Friday Thoughts of Mining Gems and Graveyards

 

Friday, July 26, 2024

Today is a day of work but there is a light shining on fun at the end of the tunnel. My daughter Dawn and granddaughter Jess are working on coming to Roseburg today. They would like Terry and I to go with them through Wildlife Safari. If the plan comes to fruition, I will be thrilled to see them again. Terry loves seeing the girls as well. 

I decided to hit the streets early today to see what type of orders I can pick up. Fortunately, the first order came through in the form of coffee, a fruity drink of some type, and two breakfast sandwiches from The Human Bean in Roseburg. Actually, there are two of them located here, but who's counting? 

On my way back, I noticed a beautiful cemetery. Now most people find cemeteries creepy and macabre, but I see them as interesting and filled with historical pieces of life. Life is part of death, for sure, but death is something we also fear. Feeling fear around the dying process and those who have died is a normal thing. We fear what we don't understand. I too fear death in certain ways but like I said, cemeteries are interesting to me.

This cemetery was amazing. I took photos but didn't have time to actually get out and look through the cemetery close up. I would love to go back and do just that. 

Cemetery name? The IOOF Cemetery, owned by the Oddfellows. Why? I haven't got a clue. But it is what it is. It is old and beautiful. There are many who have crossed over and been laid to rest here, but all could fall under the definition of historic. Old enough to be interesting. Who are these amazing people who have passed so long ago? 

There are marks of the years passed since their death, with graying headstones. Chipped, weathered, and covered in many years of grime, the stones still stand strong and proudly display the human beings who have been laid to rest under each marker. 

I found the graves to be scattered, without pattern or form. Older cemeteries tend to do this it seems. There wasn't a clear look into future plans or population growth when this land was used for the intention of burying the dead. But it hosts so much history and beauty in its own way. 

Cemeteries never scare me. I love to read the information listed on each headstone and ponder the life that person must have led. This particular cemetery holds so many born in the 1800s and who left this life in the early 1900s. The next step is research. 

I love to research the names and dates of birth and death to see who this person or that person might have been. In old burial grounds such as this one, many people buried there have connections to the founding of the city or town. Several photos of the deceased man, woman, or child can be located on the internet too, at least in some cases. 

Let's take this stone, for instance. John Easton was 60 years of age upon his death. He was born in Lancashire, England in 1812. 1812 is a long time ago! There has to be some historical info on Mr. Easton, may he rest in peace. 

Easton left this place on September 2 of 1881, making him 60 years old. I looked up the name and place of birth, to find him as one who traveled the Oregon Trail to arrive here. In case you don't know, the Oregon Trail is over 2,000 miles long and extends from Oregon to the Missouri River, or vice versa. Anyway, in stage coaches, these people endured illness and all types of hardships in their travels. 

This trek is long even today, in a nice air conditioned car. I cannot imagine taking the same trip via covered wagon. Amazing life Mr. Easton lived, I am sure. What a difficult life he must have had also. Kudos to making it to the age of 60, Mr. Easton!

Of course it does not end with Mr. Easton. There are many who passed years ago, but once again, I'm sure their lives had difficulties. Each of us endure hard times as well, but at least we have more comfortable lives today in terms of medical advancements and material items.  

I just have the highest respect for people who dealt with the hardships in life back then. We are definitely spoiled now!

Several Easton family members have been put to rest here. Robert Easton was born in 1835 and passed in December of 1930. He was 95 years of age. That's an old age compared to most during that time period. 

Robert lived a long life. He came from Scotland, his birthplace. He landed in Roseburg, Oregon, which of course is his resting place. Robert is the son of John Easton, the man above. Robert also has a brother, Henry, who is buried close by. 

Anyway, not that anyone else cares, but just some of the digging around I did to see these amazing people and to get a small snapshot of their lives. Just a moment in time in the grand scheme of things. The rest of the headstones hold stories like these two men do as well. 

I will return one day to get a closer look at some of the names in this cemetery. Like I said, not being morbid but just paying respect to the wonderful souls that passed before us. The people who worked to make our lives better today. Rest well among the angels, dear ancestors. 

I would love to get closer to this plot of land to see the names among this gravesite. I do love the rusted fencing around the site. Things look a bit toppled inside the fence and I couldn't see much more from my car. This is why I want to return, although next time I wish to walk through the area.  

Here is yet another one I wish to see up close. 

One famous man lies within the gates of IOOF Cemetery. Frank Williamson Benson, born in San Jose California in 1858 and died in Redlands, San Bernadino County California in 1911. He was 52 years of age and buried in Roseburg, Oregon in the IOOF Cemetery. 

