tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60081552913778467182024-03-08T06:32:57.318-05:00The Reversed View of MassachusettsA familiar view could be reversedShuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-15490035809538593292013-09-18T15:46:00.000-04:002013-09-18T15:46:18.501-04:00Onomichi Townscape<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YdzJrYPL7rY/UiKulhVRYAI/AAAAAAAAIFQ/JOgUEchMPrk/s1600/DSC_2436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YdzJrYPL7rY/UiKulhVRYAI/AAAAAAAAIFQ/JOgUEchMPrk/s650/DSC_2436.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hI-nSoGza90/UiJ6MrRsg3I/AAAAAAAAIB4/912YKeG8AxY/s1600/DSC_2256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hI-nSoGza90/UiJ6MrRsg3I/AAAAAAAAIB4/912YKeG8AxY/s650/DSC_2256.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Bye Onomichi for a while. Bye bye to the kitschy mock samurai castle. See you next time.<br />
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Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-20301003217204395972013-09-07T10:35:00.000-04:002013-09-08T11:19:42.827-04:00Abandoned in Onomichi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0_-kneyqIZU/UiJ6PfD9xhI/AAAAAAAAICo/XEkAQn7LIkk/s1600/DSC_2757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0_-kneyqIZU/UiJ6PfD9xhI/AAAAAAAAICo/XEkAQn7LIkk/s650/DSC_2757.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
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<i>Seika Ryo</i> (Holy Flower Dormitory): an abandoned dormitory for nurses</div>
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Onomichi is a small seaside town in southeast Hiroshima. Yasujiro Ozu shoot ending scenes of <i>Tokyo Story</i>
in Onomichi. I want to introduce this fascinating, quaint town with a
web of narrow, steep, winding paths to you. I've been this town
countless times, and each time I find new aspects that I didn't see from
the previous visit.<br />
<br />
This is the 4th of Onomichi series.* I've been explaining how charming Onomichi is, but today I'll tackle some of the challenges modern Onomichi is facing. <br />
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Onomichi does have lots of abandoned houses. Like any other mid to small
sized towns in Japan, the increasing senior population is a big
challenge of the town.The hilly residential landscape is very charming
for visitors but for the aging population, the terrain could be a huge
barrier to conduct their everyday life.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*For the past series, see: <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-landscape-of-yasuziro-ozu-onomichi.html" target="_blank">The Landscape of Yasujiro Ozu</a>, <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/09/onomichi-landscape-local-beliefs.html" target="_blank">Onomichi Landscape: Local Belifes</a>, and <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/09/onomichi-landscape-commercial-space.html" target="_blank">Onomichi Landscape: Commercial Space</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dRpHIgylbqc/UiJ6NOujTLI/AAAAAAAAIDo/iSq6xFO6uDE/s1600/DSC_2270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dRpHIgylbqc/UiJ6NOujTLI/AAAAAAAAIDo/iSq6xFO6uDE/s650/DSC_2270.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Vending machine, Mukaishima Island</div>
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<a name='more'></a>I've seen two male care takers
holding the sides of an old lady to climb up the stairs. She was showing
an appreciation to the young guys' hard work, but it also means even
getting out from her house, she has to be always thankful to others. By experience, I know a nice Japanese person like her doesn't want others be "bothered" by her "demand," so she stays quiet suppressing what she really wants to do. <br />
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The hilly terrain with narrow, winding roads is what makes Onomichi special, but what do residnts do if a fire breaks out? How can a fire engine get into the neighborhood? A bucket relay must have been a traditional method to cease fire. <br />
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I'm mentioning a fire because I've met an old gentleman who was willing to share his childhood memory to me, explaining how Onomichi was decimated by a series of air laid during World War II. Coming from the City of Hiroshima, his word made me realize how I had been ignorant with the fact that other cities in Hiroshima also experienced bombings.<br />
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How can people with limited mobility escape if a tsunami hits the town? Luckily, Hiroshima's inland ocean is very, very placid, but the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami" target="_blank">earthquake in 2011</a> reminded us how coastal cities in Japan were vulnerable to a natural disaster.<br />
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There are some good news. Young artists and entrepreneurs are moving to abandoned houses, renovating them for their own ateliers, bakeries, B&Bs, or cafes. No matter how difficult it is, Onomichi has been an inspiring place for people with independent spirit.<br />
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Ok, enough serious talks. Let's go for some werid stuff: <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sns2PB-nMAY/UiK3dNOcSFI/AAAAAAAAIGk/zIzDLnVwOsA/s1600/DSC_2708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sns2PB-nMAY/UiK3dNOcSFI/AAAAAAAAIGk/zIzDLnVwOsA/s650/DSC_2708.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Monkey Sedan Chair </div>
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Yes, it's an abandoned amusement ride. Two monkeys carrying a sedan chair. A kid could sit on the chair. It's fun, I think.<br />
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I know, it's totally weird. You know what, I just realized you might not notice those brown creatures are a stylized form of Japanese macaques! It's much weirder if you know the ride is modeled from a post war children's song about monkeys and a sedan chair. Please don't ask me why monkeys have to work as sedan chair carriers...You know, it looks <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kawaii" target="_blank"><i>kawaii</i></a>.<br />
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<img alt="File:Felice Beato Palanquin.jpg" height="253" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Felice_Beato_Palanquin.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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Japanese sedan chair called <i>Kago</i>: from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kago" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uTNItcU3YGI" width="420"></iframe>
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<span style="color: red;">Alert: the melody may stick to your head like the scorch on a skillet </span></div>
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Here we are, I got the song for ya. I'm 100% sure this melody was played
as soon as a kid put some 10 yen (roughly 10 cents) coins into the money
box. Gotta sit down on the chair. Be careful, the ride may be bumpy.
Enjoy the ride, children.<br />
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Onomichi is full of fun, isn't it?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L3Z8J6t9jMs/UiJ6O4i6I0I/AAAAAAAAICg/aNwnjVjsu6Y/s1600/DSC_2532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L3Z8J6t9jMs/UiJ6O4i6I0I/AAAAAAAAICg/aNwnjVjsu6Y/s650/DSC_2532.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Beyond repair</div>
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Do I sound sarcastic? Too much nostalgia equals the sense of ennui, that's why. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GqQYw3bbO4I/UiqmPOXkFCI/AAAAAAAAIII/3QfiykdbmjY/s1600/DSC_2701-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GqQYw3bbO4I/UiqmPOXkFCI/AAAAAAAAIII/3QfiykdbmjY/s700/DSC_2701-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Does the monkey fellow look mad at me????</div>
Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-86181599665940468052013-09-04T00:14:00.001-04:002013-09-04T00:14:09.989-04:00Onomichi Landscape: Commercial Space<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhev9nnp-mxnvUJv-IUtz4_x8Ng55naUaNYfWiMQurZ28DAbJXLdgkuVMPH2bapWPT2Bqrg1LtFWtmhKvH5EmhNZKqLjh46Ak0yqybUJK_W20hsaOrWgJX69MrjQmVB6cDyb4t8YvCYkKDg/s1600/DSC_2352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhev9nnp-mxnvUJv-IUtz4_x8Ng55naUaNYfWiMQurZ28DAbJXLdgkuVMPH2bapWPT2Bqrg1LtFWtmhKvH5EmhNZKqLjh46Ak0yqybUJK_W20hsaOrWgJX69MrjQmVB6cDyb4t8YvCYkKDg/s600/DSC_2352.JPG" width="263" /></a></div>
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Plumber shop<br />
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<br />
Onomichi is a small seaside town in southeast Hiroshima. Yasujiro Ozu shoot ending scenes of <i>Tokyo Story</i> in Onomichi. I want to introduce this fascinating, quaint town with a web of narrow, steep, winding paths to you. I've been this town countless times, and each time I find new aspects that I didn't see from the previous visit.<br />
<br />
Interested? Please take a look at my post: <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-landscape-of-yasuziro-ozu-onomichi.html" target="_blank">The Landscape of Yasujiro Ozu.</a><br />
<br />
Today, I'll show you some commercial spaces in Onomichi. All those
photos evokes nostalgic sense to Japanese folks even he/ she didn't grow
up in the mid 20th century. While the space represents our shared sense
of the past, this is not a Potemkin facade like some
amusement parks! <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xzMb5wqzbww/UiKulADO2TI/AAAAAAAAIFI/bzY_zgNa1JQ/s1600/DSC_2400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xzMb5wqzbww/UiKulADO2TI/AAAAAAAAIFI/bzY_zgNa1JQ/s600/DSC_2400.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Toy store display window<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IHF0Ot1R6a4/UiJ6NxcZr9I/AAAAAAAAICQ/2LEehrMEevg/s1600/DSC_2412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IHF0Ot1R6a4/UiJ6NxcZr9I/AAAAAAAAICQ/2LEehrMEevg/s600/DSC_2412.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Toy Store Detail: it might not be totally politically correct, but this is the cutest wall paper!</div>
