery and they hosted a cleanup day last Saturday (Read this post and this post for background on this family mystery/saga. Preita has some nice photos of it on her blog, too. ). I was so incredibly stoked! Unfortunately I had to work that day. I was seriously sad about that because I feel like I have some kind of family duty to the care of that place (having cousins buried there). I think I will see how I can get involved, though, in the restoration. It’s an important piece of local history that was almost swallowed up by the Oregon wildness. How sad!

One our way home from our (kinda depressing) hike yesterday we decided to stop by the cemetary to see how the cleanup went. I was rather skeptical that they would get anything done with it. That place was seriously in need of major work. A simple cleanup in which people bring their garden tools wasn’t going to do the trick.

I was so wrong!

They did an AMAZING job! It looks really good. It’s not completely cleared out, there is still ivy growing all over the place (that I tripped on, of course. The oregon forest is trying to kill me.), but you can actually walk up to the grave sites. I am so pleased!

We walked around and snapped some photos. I found my cousins’ graves and put a makeshift bouquet of flowers on them.

A nice ending to the day!

Entrance

I am an idiot

Photography

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I know. I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. But I feel that way.

I loaded up my camera with some Tri-x film all raring and ready to take it out hiking with me. We decided to go to the beautiful Upper Salmon River trail. I so love that place. It is a trail that takes the hiker along the salmon river through an old-growth cedar forest. The light was perfect. And this doesn’t happen very often here in Oregon. We mostly have to deal with soggy rain. But today was a gorgeous sunny day. The light was streaming through the forest canopy perfectly. I was stoked.

I snapped all sorts of fantastic shots, making sure I was looking at the forest in terms of light and dark (since I was using black and white film). I took great care in choosing my shots with this in mind. And I think I got some really good ones!

I got to the end of the roll and, strangely, it kept going. Well past the 24 frames the package promised. Something was wrong. Very wrong. I didn’t properly thread the film. It hadn’t loaded right. The fantastic photos I shot don’t exist.

I am so. fucking. bummed.

And to add frosting to this Cake Of Doom I tripped on the hike back to the car and completely and literally bit the dust. My knees are all bruised up, as is my ego.

sigh.

Deschutes River

Photography

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Raf and I visited Bend, Oregon this week. I got to go to the Oregon Library Association conference and Raf got to check out the area hiking. The conference was actually very good. I learned lots and got a much needed professional shot in the arm. I didn’t get to see much of the area but I did check out a few places. Wednesday night we had dinner at the Deschutes Brewery and I had a Black Butte Porter (my favorite). Being a children’s librarian, I get to go to the best workshops. I made a ring in one of them (among other things). A pink sharpie also exploded all over my hand in that same workshop so I got to walk around the conference among my professional colleagues looking like I murdered a clown. So that was fun. Afterward, I had time to wander around downtown and we spied this shoe in a shop that Raf hilariously nicknamed “The Nutbuster.” And finally, while following his intuitive voice, Raf procured this very cool mini spinning wheel for me at a thrift store. I love it!

Here is a shot of the Deschutes River from the hotel that the conference was at.

Summer Memory: Eating Raspberries In The Garden

Writing

Cultivated raspberry, in flower in a garden

Cultivated raspberry, in flower in a garden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am a young child, around 7 or eight years old. I am by myself in the garden of our house, next to the back yard. I am enjoying the summer heat. I am hiding among the raspberry bushes that my mom planted a few years ago. They are as tall as I am. I am eating raspberries and they are delicious. It seems like they are the most delicious thing ever. Made more delicious by the fact that I can enjoy them by myself with nobody around to bother me.

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