Now, what's so great about Mr. Benson? According to the cemetery website, Mr. Benson moved to Oregon as a young boy. He completed his education at the College of the Pacific, receiving his Bachelor's and Master's degree from the institution. 

Benson began his career as a teacher and school administrator. He was elected Superintendent of the Douglas County Schools in 1882. Later Mr. Benson became President of the Drain Normal School. 

In 1892, Benson was elected as the Clerk of Douglas County and was reelected in 1896. 

While serving as the county clerk, Benson was admitted to the State Bar. He opened a private law practice in 1898. In 1906, he was elected as the Oregon Secretary of State. In 1909, Governor George Chamberlain resigned from office, moving to his new post as a US senator. Frank Benson took his place as governor of Oregon on March 1, 1909 and served in that capacity until June 17, 1910. Another interesting life. 

***

Later in the afternoon, I received a text from Jess stating she and Dawn were on their way. I cut my work day short, or at least stopped work for now, hoping to get some more deliveries later. Rushing home, I found another text saying they would meet us at the park instead of coming by here. Off we went. 

Terry and I arrived at Wildlife Safari in about 10 minutes time. We only live approximately eight miles away. Jess and Dawn were sitting in the car, waiting. Zyrah jumped out immediately to see both of us. 

We began the walk to the village. Arriving at the gate, Zyrah saw the bear statues out front and lost her little mind. She was bouncing up and down, yelling, "Bears!" Z turned to face Terry and I, ran back, grabbed Terry's hand and said, "Animals!" I guess we were off to see the animals, like it or not. The child loves animals. I wonder where she gets that from?

I love looking at the beautiful cheetahs when we first walk into the village at the Wildlife Safari Park. These babies are still only a little over a year old. Lazing around when we looked in, Zyrah said something to him or her. The front leg was crossed over the other, a big yawn given, and the eyes looked elsewhere. Not exactly worried about us being there. 

Love the leg crossing. A cat with attitude. This is one of the cubs that are becoming the ambassadors for Wildlife Safari. The ambassadors travel around to gain interest in the park and animals in general. 

We took the regular walk through the village and saw the animals that were out showing themselves in all their grandness. Although the owl didn't look like he wanted to tell us how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop. 

Even the turtle crawled close to me at the window as if to say, "Look at me! I'm as pretty as the owl!" The scratches on the glass make it somewhat difficult to get a clear, up close photo. 

Caught this tamarin mid-lick. Maybe he could tell us how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop since licks seem to be his thing.

The miniature horse in the Barnyard was looking quite hot. He even had a face protector on due to all the flies. His mane was beautifully styled with braids to make him even cuter than he already is.  

My favorite bearded goat dude. 

Jess wanted to give Zyrah a treat by letting her mine for gems. It was cute. 

Zyrah watched and listened as the mining process was shown to her as it was explained. 

After Zyrah mined a bit, she wanted to play on the playground. I sat at a nearby picnic table to see if I could give my foot a bit of a rest. All this walking plus the work delivering items earlier, my foot was done. I still wanted to work after Dawn and Jess took off as well. Any opportunity to rest the ankle was a bonus. Terry had left for a bit to find a restroom. That's always an important thing to locate!

While I sat at the table, I noticed two uncaged creatures flittering around the base of the tables. Two sparrows, one male and one female were scrounging for any crumbs they could find. 

Male sparrows have more color to their feathers, where females are a little more bland and without the autumn hues the males carry. 

Watching the two peck at chairs and the cement made me giggle. They seemed to have found nothing. Someone walked past the tables, frightening the pair of tiny birds. They both took flight to get away from any danger.  

Jess took Zyrah into the restaurant to get her an ice cream cone. She was excited. Z is adorable in my opinion. She has really blossomed into a beautiful, inquisitive, intelligent little girl. I love this child so much. Terry and I are both fans of the Z. 

We began our walk to the other side of the park. There were flamingos, maned wolves, cougars, and various other creatures to view, if they were within sight. The alligators might be out again and the lion view is always fun. Zyrah just couldn't wait for us slower adults. Too much adulting when there were animals to see!

There were a couple of camels saddled up and ready to ride. Beyond the camels were the maned wolf run, although there weren't any in the area at the time. A sign said they were under veterinary care. I do hope they are okay. Typically they have two of them in the area, so it was sad to hear they weren't feeling well. 

Beyond that, we ran into the lemur pond. Lemurs have a house with playground and then the pond houses koi and ducks. Zyrah found the fish immediately. 

She began talking to them while a man and his son were sitting next to her. Zyrah was handed some food by the male visitor, to feed the fish. She was having a blast. She made some new friends in the aquatic creatures. 

A duck appeared on the scene to wipe out any food he could grasp before the hungry koi grabbed it. He wasn't having much luck.  

