Ghost Town

It’s Friday. I intend not to approach any serious subject...  Going through my photos, I found some shots that I took at Shaniko, Oregon last year.  Shaniko is listed as a ghost town. When I first heard of ghost town, I thought the town was haunted, but it has nothing to do with ghost at all.  Ghost town only means an abandoned town or village. The town is abandoned primarily because lack of economy activities which support the lifeline of the place.  Or, due to natural disaster and the damage, which is so severe that it is cheaper to abandon than to rebuild. 

In Gold Rush days, many small towns like this one was discovered, developed and abandoned after gold mining activity ceased. Among all, Shaniko still has some residents and a few businesses are still open between spring-fall for tourists. Without coming to Shaniko, I had no clue what a ghost town and a then gold mining town) looks alike. When our car rolled into the town, Shaniko Hotel was probably the first construction caught our eyes. A brick building with white molding trims and white balcony railings has obviously been restored. Looking into the window, I did not see anyone waiting on the reception desk, no car was parking outside as well.  A cafe was adjacent to the hotel, but nobody inside either.

We thought to ask a local someone to get some direction how to tour the town, but there was nobody walking down the street.  We decided to park our car across the street from the Hotel and began to stroll down the streets on our own.  Easy enough, there were only two main roads that lead us to almost all the buildings and constructions in town.

Original Museum with a century old organ outside

It was a warm sunny day. We desired something cold and we went in one of the very few stores for ice cream. One lady was serving at the counter while the other sitting on the corner of one table sizing us up. She saw our cameras and asked us what we like to take pictures of. We said, anything, particularly old stuff.  “Follow me”, she said and led us to a warehouse-like building about one block away. 

I saw “Shaniko Museum” sign above the door frame. She rolled up the door and there were about a dozen of antique cars and half dozen of stage wagons! I have seen friend’s fancy refurbished antique cars, but not the true original antique cars. I saw stage wagons in the movies, but not just inches away. It was an eye-opening for me. As it turns out, this lady is the leader of the Chamber of Commerce. She cruised around town and she had her eyes on tourists. She mentioned that some businessman was financing the town, not much any more and they are doing their best to maintain the place in hoping for someone to make investment and revitalize the town.

Shaniko Museum warehouse

When the hope floats, wait on it and not to give in easily.  This is a typical American pioneer spirit that I admire.  Oregon itself is not a tourist destination not mentioning this small ghost town.  I do wish whoever comes to eastern Oregon drop by, get an ice cream and buy a mug for souvenir.  And, a investor will show up one of these days.

I have been waiting to post these pictures and telling people about these independent and courageous souls. It is not only for photography, it is just as interesting to observe the remaining buildings in town and know what they are. From there, we know what are the essential facilities and activities required to sustain a gold mining town. A wagon yard, a bank, a general store, a wedding chapel, a jail, a salon, a museum and a blacksmith where metal parts and tools were produced.

Mercantile (General Store)

Blacksmith 

Bank with trading table outside

Wedding Chapel

A place like Shaniko provides me visual to easily understand part of American history, and how a small community struggles to stand on their own. I left the town with adoration and emotion.... 

I am also glad that I have solved another mystery from my list: There is no ghost at ghost town.

More Mystery Unfolded

I belong to baby boomer’s generation. When I was going to school, only elementary school is mandatory. We had to go through entrance examinations in order to be accepted to middle school, high school and college. As I can remember, we studied hard at middle school in order that we can hang on to a good high school. Once we entered high school, homework and extra study take possession of our life. We study, study and study, day and night, from early dawn to midnight. Our common goal is to get into a reputable university and that will set the path of our future career. Once you have a good career then your life is half made. This was the mainstream culture. 

Unlike high school, college education is more directional and more specific. I was a literature student and have not paid attention to science. My knowledge and common sense in botany are intimately related to what I learned in high school, and what I can remember now. I believe that I have studied everything about flowers in biology class, but I was a city girl and I have witnessed little what I learned in school. Going through so many examinations, I had all things stored in my brain and they gradually vanished throughout the years.

Now I am living in the enchanting green acre land, I so fall in love with nature and the continuous discovery has drawn me back to study botany. Last week I discovered stigma and stamen and this week I have been looking for them in all flowers that I encountered. However, some of them just do not have the mystery center that I was going after. I was growing more curious. It bugged me when my question is not answered. So I researched online and found out something interesting and I am compelled to share with you. But I am only touching the surface. I don’t intend to go in deep with  biology. I want to focus the purpose of my blog, photography.

