Maybe it's the glimpse of January sunshine inviting me to daydream both ahead and back to moments of wilderness glory. Or, perhaps it’s the claustrophobia of being sandwiched during the pandemic, between telework and caring for a mostly bed-bound loved one. I peer outside to catch the summit of Mount Hood to the east, and … Continue reading The mountains beckon
Oregon Territory
About those ferries
Canby Ferry, October 27, 2019. Our dad loved ferries. We grew up ferrying across the Willamette River on the Canby Ferry, and back when I was little, we crossed the mouth of the Columbia by ferry between Astoria, Oregon, and Megler, Washington enroute to the Long Beach Peninsula. Rivers fill me, through and through. The … Continue reading About those ferries
Before the Oregon Trail
Memaloose, Island of the Dead, from the Memaloose rest stop on Interstate-84. Each June for the past decade I've driven the Columbia Gorge Highway, from Portland to Eastern Oregon, to attend a conference for my "day job." (You know, the one that pays for most everything in my life.) The first few years I continued … Continue reading Before the Oregon Trail
Find my friend: then and now
Imagine it to be 1842 in Oregon Country - your spouse hasn't arrived home by nightfall, although expected to return by horseback to Oregon City after a week away in Astoria. As worried as you may be, a logical choice might be....
Creating portraits from the past
Chloe Aurelia Clarke Willson & William Holden Willson I have precisely one photo each of my great-great-great grandparents, Chloe and William. I don't know the dates the photos were taken, although both pose as older adults. And, despite not knowing what they looked like as babies, children, or as younger "newlyweds," I feel fortunate to … Continue reading Creating portraits from the past
Power of story at Willamette Falls
I am excited to share the video produced by the Willamette Falls Legacy Story Telling Project about our family history and “My Music Man.” Kudos to the beautiful work of Ian Probasco and Shelly Parini. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdri5L9pi4M&t=42s Learn more about My Music Man, upcoming readings, and the Willamette Falls Legacy Project .
Returning to place
Does place pass through us, from those who came before? I suspect it must. Yesterday was my 30th wedding anniversary. I spent the morning with energetic, bright, curious kids - none I had met before - and the afternoon and evening alone. And although I love my spouse and was disappointed that he couldn't join … Continue reading Returning to place
Four feet of greatness
For Chloe Clarke – George Gill Montgomery’s grandmother; my great-great-great grandmother; Emily’s great-great-great-great grandmother – music provided a simple but serious pleasure on her arduous journey aboard the Lausanne. At twenty-one years old, Chloe left her hometown of East Windsor, Connecticut to join the Jason Lee missionary expedition of 1839; sailing around the horn of … Continue reading Four feet of greatness
