Ground Breaking - A Short Salem Story

This was written in honor of the NEW ground breaking at Riverfront Park, for the Minto-Brown Island Bridge - I give you this first hand (slightly satirical, but true) account from viewpoint of an 8th grader of the Riverfront Park ground breaking.

Judson Middle School Concert Band, Director Shira Fadeley

It was Spring of 1994, and our middle school band was asked to play for the most important event many of us had played in our lives, up to that point -- the 1st Salem Riverfront Park ground breaking ceremony*. Now it seems adorable how excited we were, but at the time it was historic; monumental even.

Sitting in the low brass section of the Judson Middle School band, for such a central community ground-breaking ceremony, was very exciting for 13-year-old me. I remember everyone was trying to be on their best behavior. But, you know how it is with overly excited middle-schoolers. We needed a reminder every 30 seconds to settle down. What can I say? We didn't get out much? :-)

The highlight of everyone's conversation was the Boise Cascade donated acid ball. What was it going to be? Many had heard it would be an art project, and talked about how exciting that would be. Most of my band mates were a little concerned with the term "acid ball". I mean, acid + ball = what-unknown-horrors? Of course some of that confusion was cleared up on the carpool ride home by my Dad, but it caused quite a bit of controversy among us very P.C. '90s era kids.

At the moment of ground-breaking, it became too hard to keep the excitement in. This was happening, an historic moment. (Remember, thirteen years old.) So, I did what any dorky 8th grader with too big an imagination would do. I unscrewed the bell of my trombone, and waited for the precise moment of action. When the mayor struck ground with his shovel, my trombone bell also struck earth. Yes, Mom and Dad, I used my old Yamaha student model trombone as a shovel... briefly.

Me, center, playing with the Judson Concert Band at the ground-breaking ceremony, 1994

In my defense, I thought the whole act would be symbolic and "stuff". At least I had fun! Plus, it didn't do any damage, nor did anyone notice. It did make the trombone bell quite dusty. To whomever owns that little trombone now, you own a piece of Salem history.


*NOTES There was another dedication ceremony in 1996... Yeah, we felt a little less important after that, but still, it was very nice to be invited to play at such an important city event at such young ages. Thank you.

The Great ATC to Canvas Experiment

This was a piece I wrote back in 2015.

People could tell me I'm good at an art or other creative endeavors, but I'm still that impressionable 8 year old who was told they couldn't draw trees as well as I had claimed claimed for a large visual Social Studies project. What can I say, as a shy person, its tough to break out of that mind set.As a result, I've stuck to crafts like photography, sculpting, collage, crochet, jewelry making and origami. Painting and drawing I've reserved for small informal projects, with the exception of school assignments.

Ever since I had the opportunity to volunteer at a local creative reuse non-profit a few years ago, I've been making more projects and getting braver at what I can create.

 So here is the challenge...I have three Artist's Trading Cards that I made and the objective is to get them onto canvas. If I can accomplish this, I may want to do some other pieces where I take my photography and use reuse items and paint to recreate the image.

A Starry Night In Salem - Croisan Ridge, 1/3

Croisan Ridge, by Lisa Miller

A Starry Night In Salem - Falling Stars, 2/3

A Starry Night In Salem - The View From My Apartment, 3/3

Three Little Birds

Nuthatch

 

About a month ago, two women came to my door. It was the usual door-to-door salesperson bluff covering for hopeful religious conversion. I told them a version of what I usually say -- that I'm not Christian, wasn't raised that way and despite doing my research I don't plan on changing. I probably tell them more than they need, but I'm talkative when I'm nervous.

The older of the two women decided she was going to have me read some scripture. I cautiously obliged. The passage was on grief. She asked me what I do during times of grief. I told her, without blinking, that I look to examples of other people. She then asked me to read the next passage. It was more of the same. Maybe I missed the nuance, because she then asked me, as the younger woman stood nervously behind her, how does one suffering from grief overcome it?

All I could think at that time was that I overcome grief by looking inward and hearing other people's stories. I told the older woman as much. It was as close to the truth as I could find in that awkward moment with two strangers standing outside my door.

A bit later,  after I had time to myself. I remembered a few weeks earlier when I was in quite a bit of pain. Life became difficult due to a series of accidents, mine and those around me. I recalled how I dealt with the pain and difficulty by watching these little birds outside my doorway. They gave me joy and relief every time they fluttered towards the feeder in a swarm and happily fed and bathed in the water I set out for them. These little birds...outside my doorway...

Bob Marley's song, Three Little Birds, is about just that -- three little birds that gave him joy as he saw them nearly everyday outside his door. They inspired him so he wrote a song. The song is so meaningful, many people think it is about much more than birds. Maybe it is, in a way. Every time I found myself in pain in those next couple of weeks, I found myself singing that song because "Every little thing is gonna be alright."