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Interior of cafe converted from public bath: red letters tell not to waste water </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gl2aBh5Pabg/UiKuksh0ECI/AAAAAAAAIE0/rlN5Pz5xt3Y/s1600/DSC_2386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gl2aBh5Pabg/UiKuksh0ECI/AAAAAAAAIE0/rlN5Pz5xt3Y/s600/DSC_2386.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Cafe detail</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3vVP82dGCM/UiKumFihcHI/AAAAAAAAIFU/ur9r566B8Hw/s1600/DSC_2467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3vVP82dGCM/UiKumFihcHI/AAAAAAAAIFU/ur9r566B8Hw/s650/DSC_2467.JPG" width="263" /></a></div>
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Onomich Archade Detail</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ayFpkTr8R0/UiKulYLHAOI/AAAAAAAAIFA/NDGiHbfK-jI/s1600/DSC_2424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ayFpkTr8R0/UiKulYLHAOI/AAAAAAAAIFA/NDGiHbfK-jI/s600/DSC_2424.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
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Onomichi Arcade</div>
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Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-54585913690475228552013-09-02T10:21:00.001-04:002013-09-02T21:05:11.160-04:00Onomichi Landscape: Local Beliefs <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTqs6jdpL31EQ62CPvLVk7jXqzFk8dLLsVZ6vOy_xxnycjVIcHWBgtI7r1WImBv6jKJkbwAfceOt-IO9F876MWmqpsRK2AXBcETB6uHydrUcI9yH0c3vhl9tZhCe5vQfxdNaU9jPY52Bd/s1600/DSC_2478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTqs6jdpL31EQ62CPvLVk7jXqzFk8dLLsVZ6vOy_xxnycjVIcHWBgtI7r1WImBv6jKJkbwAfceOt-IO9F876MWmqpsRK2AXBcETB6uHydrUcI9yH0c3vhl9tZhCe5vQfxdNaU9jPY52Bd/s650/DSC_2478.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Do you recognize the archaic smile this Ksitigarbha fellow has? </div>
<br />
Onomichi is a small seaside town in southeast Hiroshima. Yasujiro Ozu shoot ending scenes of <i>Tokyo Story</i> in Onomichi. I want to introduce this fascinating, quaint town with a web of narrow, steep, winding paths to you. I've been this town countless times, and each time I find new aspects that I didn't see from the previous visit.<br />
<br />
Interested? Please take a look at my post: <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-landscape-of-yasuziro-ozu-onomichi.html" target="_blank">The Landscape of Yasujiro Ozu.</a><br />
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Today, I'll show you some of the local beliefs welded into the everyday community landscape. I'm no expert in cultural anthropology, so I'm just gonna introduce them from an aspect of an ordinary Japanese person.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-XXqhgAiGI/UiJYaIuk0BI/AAAAAAAAIAg/ns-RCD-Qtlc/s1600/DSC_2595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-XXqhgAiGI/UiJYaIuk0BI/AAAAAAAAIAg/ns-RCD-Qtlc/s650/DSC_2595.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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A cat deity in a community Shinto alter</div>
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<a name='more'></a>Pious folks might think this kitty-cat irreverent, but I think this fellow must be one of the eight million <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto" target="_blank">Shinto</a> gods/ goddesses. I'm already a fervent follower of this kitty-cat deity; it's so <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawaii" target="_blank"><i>kawaii</i></a>! As you might know, <i>kawaii </i>trumps everything in Japan. I might not be joking if I say cuteness is a message from god<i>s</i>.<br />
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Oh, there's another kawaii in this picture. Do you see a carving on the below left corner? It looks like a fertility goddess or something, I mean, ahem, the bosom!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I7ro1nJWHO0/UiJ243fYjZI/AAAAAAAAIBA/uTdmAsQjdDo/s1600/DSC_2445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I7ro1nJWHO0/UiJ243fYjZI/AAAAAAAAIBA/uTdmAsQjdDo/s600/DSC_2445.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is another style of small community Shinto shrine. To be precise, this alter is in a commercial area unlike the previous kitty-cat shrine which is in a residential area. What's the difference? What are those white porcelain creatures? Are they handling flames or a visualized form of spirits?<br />
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Can you guess?<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq2YCJPvxGw/UiJ25YIwDdI/AAAAAAAAIBE/eW2A5fwtLr4/s1600/DSC_2450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq2YCJPvxGw/UiJ25YIwDdI/AAAAAAAAIBE/eW2A5fwtLr4/s600/DSC_2450.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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They are foxes. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inari_%C5%8Ckami" target="_blank">Inari</a> (稲荷) represents fertility, hence the shrines are associated with agricultural, industrial, and merchant prosperity. Even such a worldly purpose of the belief, we always associate a fox (Kitsune/ 狐) with a trickster or a fearful deity. Some kids, hell even grown-ups think the Inari shrines bit scary.
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Me? Sure, I don't mess around with an Inari fox...or be cursed! <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MWHNSaNybL4/UiJ25yOkaFI/AAAAAAAAIBM/AJdUxhWfszo/s1600/DSC_2476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MWHNSaNybL4/UiJ25yOkaFI/AAAAAAAAIBM/AJdUxhWfszo/s600/DSC_2476.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is such a lovely <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiz%C5%8D" target="_blank">Ksitigarbha</a> (or Jizo/ 地蔵) shrine nearby the Cat Shinto deity. While Shinto is an indigenous Japanese belief, the Jizo belief is from Buddhism. Until those two religions were officially separated by the Meiji government in the late 19th century, they were meld together, forming an indigenous belief system that unique to Japan.<br />
<br />
The two religions were separated by the <i>government</i>? You might wonder.<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The shrine is just behind of this muti-story well</div>
<br />
The Shinto became a symbolic face of the country to form a modern
nation (a.k.a. the rise of nationalism) represented by the newly restored Emperor's leadership.
The indigenous Shinto belief transformed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Shinto" target="_blank">State Shinto</a> which, in my opinion, is something very different from the vernacular belief rooted in communities.<br />
<br />
This Jizo shrine is dedicated to a water well. I
need to ask a local person about the symbolism of this statue but in this
context, it must be related to the protection of the well, the lifeline
of the community.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Looking thorough the photos I took, I realize the significance of the Jizo belief in this traditional community. The above photo is a conglomerate of Jizos. Again, I am not 100% certain but this looks like for "stray" Jizos. I wonder if they ever roam around by themselves (you never know!) but this must be the final resting place for them; I've seen gravestones stacked like this because they had no surviving (or caring) relatives to take care of them. A sad scene to see. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
I just named this as "Jizo explosion," sounds cool, doesn't it?</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
What if they were marshmallow bobbing heads?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Do you think those Jizos are cute? Or bit scary? Me...both. It looks like they'll have a meeting during a night, while we are asleep. What would they talk about? I bet it's about the community ranging from gossip, genuine concern, and good news. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
All the local beliefs I introduced here functions as the spine of the community. This is an honest representation of everyday life in Onomichi where a cat can be a deity if you wish so. You'll find your own if you visit Onomichi.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Jeez, you guys are sooooo kawaii!!</div>
Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-64727652071080161712013-08-31T23:57:00.000-04:002013-09-01T00:31:06.204-04:00The Landscape of Yasujiro Ozu: Onomichi, Hiroshima<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Just for a week, I went back to my home in Hiroshima. It's been for five years? since last time I went back. Well, I don't like an airplane trip. Wish I could afford a business class or something. Twelve hours in a sardine tine is asking too much for me. What could I do if I wanna get out and breath some outside air? No, obviously.<br />
<br />
Enough gripe. I know, I know.<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Onomichi cats are slim and have big eyes and ears!</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
Many readers know about Hiroshima. But do you know about Onomichi? It's
about an hour away from Hiroshima. It's a quaint city
sandwiched by an inland sea and a steep hill. The contrast between the
industrial ocean side and the tight-knit residential area with steep,
narrow, winded roads filled with old houses, temples, and young artists'
hang-outs makes a unique landscape that fascinates many poets, writers,
and movie directors. <br />
<br />
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<br />
For example, have you watched Yasujiro Ozu 1953 movie, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Story" target="_blank"><i>Tokyo Story</i></a>?
