The Hunter/Gather of Surburbia

Are we where we live?

November 15, 2011

Marvels

Emma and I have had to conserve gas so we haven't had any treks to parks in the last week. But I have found I still marvel at the landscape here. Even from the same location. I can see The Butte, a nice place to hike and climb I understand if you don't get stopped by the RATTLE SNAKES! Vipers are sort of like scorpions in my book, oh and there are scorpions here as well. Spiders freak me out, especially the one I saw a month or so ago that I swear was over three inches in diameter. Its size could be due to the fact that it was dark and it sort of dropped out of a tree just in front of and above head and scared the shit out of me. It was oblivious to me and of course it did not concern Emma one bit.
Ok, gross I am listening to the Audiobook "Phantoms" by Dean Koontz, and the narrator just described a man who's brain, face, and tongue were sucked up by a huge moth. Heh, my mom hated moths, now I know why.

November 6, 2011

Nature Trails at McNary Dam

Emma and I went to McNary Dam today for a long walk. Lots of trails and lots of ways to get lost, I think I spent a lot of time trying to orient myself to where we were in relation to the car. The trails are nicely maintained, though people need to pick up after their dogs more than they seem to. I know some was wild creature poo, but really taking your dog to the park and letting them poop on the trail where people walk? Really?








One reason I didn't get lost was they had these cool images painted on rocks. Ok, I still would have got lost if I wasn't paying attention. They have trails through the wetland area, which if I lived in the bayous I would have worried about Emma and me becoming alligator lunches. There were ducks everywhere and they are very a jumpy bunch, hence I didn't get any pictures of them. Perhaps some people don't understand the wildlife refuge part of the equation. I guess people could also be scaring the poor things on purpose, but people wouldn't do that would they?

November 5, 2011

Films that may have shaped who I am

I have known for a very long time that the Disney film, The Flight White Stallions began the shaping of my views of who the Nazis were/are. It was, of course, the horses that drew me in to that insight. The Sound of Music also added to the molding of my views. It seems that center of many of my views are horses. What my parents saw as a whim that really didn't warrant nurturing, a love horses, shaped who I am. Horses shaped my movie viewing habits, if it was a Western I watched it. Tonka, another horse film by Disney, and Run Appaloosa Run began to shape my view American Indians. Whether by design or happenstance Disney showed me how the treatment of American Indians by Whites was, well, not good. I was curious about Indians, Salem was home to one of the last Indian Boarding Schools. Actually, Chemawa is still there remodeled and housing American Indian youth needing a little extra help. We never heard or really knew what went on at Chemawa, the brick buildings were an imposing series of brick buildings. They were cold and not at all inviting. Those buildings are now gone, my historian side wishes they hadn't been demolished, but I think I may understand why they had to go. The newly Confederated Tribes rebuilt the school and now it is a temporary home to American Indian youth from many bands and tribes. They host Powwows and sports events. I recently watched Little Big Man with Dustin Hoffman. That film shaped my view of how Whites fucked up the West, not opened it. While watching with my 54 yr old eyes, I realized that again it was the horse that shaped my views, not just the actions of idiots like Custer. How Indians rode, how they tamed, how they valued horses has been revealed to me in other films I cannot remember the names of. And it is their connection to the horse that hooked me into wanting to know about their history and indirectly the history of horses in the Americas.
Other films have shaped me, but I find in slightly different ways, Tora Tora Tora didn't make hate the Japanese, it made me want to learn about their side of WWII. Scarface made me wonder why Cubans had such political control over south Florida. Films about Hitler did not make marvel at his prowess as a leader, but why a man that nuts took control of country after country killing millions in his name and the U.S. did nothing until the Japanese blew up Pearl Harbor. Vietnam I saw on TV, live TV at times I think. It wasn't until I was in high school in the early 70's that it hit me as to what horrors the U.S. were. Ok, Air America was later of course and had Mel Gibson, but made total sense to me.
I think I have always been a closet liberal. Well, not totally closeted, but not vocal in public. Not sure why that still is, but it is unlikely that piece will change much. Especially since hardly anyone reads my little bloggings. As I sit here I am watching the Showtime Series Homeland, interesting to say the least. Thank goodness for Charter OnDemand! So if anyone does actually read what I write, please share your musings about films that may have shaped who you are.

November 4, 2011

Traveling around the area

Finally took the time to travel a bit, had the gas and money for a tank more so I went on a little drive after spending a hefty amount on winter attire. Still need pants and some boots, oh and four snow tires. It has already snowed in the hills around here, so winter is a coming.



The first picture has actually become the beginning of my new life. I took this while on my way to my interview at Hermiston High School. The next pictures are from Hat Rock State Park. Emma and I journeyed there last Sunday. Hat Rock was mentioned in the journals of Lewis and Clark. I read a marker placed by local tribes, I think, that says while Lewis and Clark mentioned Hat Rock sitting there all solitary, they didn't mention the three sisters that they had to have passed on their way down the River. Legend has it that three sisters angered the Creator, again my memory has failed me, and he cast them into the three stone pillars. Only two are now visible, the third being covered by the River. Emma and I will have take the long trip, on the way to Walla Walla, in the future so I can photograph them as well.




Not sure what happened with two of the pictures, but stand up and tilt your head and you will see the locks at McNary Dam and a shot of the Columbia.