Photo left: property listed on wallowalakeproperty.com
The Blog Railing Tour Continues...
Or begins?
Many of you know I have this dream of doing a Blog Railing Tour full time. Ride the train system as far and wide as possible in the U.S. and Canada to start. Go around meeting up with my favorite blog artist, meet in person, have a cuppa, make some art.
Back in April, I unofficially started the Blog Railing Tour by doing Part 1, an art night with Courtney, but it was "unofficial" because it didn't really involve any rail train trip :) BUT this week, we're on our second stop of the Blog Railing Tour -- the official start because it actually involved riding a train this time! So here is the beginning of Part 2 of the Blog Railing Tour:
July 2008: This time we are actually getting to ride the train! Now understand, I've been on subway trains and trolley cars in various U.S. Cities. But I had never been on a train. Not a real train trip. But our friends the Mathias Family had moved from our island out to a new piece of farm land in Wallowa, OR, and we all missed each other very much.
Of course when they lived here on our island, we were all about connecting in-person as healing artists. We didn't connect as artist bloggers till after they moved, and Lisa asked me to help her set up her new blog (coming soon -- look for announcement here!). More than that, she wanted to know if I'd like to barter – giving her tech/art help in exchange for travel down to Wallowa. Well, hmmm, let me think about that? YES!!! So at OhMyGawdO'clock on Thursday, Hawk and I boarded the ferry, this time headed for our second Blog Railing Tour stop – and our first train trip together!
What a completely different way to travel. I cannot say enough about the train experience. No crowds, no one nervous or stressed, no mean Homeland Security and their racial profiling of every brown skinned person. Instead, we had a leisurely arrival, a friendly greeting at the ticket desk, no waiting. And we had time in the amazing Seattle Train Station. They are only part way done with the restoration, but the splendor of the hand placed tiles, the glittery mosaics on the walls, the reveal of the 45 foot ceiling (still in process), and being able to see all the old photos of what it used to look like/will look like again soon.
If you have the time, I highly recommend a stop in this station. Stop and look at the tile on the floor. It may not be the most artist thing you've ever seen, but really look at it!! You will notice that the little tile pieces are not entirely straight. Why? They were not machine cut. Someone, an artisan I imagine, hand cut every single one of those pieces, and then one by one, each piece was put into the floor. It is stunning to think about that. Who was that artisan? Was it a team? A lead and apprentices? Did they all work on the floor at the same time? Working from the center of the room out? Or from edges inward? That kind of record is probably lost to us now, but what a feast to sit and imagine.
We also had lots of time at this train travel pace to discuss the golden aging we might do about what it was like “back then.” While it would be interesting to learn from and improve and recreate working systems for sustainable travel and sanity to the traveler, we also realized that if it were “back then,” we could not do this trip. Or at least not together. Because of segregation and racism, we would not have been allowed the same car, we would have been forbidden from sharing the experience. Legally and back by the full brutish force of law enforcement and the justice system, we would have had our experience regulated, prohibited, judged. I am grateful beyond belief that the consciousness of humanity has come as far as it has. Grateful that we are able to feel quite at ease traveling together, sharing meals, enjoying the view and rolling pace of the train.
It is a stunning ride along the water ways of Puget Sound and the Columbia River. We've been in cars or bus or even flown over these areas. But there is nothing like peek you get when taking the train from Seattle to Portland and then Portland to Pasco. You are literally right on the water, watching rivers of current shifting constantly within the larger bodies of water, flocks of white pelican and numerous other birds, sweeping landscape of river and mountain, osprey flying along right next to you with dinner in his talons. This just isn't a perspective you get from the roads or air space.
We also witnessed the unfolding of human life along these waters. Wind and kite surfers doing stunts you can't believe. Gentrification or exclusivity that seem unsustainable at best. McMansions, condos, vacation homes all along the waterfront side of the tracks. And of course on the literal and proverbial other side of the tracks, poverty. Houses that seem like they cannot possibly be housing. But having been homeless myself at one time, seeing the look in the eyes of people who are trying to hold onto whatever they have to create some sense of shelter for their families. And maybe the middle ground being the working farmer, irrigation, farm house, orchard, some working sustainable practices, some not.
I think one of the most beautiful sights for me was to see the hills crested with those streamlined, pristine wind mills. Harvesting the power of the river gorge winds. Wondering how much power they are generating, how off the grid can people get, seeing a clean possibility already working right in front of me. Wondering when peace and life will be more valuable than money, power, and being able to measure wattage to keep feeding the corporation. I felt that peace was tangible in the harvesting those winds. But the hope came and went with the rise and fall of the breeze, too.
Pulling into Pasco and connecting with friends, sharing hugs and excitement for seeing each other again extends the feeling of peace. The line of friendship runs deep, maybe over lifetimes if you believe in that sort of thing. And we launch immediately into discussion of the world, our lives, our plans as we road trip along on the way to Wallowa. And then we stop to grab a bite to eat and discover in the culture of small towns on the road, that maybe the consciousness of humanity has been stumped in a few places...
more to come soon....