The majority of the scenes are based in Tokyo, but do you remember the
town where the mother fallen into a critical condition? The town a
locomotive gushes through along the lines of pine trees. Where the
youngest daughter and the widow make an emotional conversation about a
loss of loved one.<br />
<br />
That's Onomichi. Now you know what a lovely place it was... and it is.<br />
<br />
I've taken a bunch of photos in Onomichi. I'll make a photo series about the
town to mark the end of this memorable summer. Enjoy a nostalgic and
exotic trip to Onomich!<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ECA9l9T0lvY/UiKuiWz-LFI/AAAAAAAAIEE/LI8pn5bV4D4/s1600/DSC_2322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ECA9l9T0lvY/UiKuiWz-LFI/AAAAAAAAIEE/LI8pn5bV4D4/s650/DSC_2322.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
<br />
Google map: <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=34.597042,132.874146&spn=2.06634,4.784546" target="_blank">Onomichi, Hiroshima, Japan</a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-17450207145026841892013-07-29T22:30:00.000-04:002013-08-26T21:22:26.687-04:00Judi Chamberlin's Political Button Collection -- A Story of a Shrink Resistant Woman<blockquote class="tr_bq">
No, anger is not "nice," but it's real, it comes from the gut, and not to be angry at being shit upon is being dead -- which is exactly what shrinks and their kind want us all to become... </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But anger is exhausting, and being put down for our anger is destructive. What we need is to be able to turn to one another for strength, for support, and for understanding. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
-- From Judi Chamberlain's correspondence, July 19, 1975</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Judi Chamberlin at Conference on Human Rights and Psychiatric oppression<br />
Toronto, 1982</div>
<br />
You might ask, who's "Judy Chamberlain?" No, you got it wrong, she's Judi. Chamberlin, without an "a." Judi Chamberlain in Somerville removed her name from a phone book because she'd been mistaken over and over again as other Somerville woman named Judi Chamberlin, I mean our Judi.<br />
<br />
So why did she collect such quirky pin badges? <i>Shrink resistant</i>, <i>stop shock</i>, what do they mean? Ok, let me tell about her life story.<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Shrink Resistant</i></div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Judi was a psychiatric survivor. Based on her voluntary and involuntary hospitalization experience in 1966, she became a major proponent of opposing involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital. Until her death in 2010, she had been a key member of Boston based Mental Patients' Liberation Front, Ruby Rogers Drop-in Center, and the National Empowerment Center.<br />
<br />
Influenced by the rise of the African American civil rights movement, gay liberation, and women's movement in the 60's, the psychiatric survivors movement started simultaneously and spontaneously in New York, Portland (OR), and Boston in 1971.<br />
<br />
What survivors (ex-patients) wanted was the liberation from psychiatric oppression. Because they had been dehumanized, regarded as a "<a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/05/belchertown-state-school-cemetery.html" target="_blank">nonentity</a>" and labeled as something
devoid of rational mind, their subjective experience of "treatment" was
uniformly dismissed by psychiatrists and non-survivors.* Forced drugging, shock treatments, psychosurgery, and seclusion were carried out in the name of treatment.<br />
<br />
That's the reason why ex-patients called themselves as "inmates" or "survivors" not as "patients." "Hospitalization" was "incarceration." "Medication" was "drugging." Their experience was synonymous with the one in prison or concentration camp. Thus they fought for human rights, not for patients rights, to be recognized, to live as a human being.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* Robert Whitaker, <i>Mad
in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the
Mentally Ill</i> (Cambridge: Perseus Publishing, 2002), 175.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Unmedicated Schizophrenic!</i></div>
<br />
What propelled Judi and many other psychiatric survivors was anger. They were attuned to the very human emotion that many "sane" people --especially, mental health workers-- suppressed because it's not "nice." If you read a following testimony made by Ted Chabasinski,* would you still think anger is not <i>nice</i>? In 1944, he was sent to Bellevue Hospital at the age of six with a diagnosis of
childhood schizophrenia and endured an intensive electroconvulsive therapy. Eventually, he spent next ten years in Rockland State Hospital:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I wanted to die but I didn't really know what death was. I knew it was something terrible. Maybe I'll be so tired after the next shock treatment I won't get up, and I'll be dead. But I always got up. Something in me beyond my wishes made me put myself together again. I memorized my name, I taught myself to say my name. Teddy, Teddy, I'm Teddy... I'm here, I'm here, in this room, in the hospital. And my mommy's gone... I would cry and realize how dizzy I was. The world was spinning around and coming back to hurt too much. I want to go down, I want to go where the shock treatment is sending me, I want to stop fighting and die... and something made me live, and to go on living I had to remember never to let anyone near me again.<br />
<br />
I spent my seventh birthday this way, and my eighth and ninth birthdays locked in a seclusion room at Rockland State Hospital...</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
--<i>The Other Half</i> by Ted Chabasinski, from Madness Network News (June, 1974)</blockquote>
I'll ask you again, dear readers, this time to the point: Do you think survivors were "pathologically" angry? Do you think Ted's experience was a "mere" hallucination? Now, you listen to the gut, and make your own decision. Do you still think their anger is a rootless delusion? Do you still think having anger is a symptom of mental illness? -- I confess, I may be asking these questions to myself.<br />
<br />
What did make Ted keep from "going down?" How did the
process of "never to let anyone near me again"affect his life after the
incarceration?<br />
<br />
Ted wasn't destroyed. He was released at the age of seventeen and met Judi and other survivors. He eventually moved to California and became a key member of a Berkeley based survivor group, the Network Against Psychiatric Assault. In order to ban the electroshock therapy on the legal basis, he became an attorney. So kids like Ted won't be kept in seclusion, living with an annihilating terror of the electroshock.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*He is also Judi's ex-husband and lifelong friend.</span><br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I Am A Shameless Agitator</i></div>
<br />
Now, I think I explained enough about the psychiatric survivors movement. Let's go back to Judi's story. <br />
<br />
Brooklyn native, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judi_Chamberlin" target="_blank">Judi Chamberlin</a>
was born in 1944 as Judith K. Ross. As anyone grew up in the 50's, she
married young; everything seemed to went well, got out of high school,
got married, got pregnant. Happy family days were well ahead of her.<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
When she's sixteen!!</div>
<br />
When she experienced a miscarriage at the age of 21, she became severely
depressed. She cried for days, staying bed, thinking about her loss.
Negative thoughts gripped her, didn't let her go. Nothing helped easing
her sadness.<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> I used to be sane, but I got better...</i></div>
<br />
Worried and concerned, her obstetrician refereed her to a
psychiatrist. Judi trusted her
obstetrician, so she didn't doubt psychiatry would provide a solution to her
sadness. She visited a psychiatrist and cried, talked about
her miserable feeling, a thought about killing herself. After 10 minutes or so passed, he opened a drawer and gave her a bunch
of pills.<br />
<br />
"Take these. These will make you feel better." <br />
<br />
Her
life as a psychiatric survivor started here in 1966. Those pills were
anti-psychotic drugs, Thorazine and Stelazine. Judi later learned if she
had taken these drugs for a high dose or for a long term, she would develop <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardive_dyskinesia" target="_blank">tardive dyskinesia</a>,
an often irreversible neurological disorder marked by involuntary body movements that people often
associate with the stereotypical image of people with schizophrenia.<br />
<br />
She didn't notice any changes in her mood, just those drugs made her feel lethargic.<br />
<br />
After a few months passed, the psychiatrist suggested that she be hospitalized. She naively thought hospitalization would provide all the care and treatment. She imagined a hospital was the solution... she wanted to get better. Next seven months, she went back and forth between half a dozen hospitals.<br />
<br />
The first hospital was Mt. Sinai Hospital. More drugs; they took Thorazine off and added Mellaril and Elavil. And therapy by a resident, thirty minutes, twice a week. Her life was spiraling down rapidly, uncontrollably. After Mt Sinai, she was sent to Bellevue, Gracie Square, Hillside Hospital, Montefiore, and finally Rockland State Hospital where she would later recall the involuntary experience as a "nightmare."*<br />
<br />
In those hospitals, she experienced drug withdrawal with no explanation by staff, seclusion that made her feel like a "caged animal,"** and undiluted liquid Thorazine that burnt her mouth and throat.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* Interview with Darby Penney, 2002</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">** Judi Chamberlin, <i>On Our Own </i>(New York: Hawthorn Books, 1978), 37. </span><br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Psychiatry is Social Control</i><br />
<i>--Anyone who knows me personally knows this is my favorite.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Can't beat the word "social control."</i></div>
<br />
After she was released from Rockland, she did her best to stay away from the psychiatric system. Until she saw a confident, competent, and experienced psychologist, Dr. Jonas, her spirit was rock bottom. Labeled as as a chronic schizophrenic with suicidal and homicidal tendencies, she told Dr. Jonas that he wouldn't be able to do anything with her because a staff at a psychiatric hospital told her what she needed was custodial care, not a talking therapy.<br />
<br />
After seeing her record, Dr. Jonas told her:<br />
<br />
"Everything here... was written by young doctors just out of medical school. They like to use these big words but don't know what they mean. Who would you rather believe-- them, or me, a doctor who's been in practice for years?"*<br />
<br />
I'm glad she believed the guy. Beginning from joining New York based Mental Patient Liberation Project in 1971, she rebuilt her confidence through her active involvement with survivor groups. After living in Vancouver, BC and Bellingham, WA, she settled in Boston in the end of 1975 where she became a key member of the Mental Patient Liberation Front.<br />
<br />
She published a book <i>On Our Own: </i><i>Patient Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System</i> in 1978 where she explains her experience in hospitals and how ex-patients can build autonomous self-help groups without oversight of mental health professionals.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Judi Chamberlin, 55.</span><br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>No limits on Recovery</i></div>
<br />
Through her long and successful advocacy work, she and her colleagues questioned medical based explanation of mental illness, arguing that the etiology of human distress is far more mufti-faceted than the medical model would like to present. Like Szasz, Breggin, Laing, Foucault, etc., she questioned the very concept of "mental illness," challenging that it could come from a socially constructed label cruncher, intentionally and unintentionally, tactfully and crudely delineating what is normal and abnormal; she thought her experience in 1966 came from various social pressures that she was unaware of.*<br />
<br />
Certainly she was radical and was proud of being radical.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, she also believed every person had a right to be treated or not to be treated by psychiatry. You have a power to make your own decision about yourself, not by someone else. What she advocated for was the importance of self-determination; if you're confident with your decision, that's what she wanted.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* From 1993 conference speech </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-txw1F4wQWs0/UevsAgaKEOI/AAAAAAAAH3c/Hs5TgMwlYm0/s1600/DSC_1791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-txw1F4wQWs0/UevsAgaKEOI/AAAAAAAAH3c/Hs5TgMwlYm0/s650/DSC_1791.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Wear them for your next visit to a therapist. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>He/she will be elated by the degree of your self-determination or bring up an abrupt termination. </i></div>
<br />
So why do I have an access to those pin badges? Glad you asked. <br />
<br />
Essentially, this is my summer project. I'm working my ass off with processing this enormous, invaluable, and powerful materials for the Umass archives. It's a historian's wet dream, I'd say. <br />
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vyu_aqs78-4/UevsASumKXI/AAAAAAAAH3U/QB1MI9x-oHE/s1600/DSC_1800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vyu_aqs78-4/UevsASumKXI/AAAAAAAAH3U/QB1MI9x-oHE/s650/DSC_1800.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>...or go nuts, wear'em all!! </i></div>
<br />
Interested in my other blog entries in Psychiatric Survivors Movement? Read: <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/05/belchertown-state-school-cemetery.html" target="_blank">Belchertown State School Cemetery</a>, <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2011/02/gaebler-children-center-waltham.html" target="_blank">Gaebler Children's Center</a>, and <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2011/01/massachusetts-mental-health-center.html" target="_blank">Massachusetts Mental Health Center</a>.
Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-28538049955746678752013-07-20T23:59:00.000-04:002013-07-20T23:59:29.425-04:00Sunset that screens, reveals —<a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-rose-for-emily.html" target="_blank">A Rose for Emily Project</a><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0S6GpEK1uhA/UetQzi021iI/AAAAAAAAHy8/ZR_YrnyT7fQ/s1600/DSC_1722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0S6GpEK1uhA/UetQzi021iI/AAAAAAAAHy8/ZR_YrnyT7fQ/s650/DSC_1722.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sunset that screens, reveals —<br />
Enhancing what we see<br />
By menaces of Amethyst<br />
And Moats of Mystery.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LdQV-G8ENF4/UetQx8V1XdI/AAAAAAAAHyY/Or43go22cTg/s1600/DSC_1648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LdQV-G8ENF4/UetQx8V1XdI/AAAAAAAAHyY/Or43go22cTg/s650/DSC_1648.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Those little items are gifts to Emily Dickinson's final resting place. What are
messages hidden in those objects? What story do you imagine?
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Got an inspiration? You are welcome to leave your observation, imagination, and/ or random
thoughts through the comment section. There is no right or wrong in
interpenetrating those objects.<br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lri8DF7lIoA/UetQ0g5nVFI/AAAAAAAAHzM/UmbDYBjij_Y/s1600/DSC_1697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lri8DF7lIoA/UetQ0g5nVFI/AAAAAAAAHzM/UmbDYBjij_Y/s650/DSC_1697.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Photos taken July 5, 2013<br />
<br />
Poem cited from: <a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sunset_that_screens,_reveals_%E2%80%94" target="_blank">http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sunset_that_screens,_reveals_%E2%80%94</a></div>
Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-77675298468089483462013-06-30T17:16:00.000-04:002013-06-30T17:16:32.808-04:00A Letter is a joy of Earth —<a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-rose-for-emily.html" target="_blank">A Rose for Emily Project</a><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6fRoHDiwkA8/UdCeOnCUH3I/AAAAAAAAHxw/TtEeZSqFYqM/s1024/DSC_1601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6fRoHDiwkA8/UdCeOnCUH3I/AAAAAAAAHxw/TtEeZSqFYqM/s650/DSC_1601.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
A Letter is a joy of Earth —<br />
It is denied the Gods —</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ObTdNm1PW9k/UdCeOP7z7KI/AAAAAAAAHxg/FHOdkYr1l4Y/s1024/DSC_1592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ObTdNm1PW9k/UdCeOP7z7KI/AAAAAAAAHxg/FHOdkYr1l4Y/s650/DSC_1592.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
Those little items are dedicated to Emily Dickinson's grave. What are
messages hidden in those objects? What story do you imagine?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Got an inspiration? You are welcome to leave your observation, imagination, and/ or random
thoughts through the comment section. There is no right or wrong in
interpenetrating those objects.<br />
<br />
Photos taken June 22, 2013 </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Poem cited from: <a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Letter_is_a_joy_of_Earth_%E2%80%94">http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Letter_is_a_joy_of_Earth_%E2%80%94</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Emily_Dickinson_poems">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Emily_Dickinson_poems</a><br />
<br />
ps: what happened? The fence's gone. Is it permanent?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ySZISH1ig8U/Ub06lJ17III/AAAAAAAAHw4/685hc1Xmo74/s1024/DSC_1583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ySZISH1ig8U/Ub06lJ17III/AAAAAAAAHw4/685hc1Xmo74/s320/DSC_1583.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
June 2013</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRM4AhdoNNsn9bJ-8w4HARv8AiD2Gh2ekrux_pwupFxJEclwLyh-AkE1rFc5dY3J8wiDTDnzWS7It649UOHESFzCpLGVVIDhr9wiUzoORqUzRjP9xSzk0SvamTJUwboxZRao40ex0k-tVn/s1024/DSC_0824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRM4AhdoNNsn9bJ-8w4HARv8AiD2Gh2ekrux_pwupFxJEclwLyh-AkE1rFc5dY3J8wiDTDnzWS7It649UOHESFzCpLGVVIDhr9wiUzoORqUzRjP9xSzk0SvamTJUwboxZRao40ex0k-tVn/s320/DSC_0824.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
May 2013 </div>
</div>
Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-34838611754008233162013-06-23T16:26:00.003-04:002013-06-23T16:35:47.991-04:00Quabbin Park Cemetery, Ware<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
More than a thousand structures were dismantled — homes, barns,
churches, schools, stores. Workers painstakingly removed 7,613 graves
and re-interred the dead in a new cemetery.*</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
Before the completion of the Quabbin Reservoir in 1938, towns of
Dana, Greenwich, Prescott, and Enfiled as well as the numerous
villages and communities prepared for the day their memories would sunken into the bottom
of the reservoir. More than seventy-five thousand graves in those communities were dug up and relocated to the Quabbin Park Cemetery in Ware.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1LtniDixsCk/Ub01gdhRFtI/AAAAAAAAHtU/9hl1gDpRue0/s1600/DSC_1378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1LtniDixsCk/Ub01gdhRFtI/AAAAAAAAHtU/9hl1gDpRue0/s650/DSC_1378.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
You might be interested in my past post about the abandoned town of Dana: <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2011/08/vaughn-house-dana.html" target="_blank">The Vaughn House, Dana</a><br />
<br />
Locate Quabbin Park Cemetery: <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=42.290707,-72.316303&spn=0.030159,0.074759&iwloc=0004dfd51ac7981275678" target="_blank">Map</a><br />
<br />
*Mass Moments: Quabbin Reservoir: <a href="http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=182">http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=182</a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-2775911671000210432013-06-18T17:43:00.000-04:002013-06-19T12:34:12.338-04:00Railroad Bridge over the Connecticut, Hadley - Northampton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HQCTj1E3CpI/Uat3T2bE7GI/AAAAAAAAHsM/nkZZBtCITiA/s1600/DSC_1258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HQCTj1E3CpI/Uat3T2bE7GI/AAAAAAAAHsM/nkZZBtCITiA/s650/DSC_1258.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
<br />
About a month ago, I introduced an abandoned Boston & Maine <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/05/railroad-bridge-over-deerfield.html" target="_blank">Railroad bridge over the Deerfield</a>. Today, I'll introduce you another disused Boston & Maine Railroad bridge over the Connecticut. <br />
<br />
The railroad was built in 1887. Used as a passenger and freight line, the Central Massachusetts Division connected the Connecticut Valley region with Boston. The passenger service ceased in 1932, and the freight service ended in 1979.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dkrhDWcyOBk/Ub026B-xwsI/AAAAAAAAHuA/OtnzLZUPoCM/s1600/DSC_1461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dkrhDWcyOBk/Ub026B-xwsI/AAAAAAAAHuA/OtnzLZUPoCM/s650/DSC_1461.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Then: 1968
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WPOUZ4e1FwI/Ub025Tu0TNI/AAAAAAAAHto/IQkSCPUesuw/s1600/DSC_1395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WPOUZ4e1FwI/Ub025Tu0TNI/AAAAAAAAHto/IQkSCPUesuw/s650/DSC_1395.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Now: 2013
</div>
<br />
What I miss living in the US is a railroad trip. While I was in Japan, train was an everyday mode of travel. Each railroad trip I experienced in Europe, India, and Southeast Asia leaves a nostalgic feeling. The passing scenery through the window framed my memory like a picture. The smell of food service, the sound of chatter in the train. The hypnotic, gentle clickety-clack sound during the night with a placid crescent moon.<br />
<br />
I just realized how my memory of train trips is associated with the rich sensory detail. <br />
<br />
A shared experience in a closed space. Each passenger had a different destination and purpose, but we all shared the same space. Buddhist Monks in Thailand heading to their home region. Nuns in Southern India. A party of travelers in Malaysia who kept laughing for 12 hours straight. I wonder what they were on. A freezing New Year's Eve train in Ireland. A passport inspector with civilian clothing on the French-Spainish border. I'm not still sure that black leather jacket guy was a border controller. What if it was his hobby or...worse. Cunning men lurk in the train, ready to trick naive travelers. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IYNvccOA33U/Ub0-hM2Z3mI/AAAAAAAAHxM/1tOC0UpgoPE/s1600/DSC_1222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IYNvccOA33U/Ub0-hM2Z3mI/AAAAAAAAHxM/1tOC0UpgoPE/s650/DSC_1222.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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In 1993, the disused railroad became a rail-trail. We still share the same idyllic scenery the passengers experienced over 80 years ago. But, we gotta propel by ourselves to enjoy the moving scenery.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Location of Railroad Bridge over the Connecticut: <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=42.345382,-72.616796&spn=0.015066,0.037379&iwloc=0004df4bff3d84c490918" target="_blank"> Google Map</a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E5W7p6ISkAU/Ub026QbGdcI/AAAAAAAAHuE/Z4SVedR2D98/s1600/DSC_1466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E5W7p6ISkAU/Ub026QbGdcI/AAAAAAAAHuE/Z4SVedR2D98/s200/DSC_1466.JPG" width="132" /></a></div>
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Click to read</div>
Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-23332198752762205612013-06-16T09:35:00.000-04:002013-06-16T09:35:49.849-04:00She rose to His Requirement<a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-rose-for-emily.html" target="_blank">A Rose for Emily Project </a><br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/CreativeWork">732<br /><br />She rose to His Requirement—dropt<br />The Playthings of Her Life<br />To take the honorable Work<br />Of Woman, and of Wife—<br /><br />If ought She missed in Her new Day,<br />Of Amplitude, or Awe—<br />Or first Prospective—Or the Gold<br />In using, wear away,<br /><br />It lay unmentioned—as the Sea<br />Develop Pearl, and Weed,<br />But only to Himself—be known<br />The Fathoms they abide—
</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PlD6oOJFuVg/Ub04ceA386I/AAAAAAAAHu4/F88N3xG9Nkc/s1600/DSC_1484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PlD6oOJFuVg/Ub04ceA386I/AAAAAAAAHu4/F88N3xG9Nkc/s650/DSC_1484.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E3s7TTgYScc/Ub04bd5eLLI/AAAAAAAAHuc/IEA4DY6Lmmg/s1600/DSC_1467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E3s7TTgYScc/Ub04bd5eLLI/AAAAAAAAHuc/IEA4DY6Lmmg/s650/DSC_1467.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Those little items are dedicated to Emily Dickinson's grave. What are
messages hidden in those objects? What story do you imagine?<br />
<br />
Got an inspiration? You are welcome to leave your observation, imagination, and/ or random
thoughts through the comment section. There is no right or wrong in
interpenetrating those objects.<br />
<br />
Photos taken June 6, 2013<br />
<br />
Poem cited from: <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/she-rose-to-his-requirement/">http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/she-rose-to-his-requirement/</a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-18545742366549664532013-06-09T09:11:00.001-04:002013-06-09T09:19:49.242-04:00"Heaven" has different Signs—to meThis is a part of <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-rose-for-emily.html" target="_blank">"A Rose for Emily" Project</a>.<br />
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575 </div>
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"Heaven" has different Signs—to me—</div>
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Sometimes, I think that Noon</div>
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Is but a symbol of the Place—</div>
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And when again, at Dawn,</div>
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<br /></div>
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A mighty look runs round the World</div>