What I Didn't Learn In High School PE & Health - Marching Is Great

For several years I've had a bone to pick with the rigidity of the physical fitness classes and health philosophies taught to me while I was in High-School. The reason for this is, I believe, many of our ideas for how to keep in shape are formed during this time, and to build a solid foundation of health and fitness it is imperative that a good solid understanding of how to exercise is learned. The key here is there are many roads to get to that one healthy goal.

At my high school it was required that we take basic health and PE as Freshmen and then continue with supplemental credits to fulfill the rest of the requirements. For PE, that requirement was often satisfied with credit with sports participation or individual study. My issue stems from the exclusion of specific activities as "active" and "beneficial" to a healthy lifestyle. Also, that we were not taught how to evaluate an activity for its healthy benefits such as working muscle groups, intensity, and cardio versus anaerobic. These are things I learned in college and only in relation to weight lifting.

"...it came to our attention students were bowling and golfing for PE credit, and the cheerleaders and dance team were credited for their activities as well. So why weren't the marching band and color guard?"

Something interesting happened my senior year of HS. Many of my classmates were scrambling for PE credit. We were very involved with music and had little time to fit in all the credits we needed because of scheduling conflicts. A few of us began a philosophical discussion in health class, because the teacher in charge of PE was our health teacher. The philosophical discussion became a tangible investigation when it came to our attention students were bowling and golfing for PE credit, and the cheerleaders and dance team were credited for their activities as well. So why weren't the marching band and color guard?

As a small group we started talking with our teacher. We told him about the abdominal breathing. We told him about the playing while marching. In length we went into how much each instrument weighs and how we lift and lower the instruments with force and hold them up high for long periods at a time. Then we went into the marching; the endless controlled marching. He wasn't buying any of it. The teacher claimed we just stood and played and walked. We offered for him to visit practice, maybe sit in on a rehearsal with a tuba around his neck. For some unknown reason he kept denying our hard work and athleticism and wouldn't let us apply for independent study. It was ridiculous.

Fast forward to today. I've marched in 4 marching bands for a total of 8 years. I took weight training in college to help fill the gap of physical education I lost in high school due to my bad luck with teachers, or whatever happened. Even with the knowledge of how to use gym equipment and how to do burpees, I still got stuck in a desk job and relegated myself to walking loops around a parking lot for my exercise. My hips slowly lost their strong marching muscles. Also, I went through a few years with a few life traumas... and that certainly didn't help me.

"It wasn't until recently that I found some exercises that are helping me to strengthen the muscles that were hurt or depleted. Guess what most of that exercise is? Marching in place."

Now, here I am recovering from some stress injuries and, low and behold, it is my hips/knees causing the bulk of the problems. I've been going to a chiropractor for a while now and tried many different exercises to strengthen my core over the last 4 years. It wasn't until recently that I found some exercises that are helping me to strengthen the muscles that were hurt or depleted. Guess what most of that exercise is? Marching in place. Yup! There is a reason soldiers march so much. Not only is it a quick way to walk, but it strengthens your core, yours hips, bones, and all those walking and sit-muscles we should be using but don't because...you know, plopping down is so much easier! Oh, the irony.

 I'm repairing my hips and shoulders (and jaw) from all the trauma I put them through during my bout of stress. And it is helping so much! So, I know it is 15 years too late, but Mr. Health Teacher, marching is GREAT exercise. I've gone down a size in pants and gained muscle back. So, don't judge it until you've tried it or at least researched it a little. Try it! :-)

Street Photography: Construction On Skyline, and a Challenge

Street photography is difficult down in my neighborhood. It's just a nice, lazy suburb, and I don't like to bother my neighbors too much with my lens in their faces. Maybe I'm too nice or too timid, but I tend to stick to photographing nature around my home, because that is what I am comfortable with, and honestly, it's what I see when I look out the window.

Lately we've had an ongoing construction project close by. An entire street is closed to thru traffic for the Summer, and was for a good part of the Spring too. After a while, this project got me thinking more in-depth about urban photography. Street photography doesn't have to be just city dwellers on the street, living the city life, it can be snippets of still life brought about by change in the neighborhood. After all, "Art is not what you see, but what you make other's see," as the French Impressionist Edgar Degas so aptly said.

So here is my challenge to other local (and non-local) photographers. Look for art in the unexpected, and show your unique point of view through your work, whether it is a road construction project, farming or garden work, misplaced shoes, or a speed boat out on the water.... Below are some of my pieces from the construction site.

UPDATE July 4, 2015: for more street photos please visit my Flickr albums, River Front Park and Downtown Salem