weird things that happened to me

If a tree falls in the forest…

Life, Photography

This morning I was so looking forward to finally getting back out on the trail for a run! I have been sick for a week but started feeling better this morning. As I entered the forest  I witnessed a tree falling and landing across the path in front of me, not 50 feet away. It was totally surreal. In all of the years I’ve hiked and lived among tall trees (my whole life, actually) I have never seen a tree actually fall from natural circumstances.

I heard a very loud “pop” like the sound of a gun, and then a kind of creak/thunderclap sound as the tree fell to the ground. And then a loud “thunk” when it landed. It was both frightening and surreal at the same time.  As soon as I realized what was happening I turned around and ran as fast as I could out of the forest and sort of out of harm’s way. There were still a lot of trees in the suburban areas around the houses and I began to realize how easily one could blow over onto a house.

I am feeling kind of lucky today! It was one of those razor sharp moments when you notice everything.

About the photo:

Camera: Terrapin Bijou
Film: Ektar 100
Exposure time: 5 seconds-ish

Serendipity in Silverton

Travel and Other Adventures

Yesterday morning, my husband suggested that we go on an adventure. We decided to take the back-roads to Silverton, have lunch there, and then hike at Silver Falls State Park. We haven’t ventured that way in the six years we’ve lived here. We like to listen to podcasts on long drives and this time we chose Radiolab. Imagine our surprise when we learned the second story in the episode was about Silverton, OR. Of all the stories about all of the small towns in the world the podcast was telling a story about the very town we were driving to. There was a simultaneous “WHAT THE FUCK.” Out of both of our mouths.

Above is the theater, owned by the person the story was about, Stu Rasmussen,the first transgender mayor in the United States. It’s a really great story, and if you care to listen you can do so here.

But wow. What a weird, random, coincidence. I love it when stuff like that happens!

The coincidence boded well for us as we had a fantastic day in Silverton and hiking the Trail of Ten Falls in Silver Falls State Park. Here are some iPhone snaps from the day. I brought my pinhole camera and shot the entire roll, which I will be sharing at a later date on Pinhole Obscura.

Palace Theater
Old church
Behind South Falls
Lower South Falls
behind Lower South Falls
Lower North Falls
sunset

six years ago I was hit by a car.

Life

That was a weird experience. As the years go by my fear from that experience lessens. I have almost kind of forgotten about it. The memory of it feels like a fuzzy dream.

I wrote a blog post about the experience later on that day.  I wasn’t injured at all. I was very very lucky, considering I bounced off of the hood of the car.

I often think of the idea of “story  construction” because of this experience.

After I was taken to the hospital I needed a ride home from the hospital. I can’t remember how it came about that my mom picked me up and why I couldn’t call her myself to ask her. But the next day I was checking my phone messages and she’d left me a message on my phone after she found out that I was hit and in the hospital to tell me she was on her way. She left a message that was not completely hysterical and then something odd happened. She didn’t hang up. She didn’t realize this though. So the rest of her drive to the hospital was her conversation with my step-dad as they drove to the hospital. It was fascinating to listen to. She re-created the whole story in her mind. Reconstructed it into something else. As she imagined what happened her voice became more worried and hysterical.

I think about this a lot when I think about the stories we create everyday about everything.  Usually the story we create has nothing to do with reality.

Dreamer

Books, Music, Art, Movies

Sometimes my iPad will play music at weird and inopportune times. It is a bug that has to do with the bluetooth keyboard. When it is connected and when I pick up the keyboard I must accidentally push buttons that cause it to play music. It can be embarrassing when I am in public.

At one point I deleted all of the music from my iPad but somehow music appears on it again. I don’t know how this happens and I am too lazy to explore why.

Last night I was kind  of feeling down and depressed and started in on that road in my head where I start beating myself up.  I’d been doing some writing on my iPad and got up to go do something else and there went my iPad with it’s music playing. Except this time it played a song I have never heard before. I don’t recall ever downloading it. But I listened to the lyrics and they were exactly what I needed to hear at that moment.

Facing my fears seems to be a theme that keeps coming up for me in various ways. I guess 2014 is the year I face my fears.