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And settles in the Hills—</div>
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An Awe if it should be like that</div>
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Upon the Ignorance steals—</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Orchard, when the Sun is on—</div>
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The Triumph of the Birds</div>
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When they together Victory make—</div>
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Some Carnivals of Clouds—</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Rapture of a finished Day—</div>
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Returning to the West—</div>
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All these—remind us of the place</div>
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That Men call "paradise"—</div>
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<br /></div>
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Itself be fairer—we suppose—</div>
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But how Ourself, shall be</div>
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Adorned, for a Superior Grace—</div>
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Not yet, our eyes can see—</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TamtkKoilTM/UatyY-nUG1I/AAAAAAAAHq4/1cXyU3Znw8E/s1600/DSC_1152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TamtkKoilTM/UatyY-nUG1I/AAAAAAAAHq4/1cXyU3Znw8E/s650/DSC_1152.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Those little items are dedicated to Emily Dickinson's grave. What are messages hidden in those objects? What story do you imagine?<br />
<br />
Got an inspiration? You are welcome to leave your observation, imagination, and/ or random
thoughts through the comment section. There is no right or wrong in
interpenetrating those objects.<br />
<br />
Photos taken May 26, 2013<br />
<br />
Poem cited from PoemHunter.com: <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/heaven-has-different-signs-mdash-to-me/">http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/heaven-has-different-signs-mdash-to-me/</a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-63083922124826379112013-06-09T09:09:00.000-04:002013-06-09T09:12:18.545-04:00A Rose for Emily<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pZASUh_UsaE/UatyZfRiLPI/AAAAAAAAHrI/mgyZ-xzVrQE/s1600/DSC_1169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pZASUh_UsaE/UatyZfRiLPI/AAAAAAAAHrI/mgyZ-xzVrQE/s650/DSC_1169.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
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This is a humble opening post of "A Rose for Emily Project."</div>
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I live close to a poetess Emily Dickinson's final resting place in Amherst, Massachusetts. After observing how little offerings to Emily rotate day by day, decoding messages hidden in those little traces became my daily routine. Why do people leave those specific objects to signal their presence to Emily?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRM4AhdoNNsn9bJ-8w4HARv8AiD2Gh2ekrux_pwupFxJEclwLyh-AkE1rFc5dY3J8wiDTDnzWS7It649UOHESFzCpLGVVIDhr9wiUzoORqUzRjP9xSzk0SvamTJUwboxZRao40ex0k-tVn/s1600/DSC_0824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRM4AhdoNNsn9bJ-8w4HARv8AiD2Gh2ekrux_pwupFxJEclwLyh-AkE1rFc5dY3J8wiDTDnzWS7It649UOHESFzCpLGVVIDhr9wiUzoORqUzRjP9xSzk0SvamTJUwboxZRao40ex0k-tVn/s400/DSC_0824.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">That's how her grave looks like!</span> </div>
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No matter how random those objects appear to be, I find joy in imagining hidden stories or just savor its surrealistic quirkiness.</div>
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Are you curious what those offerings look like? Visit my blog post: <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/05/emily-dickinsons-grave-amherst.html" target="_blank">Emily Dickinson's Grave, Amherst.</a></div>
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Are you ready to dive in? Here you are: <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/CreativeWork"><a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/06/heaven-has-different-signsto-me.html" target="_blank">"Heaven" has different Signs—to me</a>.</span> </div>
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<br /></div>
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Oh, where did I get the title "A Rose for Emily"?</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LF55LNrHBSw" width="420"></iframe></div>
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Location of Emily Dickinson's Grave: <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=42.401024,-72.532082&spn=0.05717,0.149517&iwloc=0004dd51994f5aa9a5169" target="_blank">Google Map</a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-28210326445293599642013-06-02T18:09:00.000-04:002013-06-02T18:10:35.209-04:00Urban obscurities<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aJw_8acUlXQ/UZl6Q_cqVdI/AAAAAAAAHo8/h8e4WdsyJHc/s1600/DSC_0716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aJw_8acUlXQ/UZl6Q_cqVdI/AAAAAAAAHo8/h8e4WdsyJHc/s700/DSC_0716.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Montreal, Northampton, and GreenfieldShuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-39725614181831523082013-05-25T08:47:00.002-04:002013-05-25T08:53:45.110-04:00Emily Dickinson's Grave, Amherst<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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A death-blow is a life blow to some </div>
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Who, till they died, did not alive become;</div>
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Who, had they lived, had died, but when</div>
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They died, vitality begun. --816, Emily Dickinson</div>
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I live a stone throw away from the final resting place of a reclusive poetess <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Dickinson" target="_blank">Emily Dickinson</a>. I just stumbled across her grave while I was strolling a graveyard like a wandering teenage boy. If you look around, history and wonder are within your reach, waiting for a dialogue between you and the unexpected delight.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>After living in Northampton for a few months, I moved to Amherst last year. Well, technically those two towns are next each other, so it was a small move.<br />
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After living in Cambridge for three years, I felt Northampton was such a small town.<br />
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Not quite. Amherst is much, much smaller. Anyone came to the area for school
think Amherst must be bigger than Northampton. Amherst has UMass, Amherst
College, and Hampshire College. Northampton has Smith College (and
former Northampton State Hospital with regard to my interest). You'll
guess the former is larger.<br />
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Amherst is such a lovely, small town. So compact that
the town cemetery is tucked right off the main street. <br />
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The Dickinsons rest in the West Cemetery. Laid out in 1730, it was the
only graveyard in town until 1817. This town cemetery is a final resting place for original settlers in like "Farmers, millworkers, servants, soldiers, and professors."* The Dickinsons and educator <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Clark">William Smith Clark</a> are some of the notable residents of the town interred here.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*From cemetery signboard </span> <br />
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Dr. Clark was a president of "Mass Aggie" (Massachusetts Agricultural College, now UMass Amherst) in the late nineteenth century. I assume he is more renowned in Japan; he was a president of the Sapporo Agricultural College (now Hokkaido University). He was one of the first Westerners went to Japan to spread their political, social, and cultural practices during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration">Meiji Restoration</a>. His work in introducing American style agriculture left a lasting impact on the shared remembrance among Japanese.<br />
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Did I find Dr. Clark's grave? Nope. I guess he doesn't want to see me...yet. <br />
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Emily Dickinson</div>
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Born Dec. 10, 1830</div>
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Called Back</div>
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May 15, 1886</div>
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Surrounded by a black iron enclosure, finding the graves for Samuel (Emily's
father), Edward (brother), Emily, and Lavinia (sister) wasn't a pure coincidence, but it was such a delight to find Emily Dickinson's grave without expectation. I didn't know she's here! <br />
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On top of her austere Puritan grave stone, anonymous visitors leave their trails. Those traces can be stones or random knickknacks. But for those who left their presence on her gravestone, it must have some meanings.Why did they leave those trinkets? What is the personal significance contained in those objects? Why did they pick certain objects to indicate their presence to Emily or other visitors?<br />
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Each time I visit the cemetery, I find new surprises. What if I chronicle those small offerings? What stories can I weave from those objects? <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4x2xj-PVHlA/UZjvU563HFI/AAAAAAAAHoA/_s-UGJqLDrg/s1600/DSC_0871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4x2xj-PVHlA/UZjvU563HFI/AAAAAAAAHoA/_s-UGJqLDrg/s650/DSC_0871.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=42.407995,-72.532082&spn=0.060205,0.149517&iwloc=0004dd51994f5aa9a5169" target="_blank">Google map</a><br />
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Emily Dickinson, Complete Poems, Bartleby.com: <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/113/4046.html">http://www.bartleby.com/113/4046.html</a><br />
Cemeteries, Amherst, MA: <a href="http://www.amherstma.gov/index.aspx?nid=829">http://www.amherstma.gov/index.aspx?nid=829</a> <br />
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click pic to read</div>
Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-67154564417105687702013-05-18T09:27:00.000-04:002013-05-18T09:34:13.037-04:00Railroad Bridge over the Deerfield, Deerfield-Greenfield<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Disused Boston and Maine railroad bridge over the Deerfield River<br />
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<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=42.608064,-72.581348&spn=0.056981,0.149517&iwloc=0004dcfe177cde0576c07">Google Map </a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-60645484605172278692013-05-05T22:41:00.000-04:002013-07-29T14:14:23.534-04:00Belchertown State School Cemetery, Belchertown (or lengthy thought about myself) Also read: <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2013/03/belchertown-state-school-belchertown.html" target="_blank">Belchertown State School</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When one of our guys died, all that we'd have would be a graveside service...[T]he way this would be done is that the undertaker, whom I got to know personally, would come up with the body in the limo, and we'd go to the cemetery, and he'd be saying things to me like, "Now Bob, this guy was a <i>nonentity</i>. Let's not take a lot of time." -- An interview to Robert Perske, a former chaplain at the Kansas Neurological Institute.* Italicized by Shuko K.T.</blockquote>
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<i>Nonentity</i>, the word stuck in my head forever. Such a disrespectful
remark in a solemn scene of a person's death. Why would he say something
like that? Were such remarks out of his character, or just a glimpse of
an everyday life at an institution?<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The official name of the cemetery is the Warner Pine Grove Memorial
Cemetery. Albert Warner was a former resident at the Belchertown State School.
