Islands

So I heard there was a dead dear on the beach in the cove. I rowed over with my camera and eventually found it, both pieces. I also found three different types of tracks up to it. I'm in search of a legendary beast that lives in the woods out here. There's a native story about it. And folks still sometimes see a creature that doesn't look like any certain specie. Some call it the Vasquach. One of my friends thinks it's a lichenthrope. And I saw something in the same part of the island that this friend did years ago. I was driving home late with my girlfriend in highschool. We came over a hill on a backroad in my 82 Subaru and saw one thing eating another in the middle of the road, blood everywhere. I stopped just after the next hill and wanted to go back and look. No way!

I sold alot of ham at the restraunt on Easter. It's good with pineapple. But why does everyone and everyone's uncle have to eat it on the same day. Tradition you say? Well I'm still suprised that many people on one planet eating ham at the same time doesn't offset the Eart's orbit. It's dangerous.

really enjoying reading the different advenures. This blog thing was a great idea afterall. It's also helpful to articulate something each week.

Posted by Eric Foster at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So the letter I submitted to a local paper a couple weeks ago had almost no responce (in terms of phone calls). Although I'll read the next issue for any written responce. I even used language that related to some recent articles entitled "who is an islander". All mouths closed.
I started to ask around about island legends. People seemed more excited about these relics. I already knew a few tales about Vashon. And from the program, I know that islands inherently create the perfect environment for mythology and old stories.
I remember the local historian. When I was younger, I saw him hiking the back roads, riding a metro or at the ferry dock with his long white beard, pack and walking stick- Marshall Saul. I talked with him a few times, but he passed away last year. Where did all the stories go?
Last year a Vashon heritage museum opened in a remodeled old church. They be open Wednesday from one to three in the afternoon. The museum is a bunch of enlarged, great old photos. But when I explained my search to the elder lady there (nobody else in sight), I was shown a library room in the back. It's a room full of organized daily accounts of everything from "animals" to "Vashon University". A bunch of island UFO sightings in the fifties was the most exciting thing I could find. The lady then came back with a folder of Marshall Sauls papers. I photocopied and photographed some of his accounts like: "The Benign Ghost of Ellisport", "Burton Bye the Sea", "The Demon Skana" and "The House of Many Stories".
I want to post some stills and video. But my computer can't recieve firewire without an upgrade. Is that how ya'll are posting them?

Posted by Eric Foster at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I just commented on one of Will's entries only to find it didn't post at first; email required. I hope the responces I've made posted so far.
I'm finding it easier to catch ecology video rather than social. It's the whole intrusian, candid life and people thing. And I want to interview folks I don't know. So, I'm also doing audio with stills for some interviews. I feel like a tourist in my home town. But, that's a good thing.

Posted by Eric Foster at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The weather's trying to shift gears here on this big, little rock. I can see and hear the storms come across the water from the southwest. A stout, little tug pulls its oversized barge through the whitecaps. Spring pushes the pressure across the Pacific.
I feel like that boat today. Nothing worth doing is easy. And I'm taping these parts of nature. They give honest reference to how people move through the world. Financial Aid may not approve my loan to finish school. But, I've been on the phone and computer trying to figure it out while watching the tug and its load stand still against the current.

Posted by Eric Foster at 06:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I got off the plane a few nights back and stayed with my brother. I can see Vashon from a plane taking off or landing at Sea-Tac. I figured this out one day when I remembered the house I grew up in is directly across the drink from the airport. I planned to go away from the island after the last day of class. Although it had been a while since I'd left, I always appreciate Vashon as home after I've been away from it.
But the video camera I ordered two months back wasn't at my door when I got home! This empty hand gave me some time to think about liminality and the simple, but fundemental stories that happen when you have a chance to stop and look. And this chance because of the island pace is there often.
A popular young man leaves his wallet in a restraunt kitchen when he closes it at midnight. But he thinks nothing of it in the comfort of all his friends and the nice lady that cooks in the morning. The lad doesn't know about the man that cleans the kitchen, before anyone, in the middle of the night. The young cook realizes he knows of the silent, hard to look at man as he asks the other employees about his wallet. He's seen the scarry guy around since he was a kid, but not very often for a small island. With a cold feeling, he confronts the silent man the next morning in the kitchen. They end up . . .
Thank god my camera was at my door a few days after I got home. So, I went to the house of the editor of The Ticket (local paper) today and wrote up a summary of my project including interviews, memoris and a big subject, "islanders": then, now, tomorow. I just barely got it in the next issue. There've been a lot of letters in this paper lately about "who is an islander" and "inclusive communities". Along with my name, phone and addresses I anounced I may be at events or in the always exciting ferry line with a camera and a big hat.

Posted by Eric Foster at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

hey all. I'm out of town until the first of March. I told my geo group about this break and official "arrival" after a little time off the island. Strange, but this should help my perspective since I've been living on the island the last few years.

Posted by Eric Foster at 01:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

$$$$$$$ capitalism is great $$$$$$$$

Posted by Eric Foster at 05:48 PM | Permalink