Terry took this shot of Zyrah as she was chatting with her new friends. She really loved this time spent with fish. 

The fish were beginning to scatter, tired of her chatter. Yes, I'm a poet and don't know it. Look out, Terry. You now have competition. 😏😉

They were fed up with not being fed any longer. They had better things planned for their day than to sit around with humans who don't share food. Even the lemurs sat in their house looking at us as though we were boring and odd. I guess we just might be to them. 

Ignoring the humans at the pond is a good way of dealing with all the drama and commotion. I think they feel we are just too much. Can't say as I blame them. Zyrah was asked if she wanted to see more animals and of course, the answer was yes! Off we went to the alligators, red pandas, and of course, one of my favorites, the flamingo area. 

Of course we stopped and saw the alligator and the red pandas, but since the last post focused on those two, I took photos of the beautiful Chilean flamingos, one of my favorite babies here at the park. 

I had been wanting to try out my new camera on the S24 Ultra I got a day or so ago. Terry had been taking some photos, such as the ones of Zyrah chatting with the fish. I thought I would give it a whirl too. I'm loving the details it picks up. 

I've always noticed the difference in pictures between the ones taken by Terry's camera and my old phone camera. The comparison is well ... there actually is no comparison. My camera was taking decent photos. Great for the time the phone came out, but this camera is amazing. Terry's camera is also amazing. The camera companies have a lot to be concerned about, that's for sure. The phones have taken over. 

Back to the flamingos. This guy looked very odd, with his head twisted around. He kept it buried in his feathers while standing on one foot too. Quite the feat. What a way to sleep!

These three preened themselves while standing in the cool water. Such gorgeous birds!

I love the matching flowers they put inside the flamingo pen. The darker salmon pink color is gorgeous up against the flamingo's coloring. Beautiful match. 

We left the village and went to the cars. The idea of driving around the park was there, but my daughter Dawn had her pup with her. Bella the dog is an old lady and would not handle being without Dawn in a kennel they provide in the park. Dogs are definitely not allowed in the drive-thru or the village, so Dawn spent the time being there having to sit in the car to keep AC running for Bella. 

Dawn told me she had forgotten they don't allow dogs in the park, but she stated she would be back down here to drive through with us at some point. She would leave Bella at home. 

The entire time we were inside the village, we were so worried and saddened by Dawn sitting in the car. I hated that. Next time we will leave Bella at my house if we have to and go on safari without dogs in the car. It's a must. I missed Dawn. Knowing she was there but not with us was just odd.

***

At home I chose to go out to deliver once again before it got too late in the night. My first delivery was to McMenamin's Restaurant in town. I've been there several times, collecting food to deliver to someone around town and each time visiting found the eatery to be unique and fun. The ones in Eugene and Springfield are also themed with different styles, making them cool places to go too. 

Relaxing and different, that's for sure. Very nice staff. I have eaten at the restaurant chain before in Eugene, but never here. It was good food. 

Definitely a popular spot, that's for sure. 

***

After Dawn and Jess left, Terry and I went into Arby's to eat something and then head home. In the eatery, Terry informed me he wasn't feeling well. His neck was weak, as though it wouldn't hold his head up. He could hold it up of course, but that was the feeling around it. His vision was off as well. The entire thing was scaring me a bit. I wanted to take him home or take him in to see what was happening. 

After eating, we did drive home. He relaxed and it seemed to slowly get better. We were thinking it may have been a migraine of sorts called an ocular migraine. This can effect the eyes, but typically one eye. It is from restricted blood flow or blood vessel spasms. Whatever it is, if this is what Terry is suffering from (only twice in his life), it can go away now and leave sweet man alone. 

After some discussion, we chose not to attend the concert in Portland for Saturday. We were supposed to see Billy Idol in concert. Tickets were paid for and we were excited to go, but we also found out that lawn chairs were not allowed. This meant we would drive for three and a half hours to the park, then have to stand for about 10 hours or so, then turn around and drive back home around 10:00 or somewhere around there. Neither of us felt as though we could handle standing for that long, especially after driving that distance. 

So, we have canceled the concert, even though we had to eat the money for tickets. I didn't care at that point. Terry wasn't feeling well and my foot was killing me. I couldn't see either of us enduring that time of being upright for that long, plus driving again. What that means is we won't have the Billy Idol videos and photos of the concert we had discussed before. Sorry about that. 

We watched some of our show, Medium last night and called it a day. Terry was feeling a bit better as each hour passed. My foot was killing me, so as he went out to smoke a cigar and relax, I headed for bed. I couldn't do any more Friday. 

Until our next post, take care! Blessings are all around us, so keep an eye out. Be grateful and thankful for all you have and are. Stay well and thank you for reading the blog.