Since at the age of three until he was transferred to a work release
program in 1937, he had been a ward of the state. His mother, Celia
Lindsey Warner, had been mentally ill, and Albert was declared as
"feeble minded."<br />
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Only a year after the school openinig in 1922, eleven residents
died. A record shows a small burial ground was dedicated in 1925, a mile
away from the campus. The cemetery was landscaped in 1938, and numbered cement blocks-- like any other state institutions in Massachusetts -- dotted the field. The last recoded burial was in 1977. After the closure, the cemetery was neglected and dilapidated, some even remarked the property as "mud-hole." <br />
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Albert Warner kept visiting the dilapidated cemetery. Distressed by the
state of the cemetery where his friends and his mother were buried, he
organized a restoration project. A monument was erected in 1987, recoding
all the names who were buried there.<br />
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He organized more restoration project. All he wanted was a "respectful
recognition of the individual gravesites."** In 1994, the state agreed to
conduct more refurbish project. Every graves was marked by granite
stones with a name, DOB, and DOD, and the cemetery was renamed as the Warner Pine Grove Memorial
Cemetery to pay honor to his dedication.<br />
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Albert Warner
died in 2006. Although no new burials were allowed after the closure,
Albert and his wife, Agnes who was also a former resident, were permitted to be buried right next to his mother's grave.<br />
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My mind goes back and forth with Albert Warner's story in Massachusetts and Robert Perske's memory in Kansas: "Now Bob, this guy was a <i>nonentity</i>. Let's not take a lot of time." I keep asking you the question: Why did the undertaker call the deceased resident <i>nonentity</i>?<br />
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Robert continues:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I'd stand at the head, and he's stand at the foot, and I got a hold of a prayer book that had all kinds of prayers for the dead, and I read him that entire book while he just stood there. But I don't think he was mad about it. He knew I cared, and it was so wrong to not have any sort of service.*</blockquote>
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But why didn't Robert get angry with the undertaker calling one of his "guys" as a "nonentity"? Was the culture of nonentity so normalized to the point that the chaplain didn't question the undertaker's behavior? Robert was somewhat sympathetic towards the undertaker, which intrigues me quite a lot.<br />
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Blaming the behavior of the undertaker is easy, but I need to question how the history of mass institutionalization affected the undertaker's behavior.<br />
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People can get used to anything. The following is a footage of <i>The Last Great Disgrace</i> aired in 1972.
Geraldo Rivera (some may find surprising) investigated the atrocious, inhumane condition at the Willowbrook State School
on Staten Island:<br />
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Hieronymus Bosch's <i>Hell</i>, I have no word other than that. But for workers, that's their everyday life. They might find the condition upsetting first, but they would adjust to the environment soon, otherwise they had to leave the job. Do we have the right to call the worker as a facilitator of institutional abuse? Think about Robert, he had done more than he could do in an environment where residents were called <i>nonentities</i>. Workers were also victims of the systematized neglect.<br />
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If you read <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/lobotomist-bedlam-1946/" target="_blank">1964 reportage</a> about workers' mistreatment and brutality to patients at the state run institutions, you may feel enraged, you may quickly judge them as cruel facilitators of institutional abuse <i>who were born in that way</i>. But, as the report carefully explains, many workers also endured a lack of respect. Think about it, if you work under long hours with low pay in a horrid, overcrowded environment, we don't want to admit it but the correlation between the brutality on patients becomes apparent.*** (Also think about the <a href="http://www.prisonexp.org/">Stanford Prison Experiment</a>.)<br />
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How about me? I've been covering state hospital cemeteries for almost three years. A naive outsider is now an apprentice historian. The spine chilling sensation I used to feel when I saw numbered graves at state hospital cemeteries is somewhat faded because I now know that's how things were done, there's no secret about it. It's inhumane but that's how things were done. Historically, the institutionalized were -- or dear readers, do I say "are"?-- treated as <i>nonentities</i>.<br />
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But what are buried under those seemingly dispassionate arguments? The misery-- normalization of inhumane treatment; the food looks like vomit, the stench of urine and feces, the sound of scream and banging, and the sight of naked, contorted and strapped bodies. Would the process of stripping my imagination and empathy from my inquiry be the path I should take? <br />
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Orthodox historical inquiry praises detaching emotion for the sake of dispassionate, objective reading of materials, I see the point. Twisting historical facts and irrational emotion are dangerous concoction to tragic events. <br />
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But if I lose the very sense <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2010/08/medfield-state-hospital-cemetery.html" target="_blank">first time I saw numbered graves</a> and the feeling of sorrowful rage and admiration <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2011/02/gaebler-children-center-waltham.html" target="_blank">when I met a survivor of institutional abuse</a>, I should quit altogether. It's just a failing attempt of mastering the intellectual twaddle.<br />
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Locate Belchertown State School Cemetery: <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=42.271847,-72.41518&spn=0.014322,0.037379&iwloc=0004d83ed9ddef2e52c6c" target="_blank">Google Map</a><br />
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You should also read observations made by a psychologist, <a href="http://irreverentpsychologist.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jason Mihalko</a> about his work experience at a state hospital and about mass institutionalization: "<a href="http://irreverentpsychologist.blogspot.com/2011/01/days-of-yore.html" target="_blank">My First Trip to Asylum</a>" and "<a href="http://irreverentpsychologist.blogspot.com/2012/09/northern-ohio-lunatic-asylum.html" target="_blank">Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum</a>." <br />
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*Fred Pelka, <i>What We Have Done: An Oral History of the Disability Rights Movement</i> (Amherst: U of Mass P, 2012), 55.<br />
**Robert Hornick, <i>The Girls and Boys of Belchertown: A Social History of the Belchertown State School for the Feeble-Minded</i> (Amherst: U of Mass P, 2012), 143.<br />
***<i>Bedlam 1964</i>, <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2011/02/gaebler-children-center-waltham.html" target="_blank">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/lobotomist-bedlam-1946/ </a><br />
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Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-61979249291008840472013-03-25T18:05:00.000-04:002013-03-25T22:23:55.438-04:00Oddities in Montreal II - a**holes who steal benches suck<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A vestige of last summer. Bilingual cuss. I admit I do love the city.<br />
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You may also visit: <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2012/08/oddities-in-montreal-i-fear-is-mind.html" target="_blank">Oddities in Montreal I- Fear is the Mind Killer </a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-74941486290955384122013-03-19T11:33:00.000-04:002013-03-19T14:34:17.012-04:00Belchertown State School, Belchertown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Belchertown State School for the "Feeble-Minded" was established in 1922. The above is a theater with an underground gym where a basketball court and a mini bowling alley left abandoned with icy, squishy floors. <br />
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A series of journalistic coverages and lawsuits in the early 70's disclosed the Belchertown's unsanitary, overcrowded condition at some of the dorms where over 80-year-old residents lived with other 120 residents who were "mentally, all two-year-olds in the physical bodies of grown-ups."* <br />
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The school was closed in 1992. A talk of converting the complex into a "5-star living " spa surfaced in 2006, but even twenty years later, the site remains abandoned.<br />
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What is the power that institutionalizes people? Why is such authority dismantled now...or the structures are left derelict, but the system of institution became more invisible and more pervasive? What are the forces that led to the closure of the Belchertown and other countless institutions in the nation; benevolent efforts to place intellectually disabled persons into a community based care, frail of a large scale institutional care, or shift to private enterprise? Where did all the residents go after the closure? Do I know all the answers?<br />
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*Robert Hornick, <i>The Girls and Boys of Belchertown</i>. Amherst: U of Mass P, 84.<br />
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Locate Belchertown State School @ <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=42.454874,-72.316132&spn=0.463041,1.196136&iwloc=0004d848dbe36bce4c2b4" target="_blank">Google Map</a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-205872016249812002013-01-25T16:19:00.001-05:002013-02-03T18:40:02.060-05:00Water towers, Easthampton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While I was exploring an abandoned textile mill in Easthamtpton, I found those two water towers by a rail-trail!<br />
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To be precise, three water towers: <br />
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Looking at Mt. Tom</div>