There are so-called Perfect Flowers and Imperfect Flowers… As stated last week, stigma is the female organ of flowers. Stigma actually means only the tip end of the whole carpel which contains Stigma, Style (the slender string-like portion) and Ovary (at the base of carpel) where eggs are stored. Stamen is the part which produces pollen. Stamen is composed of two parts, a filament and anther.  Anther is the sac located at the tip end of the filament and filament is the stalk that connects to the anther and support the anther. Pollen is what attracts insects (see where the bug bites below). When the pollen is released, it falls to the area above the ovary and a new life is created.

I am showing a few images below to distinguish Perfect Flowers from Imperfect Flowers. The first group of flowers are prefect flowers while the second group of flowers are imperfect flowers.

Stigma and stamen combined is to provide plants reproductive function. Perfect flower is the flower with both in it. The flower can complete its own pollination and production process for new growth. Imperfect flower is the flower has only either stigma or stamen, and it relies on insects or wind to transport pollen from other flowers and helps the imperfect flower to perform its reproduction. 

I don’t remember if I ever learned this in school, but it is certainly intriquing. I am happy that I am catching up what I have not known or simply don’t remember. 

Group A Perfect Flowers,

Group B are imperfect flowers. I don’t know if they have only stigma or stamen, but they apparently have only one of the two. I have hard time to call this stunning red flower imperfect. Maybe that's why I am not so good at biology....

Friday Inspirations by Flowers

Tulip season is over. Iris is now blooming. Schriner Iris Garden (Salem, Oregon) is probably the best place to go for great varieties of Iris. The garden is set up in one location with rows and rows of stunning Iris as main attraction which are surrounded by many other beautiful flowers (poppies, peonies, rhododendron etc.), bushes and trees.  In addition, there are colorful benches, picnic tables and garden decos.  The garden is landscaped and yet remains a natural appearance with a bevy of colors.  Just being there, I feel relaxed.

It was supposed to be a sunny day, but cloud intervened occasionally. I was happy that sun was not too aggressive while I was rushing on freeway for my hour and half drive. It was about 9:30am when I got there and the sun did not rise high till about 11:30am.  I had two good hours to stroll through the beautiful garden and satisfy my desire to shoot. 

There must be hundred different kinds of Iris in the garden.  The distinguished beauty and coloration make me speechless.  I stopped every step of my way working through the rows. I was continuously surprised by one beauty after the other. The flower itself is just like a beautiful dress with colors and ruffles. I bet they are great inspiration for apparel designers.

However, I came here for photography and I found Iris is not necessary the ideal flower for what I like to do, close-ups. The flower is big and not a lot of details in the center.  Entertainment for me is to peek through the stigma and discover the Great Creation. But Iris is more for outlook than insight. I believe that there was a reason that they were created this way. Rhododendron is kind of falling into this category. They look stunning at first glance, but no hidden mystery. And, I am looking for mystery. A Northwest resident, me, I found it very interesting that deer do not eat Iris, Rhododendron, Peonies, the dramatic stunners. Not only creative, our God has this sense of humor that just blew me away.

Two hours went away fast. I intended to hang out more, but Sun was screaming and cast shadows (not the kind of shadows I like) and I finally gave in. (The center image was taken under bright sunlight.)

You know that I am addicted to texture and so I played a little bit again today. Peony is another gorgeous looking flower, but I found its back with fine droplets as appealing. This dogwood flower was embracing the sun. I did not want to disturb it and I took a shoot from its back. Snap dragon may not be special so I decided to turn it horizontal for a different look.

Peony (Breath), Dogwood (Calm), Snap Dragon (Thrive)

It is a Friday, and a long weekend ahead. I feel blessed that we have got lots of sunshine since spring and this week, enough rain to quench the thirst of our flowers.  Fresh morning dew prompts me for a deep Breath. My mind is Calm and peaceful. Confidence to Thrive in my doings is soaring....

A little Bit About Family

I am the last one of a family of seven children. My parents are ordinary people, but their vision to invest their children’s education has impacted our lives dramatically.

For a long time, I always thought that I grew up in a poor and hard-working family.  Now I live in this diversity country for three decades, I then realized what poverty really is. If we have daily bread on the table and our parents manage to satisfy what we need (not always what we want), theoretically we are not poor. Particularly with so many kids to be educated, I think my parents have done an extraordinary job.

