Skip to main content

FATHER'S DAY

My dad died a long time ago when I was away at college.

Ever since, Father’s Day hasn’t been one of the more outstanding celebratory days. It isn’t because I can’t remember a lot of positive things about my dad, it’s more about a hole that I can’t seem to measure and which never really fills up.

Cancer introduced itself to my dad back in the mid sixties and then proceeded to stalk him for almost two decades before cutting him down at the age of 48.

So anyway, being in a melancholy mood, I thought I’d take a stab at writing a piece that might fit into the inspirational genre.


Knuckle-prints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with Monkey-Cam. Many scenes from our hiking adventures flashed across my memory.


In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was only one.


This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I really could have used a friend, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to Monkey-Cam,


“Monkey-Cam, you promised you’d always be my friend and that we’d be an inseparable team of narrative image photographers. But I have noticed that during our most challenging adventures there has only been one set of footprints. What’s up with that?”


Monkey-Cam replied in his inimitable pantomime gestural language, “Scott, those times when you only see one set of footprints, well, those are the times we rented a camel. Remember?”

“Oh yeah,” I said, “I forgot.”


Oblivion

Gulf


Support



Approaching the river


Hidden moon



Crossing the river


Wonderful night for a moondance



Party balloon

Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 16, 2008 at 3:48 PM

    No postings since June? Come on Scott, you're good and I'm sure plenty has happened and you've taken pictures. This is a big hello from Bernsey's friend Nancyd! :~) Let's hear from ya.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ScottOctober 16, 2008 at 4:29 PM

    Actually, no postings since September. I post a separate page for each entry (which I suppose is kind of counter-intuitive for a blog) so it is likely that you keep returning to the same old page. Check the blog archive - its located right under the top-five slideshow - and access all the entries for July and August as well. Alternatively, shorten the URL in your browser so it says only: http://thenarrativeimage.blogspot.com. That way, you'll always be taken to the most recent page.

    Also, I'm sorry I haven't been able to post anything since September. Sometimes my time isn't my own.

    scott

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Day River: Thirty Mile Creek to Cottonwood Bridge

"Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse;" -Romans 1:20 "I'm not so sure about that, but whether or not we all make it through these rapids alive, I'm confident the grading criteria will be fair." -  Scott "Get ready to explore your world without boundaries." -  Wilderness Systems Owners Manual Sunrise found us on the outskirts of Wasco, high on the Columbia Plateau, our 3 vehicle convoy speeding through golden fields of wheat on toward Condon and then West to a 7:30 AM meeting with a rancher who would provide us a private launch site to the John Day river and also execute our car shuttle.   Startling verdant fields, free of the vestiges of irrigation, belied narratives of drought that punctuated the news. The fresh born morning, still cool to the senses, felt like the fledgling hours of a
4 comments
Read more

Test Paddling the Thresher 140

Wilderness Systems has broadened their sit-on-top offerings this year with the introduction of the Thresher (this includes a 14 and 15.5 foot version). The Thresher seems designed to bridge a gap between overly stable, relatively slow fishing platforms and sleeker more touring-orientated craft, all for the sake of fisher-people who need to cover significant distances to reach their intended fishing locales, whether that's in the middle of a huge bay or out beyond the breakers in the open sea The characteristics that make this boat a good fishing option, should also make it a killer expedition photography platform/beer barge. I knew my test trials wouldn't be complete until I auditioned this state of the art bid for kayak fishing supremacy. The Thresher 140 I've probably been remiss for not highlighting this before, but the reason I've been able to rent and evaluate various sit-on-top kayaks is because of the reasonable and renter friendly policies of the
1 comment
Read more

Miller Island Expedition: Columbia River Ghost Cult

My brother Fred sent me a checklist of things he didn’t want to forget for our second attempt at a Miller Island Expedition. Foil pans Steak Beer or whiskey/tequila Bacon Shovel TP Bug spray Homebrew Ghost repellents Scouting Miller Island from the Lewis and Clark Highway (Washington side of river) “Ghost repellents?” I asked. Well, it turns out that Fred had been doing some research and found an old article from American Anthropologist by Wm. Duncan Strong called The Occurrence and Wider Implications of a “Ghost Cult” on the Columbia River Suggested by Carvings in Wood, Bone and Stone. The article, written in 1945, revealed that bone carvings depicting figures with prominent rib cages, a symbol of death, were found in old cremation pits on Miller’s Island. Excerpts from the article: “It can be shown that among these peoples there was an old belief in the impending destruction and renewal of the world, when the dead would return…” “One of the most striking fea
4 comments
Read more