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The one on the right in the above picture first caught my attention. It seems to be still in use for a factory or storage adjacent to the abandoned mill. Doesn't the cone shaped roof of the water tower remind you the one in NYC? I'd been to the rail-trail last summer but the water tower still amazed me. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WuKi7pziwv0/UPBLkNEfyKI/AAAAAAAAHZU/10ryW8F0i0M/s1600/DSC_0788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WuKi7pziwv0/UPBLkNEfyKI/AAAAAAAAHZU/10ryW8F0i0M/s600/DSC_0788.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I just looked on my left, and here they were! Two more water towers. I hadn't noticed those structures last summer because the wood was so dense with leaves. Even I noticed it during the summer I wouldn't came close to there after <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2012/07/lyme-disease-alert.html" target="_blank">my Lyme disease mayhem</a>. Winter is the best time for the exploration.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EsI8LJPwEW8/UPBK_NFK2aI/AAAAAAAAHWs/aV8Qzw8M3aA/s1600/DSC_0651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EsI8LJPwEW8/UPBK_NFK2aI/AAAAAAAAHWs/aV8Qzw8M3aA/s600/DSC_0651.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I guess this rusty red iron water tower is a later addition. Is it still in use? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFT33_4ijPInbPKPVLHpTR41eMTy5szw2f6egGHt8zwb8Y6rDCMKqm0bmPKWuf4LFAQ3nLINoxFZXaoHeOgmRShF4Q9zNmLuIkQuntaSfXURoqKpleOiwXLmyyvv5g1UDGQhG2uk6eVNI/s1600/DSC_0761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFT33_4ijPInbPKPVLHpTR41eMTy5szw2f6egGHt8zwb8Y6rDCMKqm0bmPKWuf4LFAQ3nLINoxFZXaoHeOgmRShF4Q9zNmLuIkQuntaSfXURoqKpleOiwXLmyyvv5g1UDGQhG2uk6eVNI/s650/DSC_0761.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The other one is made of wood! I first thought it's a tree house (totally random thought, as usual, but wouldn't be great?) Look at this, it's crooked. Will this structure survive this winter? It'll collapse anytime soon, so
don't came close to this!<br />
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And don't even think about climbing up this awesome ladder!!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
It's like a huge bathtub on top of a sailing ship mast!?</div>
<br />
What clicked me while I was looking at the wooden water tower was a "mystery" tower in <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2012/05/hillcrest-cemetery-shrewsbury-2-2.html" target="_blank">Hillcrest Cemetery</a> where patients at the Grafton State Hospital were buried.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zl8Rwd_g20s/T5L80DmVbnI/AAAAAAAAFoM/wHDwWyjwPnw/s1600/DSC_0082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zl8Rwd_g20s/T5L80DmVbnI/AAAAAAAAFoM/wHDwWyjwPnw/s400/DSC_0082.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Water tower @<a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.com/2012/05/hillcrest-cemetery-shrewsbury-2-2.html" target="_blank"> Hillcrest Cemetery </a></div>
<br />
The stone-made tower at the cemetery brought a fair amount of <a href="http://greatergrafton.com/2009/12/28/the-latest-theory-about-the-grafton-state-hospital-tower/" target="_blank">discussion</a>
on the web speculating the original use of the tower. The guess ranged from a
watchtower during the Civil War to an Irish Round Tower commemorating
the Irish immigrants buried in the cemetery.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7KR3K0eDy7w/T5L9CP81vaI/AAAAAAAAFpU/UGoDSoNDKcg/s1600/DSC_0128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7KR3K0eDy7w/T5L9CP81vaI/AAAAAAAAFpU/UGoDSoNDKcg/s400/DSC_0128.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Interior of Hillcrest Cemetery water tower</div>
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The mystery was eventually solved that the stone tower at the cemetery was <a href="http://mhc-macris.net/Details.aspx?MhcId=SRW.906" target="_blank">a remain of a water tower built in the early 20th century</a>. The wooden tank surrounded by the stone wall collapsed after the years of disuse, creating a mystery to this day. I pictured the stone tower at Hillcrest Cemetery must have encased a barrel like this crumbling wooden water tower in Easthampton.<br />
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<br />
One mystery of a totally random structure is solved. But there is one more mystery.<br />
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Whose water tower is it? Was it for the abandoned mill adjacent to or for a function related to a disused railway? <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQ-wPVtj8Fo/UPBLNQFfT9I/AAAAAAAAHX0/l_bVE6JMWaU/s1600/DSC_0698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQ-wPVtj8Fo/UPBLNQFfT9I/AAAAAAAAHX0/l_bVE6JMWaU/s650/DSC_0698.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Locate Water towers, Easthampton @<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=42.281024,-72.65306&spn=0.008573,0.024548&iwloc=0004d423888b27afab0ee" target="_blank"> Google Map</a><br />
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<br />Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-7003652218450947322012-11-17T11:44:00.000-05:002012-11-17T11:51:43.686-05:00Sugarloaf St Cemetery, South DeerfieldThere are so many stories, emotions in such a tiny gravestone.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_RRL8Ad1er4BS26NOtVLZetATvNr1RpSbnXFNFRTcUGdEZ_kf_zxaO6DKm7V3YnIuV19dLaHXcLPv__mJyIif8MbJ_y-9v1dTFCm-coBjpt8EdvWP0_gxCbSz60CIvwgQtcFUdk2z9fw/s1600/DSC_0321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_RRL8Ad1er4BS26NOtVLZetATvNr1RpSbnXFNFRTcUGdEZ_kf_zxaO6DKm7V3YnIuV19dLaHXcLPv__mJyIif8MbJ_y-9v1dTFCm-coBjpt8EdvWP0_gxCbSz60CIvwgQtcFUdk2z9fw/s600/DSC_0321.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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In memory of a Son and a daughter of Mr Azariah and Mrs Mercy Cooley, who was born March 22nd, 1796 and died the same day.</blockquote>
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Locate Sugarloaf St Cemetery @ <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22425%22%20height=%22350%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20scrolling=%22no%22%20marginheight=%220%22%20marginwidth=%220%22%20src=%22https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&amp;msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=46.929282,-41.050994&amp;spn=9.934527,65.075155&amp;t=h&amp;iwloc=0004ceb3a50c5245895c6&amp;output=embed%22%3E%3C/iframe%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Csmall%3EView%20%3Ca%20href=%22https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&amp;msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=46.929282,-41.050994&amp;spn=9.934527,65.075155&amp;t=h&amp;iwloc=0004ceb3a50c5245895c6&amp;source=embed%22%20style=%22color:#0000FF;text-align:left%22%3EReversed%20View%20of%20MA%3C/a%3E%20in%20a%20larger%20map%3C/small%3E" target="_blank">Google Map </a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-76458824218512643542012-09-08T12:58:00.000-04:002012-09-09T08:41:09.051-04:00Montreal Cityscape IV - Market<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yj_Nt4wGXDE/UEtREJdhS9I/AAAAAAAAGSs/2a5_m9oWvYo/s1600/DSC_0211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yj_Nt4wGXDE/UEtREJdhS9I/AAAAAAAAGSs/2a5_m9oWvYo/s600/DSC_0211.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Jean Talon Market</div>
Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-68040125880827444582012-08-31T21:38:00.002-04:002012-08-31T21:47:22.384-04:00Abandoned in Montreal II - Silo No. 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XJe7f5KR5O4/UDWMYL_Q8VI/AAAAAAAAGFQ/ios73hzEZe0/s1600/DSC_1421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XJe7f5KR5O4/UDWMYL_Q8VI/AAAAAAAAGFQ/ios73hzEZe0/s650/DSC_1421.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is the king of silo, period. <br />
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As I mentioned in the previous post about <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.ca/2012/08/abandoned-in-montreal-i-lachine-canal.html" target="_blank">abandoned structures along the Lachine Canal</a>, this 14.5 km long canal opened in 1825 used to be a bustling hub of industry and transportation until the opening of the St Laurence seaway in the late 50's.<br />
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Refereed as the "<a href="http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2011/10/the-former-glory-of-grain/" target="_blank">bread basket of the world</a>", Canada was the major source of grains just after WWII. The major beneficiaries of the export were European nations whose agricultural industry was left with little recovery. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eg8l4ewzF9M/UDgkWtuTvMI/AAAAAAAAGLA/VvDTk48m2Ac/s1600/DSC_1391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eg8l4ewzF9M/UDgkWtuTvMI/AAAAAAAAGLA/VvDTk48m2Ac/s600/DSC_1391.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Silo No. 5 (or Elevator No. 5) consists of three sections constructed in four different stages between 1903 and 1959. The <a href="http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=11070&pid=0" target="_blank">Elevator 5 B1</a> (left in the above picture) was completed in 1959. The oldest, <a href="http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=11292&pid=0" target="_blank">Elevator 5 B</a> (the rusty part in the middle) was completed in 1906. The construction of the <a href="http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=11291&pid=0" target="_blank">Elevator 5 Annex</a> (on the far right connected by a corridor between Elevator 5 B) began in 1913. It took almost 20 years for the completion, possibly due to WWI and the great depression of 1929 made the construction process slow. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SqIUZAPkKbU/UDWMkJMGyHI/AAAAAAAAGF4/1GtXd_BJGrw/s1600/DSC_1445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SqIUZAPkKbU/UDWMkJMGyHI/AAAAAAAAGF4/1GtXd_BJGrw/s600/DSC_1445.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Elevator 5 B (completed 1906)</span></div>
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If I make a ranking for my favorite abandoned industrial structures, this comfortably sits on the position of No. 2. (No. 1 is Battersea Power Station in London. No. 3 is now gone <a href="http://reversedview.blogspot.ca/2010/12/international-paper-company-site.html" target="_blank">International Paper Co. in Somerville</a>. After that, it's contingent.)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U7j4M8mnKrg/UDeON0Yg-PI/AAAAAAAAGKQ/TNoCNZs9OUo/s1600/DSC_1626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U7j4M8mnKrg/UDeON0Yg-PI/AAAAAAAAGKQ/TNoCNZs9OUo/s600/DSC_1626.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Elevator 5 Annex (completed 1934)</div>
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The first time I saw the silo was probably when I was writing my BA
dissertation about modern architectural history. My fascination with
industrial architecture began with my discovery of the Crystal Palace, the main pavilion for
the Great Exhibition 1851 held in London.<br />
<br />
The works of Bauhaus equally fascinated me.