In December 2011, I made a trip back to California to visit my siblings. A conversation about making our family history photo book to honor our parents came up. While I was there, I immediately began to select and photograph old photos from my sibling’s albums. However, we seven kids live in three different countries and we are all grand parents now. It is a major undertaking to gather pictures and data from my siblings and their children (and grandchildren), edited and resized, added captions or descriptions, placed pictures on pages in chronological order per each individual, wrote stories for each family or individual from childhood to the present and traced our family origin.

First I built the outline of the book, placed photos on the pages, and started to write stories. I ‘interviewed’ my siblings through emails, phones and skype calls. To me, writing stories is the most fulfilling part of the work. I started out as a photographer and photo editor, and then, I was a journalist and later a historian.  This is absolutely a life-changing experience for me to dictate and compile a visual history that I have not known much. Listening to my older sibling’s stories is just like going back to our childhood all over again. Foremost, we all realized how much we have ‘inherited’ from our parents that we were not aware, and how poignantly we miss our parents now.

After one year and 3 month of routinely endless efforts, I finally sent the book out to be printed in March 2013. Anything that I can get my hands on is pictured and written in this 160 pages book which is illustrated in both English and Chinese characters. If not for page limitations, I could easily double the size. Every member of our extended families (four generations) can now or later (for the 4^th generation) go through the pages and get to know one another’s entire life to date. How cool is that!

My family history book
(texture added to age the look)

As far as I have lived my life, there was not a moment when I am not pondering and rationalizing what I can do better and do differently if I could be young again. And, from this point on, how I can live a life that I won’t have regret when I eventually back to dust.  Although I have made numerous photo books to record our family events, vacations, grand children’s birth and growth as well as family yearbooks.  This family history book is definitely the most meaningful and substantial work.

Etc. photo books

So, what’s next to my agenda in addition to my regular photography activities?

Our younger generation is doing a much better job keeping track of their life activities. Digital photography has also made it easier. One thing the young parents do not have is Time.  They are either advancing their career or dedicated to raise our grand children. I think it is a good job for grand parents to be the photographer and record keeper. A photo says thousand words.  It is so much easier to snap a shot than try to describe how precious and innocent our grand children’s facial expressions are, isn’t it?  Record keeping for a family is essential. We might as well start from now, and in an organized manner. In that case, our children won’t need a 15 month time to finish a family history and you can have a yearbook every year.

My younger daughter lives in Seattle area now.  Not too far, but it is not a trip that I can or want to take as often.  Whenever I am there, I am looking for portrait opportunities....

 

Big Bro
backlight, black and white image with texture added

Little Sis

The Good-Look Quartet

Discovery Friday

I love to take close-up flower pictures. When I go to nursery to purchase flower plants, I chose the ones with attractive details, or the ones I think would make a good image. Unfortunately I don’t have a green thumb and my plan does not always work out. Plus, the bugger squirrels have been trespassing.

Among all things growing in my yard, rhododendrons are the one grow year after year as long as they are fertilized. They are everywhere in Oregon that not many people here think they are special. Their flowers are beautiful, but it is hard to get clean and crisp shots from them because the large blossoms (combination of small flowers) are too big for close-ups. The small flowers do not have intricate and mysterious center, not interesting enough, that’s what I thought earlier.  I have at least 8 rhododendron bushes, but I have never thought about to photograph them.

Today I suddenly had a thought. I should give myself a challenge to shoot anyway regardless I like it or not.  I should look at them from different angles and see what I can get out of it. Creative process is an experimental process. Just give it a try, who knows what will happen.

It is a mostly-cloudy day. Sun came up every once a while and stay for a very short time. Immediately when I set up my tripod, it went away.  Then, it started to rain. I didn’t want my camera to get wet, so I packed up and went inside the house.  Not long when I came back to my computer, I saw bright sunlight.  A whole day of playing hide-n-seek with Sun, I got a few shots. I wish they are better, but I am content. I have stepped out to take their pictures for my new experiment. And, look what I found? The distinguished stigma (fuchsia color, on the very left). The white color heads are stamen.

stigma (fuchsia color), stamen (white)

I cannot believe that I have been photographing flower stigma, but I have never known that stigma and stamen are co-existing in the flower and they look different. If I did not give myself this task to shoot rhododendron today, I would never disclose this mystery to myself.

This discovery really get me interested to look at the center of the peony shots I just took last week. The images explain clearly which is stigma and which is stamen.  Female appears to be more distinctive than male in flower world.

stigma (onion like), stamen (yellow)

stigma (pink, in the center), stamen (yellow)

PS. All these flowers have stunning colors. I have added textures to tone them down. Peony is admired
as "Flowers of Richness"( 富貴花) in my original culture.