Linear aesthetic for the sake of functionality felt very appealing for
the mind of 21 years old. If my memory is correct, I saw this very grain
elevator through Walter Gropius book called<i> International Architecture.</i>
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Even after the closure of the Canal in 1970, Silo No. 5 kept operating. But beginning from the 80's, the silo experienced a significant decline due to the loss of significance of the Port Montreal. The competition with more modern Silo No. 4 (which was constructed in 1963) was also a factor.<br />
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Silo No. 5 was closed in 1994. The economic turbulence caused by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_referendum,_1995" target="_blank">1995 referendum</a> left Montreal cityscape frozen in time. Silo No. 5 just kept sitting on the port left abandoned.<br />
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For last 20 years, the silo stays abandoned, but it kept in Montrealer's mind as a landmark of the city's industrial past. Its iconic look --approved by Bauhaus for its machine aesthetic-- somehow gained a "cool" outlook to the young Montrealers.<br />
<br />
My friend and I visited the silo after 5 o'clock (or say 17h), and a group with colorful spandex gathered for an after-work training session at a park by the silo. A <a href="http://www.botabota.ca/" target="_blank">sleek spa boat</a> seems to be docked by the silo permanently, offering a spectacular view of the Old Montreal, Habitat 67, and needless to say, Silo No. 5 while spa patrons relax in an outdoor Jacuzzi. The park was oddly dotted with people clad with white robes, roaming aimlessly as if a college dormitory's fire alarm went off in the morning. <br />
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I quickly gain a fascination how the younger generation of Montrealers view the relics of the pre-Referendum era.<br />
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<br />
While we are looking at all the humanity around the silo, a
man was also struck by this completely transformed sight. He explained that he's
from here and left for a job in Alberta. It's been 7 years since he left
Montreal, and he seemed to be surprised by the transformation the town
went through while he had been away.<br />
<br />
From his accent, I
gathered that he's an anglophone. He said he's around 50 years old and
his childhood landscape was predominantly industrial. He seemed to be
exited by his return to the home and began explaining his recent
genealogical discovery.<br />
<br />
He's Scotch-Irish origin whose
ancestor came to Montreal during the 17th century. He just discovered
from library archive that his ancestor owned a land in a now busy section of
the town and began feeling territorial to the now disconnected land.<br />
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The tone of voice reflected his feeling. I sensed he felt the discovery well represented his life as a continuous process of being taken away. His intense frustration sparked when he mentioned the city went thorough such a sleek transformation because Quebec didn't leave Canada.<br />
<br />
I wish he didn't say that. Between my francophone friend and him, I felt like I stepped into an internal battle that I cannot mediate. Probably he well knew she's a francophone and wanted to ignite a bomb in front of an outsider.<br />
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I lamely cut off the conversation and sped away from him. <br />
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My friend was calm, explaining she didn't react to his words because she didn't grow up in the city; she didn't face an intense friction between francophone and anglophone around the Referendum era. <br />
<br />
I felt awkward after a glimpse of the tension between the two groups. I've heard it loosened a lot but is still lingering... <br />
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Suddenly, a train pulling grain tanks came to our sight. The engine slowly approached to the silo and made a complete stop as if the train is loading phantom grain from the silo. <br />
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After 5 minutes or so, the engine made a huge yawning
sound. Like a snake shaking its body after a long hibernation, the sound
echoed, and vibration went through the entire load. It started U-turning.<br />
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We were puzzled why the train needed to stop and U-turn in this very spot. The silo is disused for almost 20 years! Why didn't it U-turn by a working silo adjacent to*?<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">* It's "Farine Five Roses" silo, another landmark of the city. </span><br />
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Silo No. 5 stands as Montreal's industrial past. Oddly, it's now joining the transformation of Montreal in a symbolic way, as a visual cue to remind its industrial past. It's unlikely demolished or turn into a condo soon because the entire structure is protected by a Federal heritage program. <br />
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What's the future of Silo No. 5? And what's your idea?<br />
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Locate Silo No. 5 @ <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=45.508452,-73.550806&spn=0.033865,0.09819&iwloc=0004c80c71e4b7408ce32" target="_blank">Google Map</a> <br />
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Grain elevator, Wikipedia:<a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_elevator%20" target="_blank"> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_elevator </a><br />
Walter Gropius, Wikipedia:<a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Gropius#Early_career_.281908-1914.29" target="_blank"> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Gropius#Early_career_.281908-1914.29</a><br />
The former glory of grain, the McGill Daily:<a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2011/10/the-former-glory-of-grain/" target="_blank"> http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2011/10/the-former-glory-of-grain/</a> <br />
Silo No. 5, Héritage Montréal: <a href="http://www.heritagemontreal.org/en/le-silo-no-5/">http://www.heritagemontreal.org/en/le-silo-no-5/</a><br />
Canada's Historic Places: <a href="http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/results-resultats.aspx?m=2&Keyword=silo&Location=montreal">http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/results-resultats.aspx?m=2&Keyword=silo&Location=montreal</a><br />
History of Silo 5 complex, Pointe-du-Moulin: <a href="http://www.pointedumoulin.ca/history-pointe-du-moulin/construction-silo-5">http://www.pointedumoulin.ca/history-pointe-du-moulin/construction-silo-5</a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-2766977303809499142012-08-26T17:21:00.000-04:002012-09-09T08:40:44.102-04:00Montreal cityscape III - Montrealers in summertime<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Summer on Sunday means <a href="http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/What-To-Do/Events/les-tam-tams-du-mont-royal" target="_blank">Tam-tams</a>! At Mt Royal Park, Montealers and tourists gather to join this wild assemblage of human beings. The rhythm of drums and percussion draws people's psyche into this festive, chaotic, and primitive atmosphere that any enforcers of city ordinances would have no idea where he/ she should begin to regain, or say, create "order" from scratch.<br />
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Kid A: "Daddy, what's the funky-skunky-tobacco-like-smell?"<br />
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<a name='more'></a>I came to the park at 6pm, thinking the crowd must have died down already.... But look! It's still going on strong. The crowd for the tam-tam party is still way too packed. Let's just sit back look around the park.<br />
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This fighting game has a particular name, and I've known this activity for years. But I still have no idea what's called! If you go earlier, you'll see hundreds of them fighting in two groups.<br />
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Some got bored with styrofoam gears and go for a real sword duel.<br />
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A Hare Krishnan goes solo.<br />
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There are markets filled with frisbees, tight ropes, hokey sacks, balls, bracelets, dresses, bags, rugs, caps, T-shirts, necklaces, rings, and other kinds of trinkets imaginable.<br />
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What's interesting is that every age and social groups use the space in their ways. I use the terms "wild", "chaotic", and "unsupervised" to describe the atmosphere.<br />
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It's like you are swallowed into <a href="http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/bruegel/bruegel_games.jpg.html" target="_blank">Bruegel's <i>Children's Games</i></a>. The space even grown-ups show a child-like devotion to their businesses.<br />
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But the most important thing is just sit back with your friends and enjoy summer!<br />
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Locate Mt Royal Park @ <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=45.522285,-73.576899&spn=0.033856,0.09819&iwloc=0004c831c8835114eb470" target="_blank">Google Map </a>Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008155291377846718.post-7069174480017719812012-08-22T12:33:00.002-04:002012-08-23T09:01:37.436-04:00Abandoned in Montreal I - Lachine canalThe <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachine_Canal" target="_blank">Lachine Canal</a> is a riverway goes through the southeast of Montreal. Connecting St Laurence River and Lake St Louis, this 14.5 km canal began its operation in 1825. Through the several extensions and a deepening, it became the transportation artery and attracted various forms of industry and manufacturing.<br />
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Crane Ltd.: a plumbing company. This used to be a part of an iron plant built in 1918. (Source: <a href="http://www.craneplumbing.ca/eng/history.asp" target="_blank">Crane Plumbing Co.</a>)</div>
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Congoleum Canada Ltd.: a jute flooring company. Operation began around 1920 until 1969. (<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/enPJ5fV2bk_-Tz4b8BdIo3JC4eLnIZjJ-OFrQ3oBu2Q?feat=directlink" target="_blank">Source</a>)<br />
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Grain Silo: there are so many of them along the canal. The majority is abandoned, but surprisingly, some are still operating!<br />
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The opening of the seaway in the late 50's meant the canal was no longer compatible with economies of scale of the era. The Lachine Canal was closed in 1970 and many factories and grain silos along the canal were left abandoned.<br />
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In last 10 years, the canal made a great comeback to the landscape of the city. But what the canal attracted is not commercial ships or smokestacks. On a long summer days, Montrealers enjoy pedaling along the path or kayaking on the canal. Oh, don't forget the <a href="https://www.google.ca/search?q=atwater+market&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=gAh&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ckI0UJHXBMT5ygHaioCAAQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1252&bih=522" target="_blank">Atwater Market</a> by the canal. They serve excellent berries and pastries that blows you mind away. It's ok to eat decadently after exercising, right? <br />
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Locate Lachine Canal @ <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210468905302042089954.00048f49dd1c63d7ed055&msa=0&ll=45.46992,-73.584784&spn=0.004838,0.014226" target="_blank">Google Map</a></div>
Shuko Tamaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359328837313017202noreply@blogger.com7