Historic Connections...

              

So there was Portia perched on the back of the couch keeping a close watch over her new Jeep Cherokee Laredo...yep she's claimed it. Anyway, I had decided that today I would take Portia for a drive in search of the historical site where the character I play at work took his militia during the occupation of Benedict Arnold. It was only supposed to be six or seven miles just outside of the city so I loaded Portia up and away we went.

Portia is a big fan of the new ride...as am I, it definitely has made life easier without a doubt. As you can tell by the photo she is pretty eager to go anywhere in the new rig...doesn't matter much to her where we go just as long as she gets to go!

So away we went in search of Six Mile Ordinary...the site of a popular 18th Century tavern run by Isham Allen. In April of 1781, Benedict Arnold and his redcoats finally arrived in this portion of Virginia and came to occupy Williamsburg. The British occupation forced the American General Thomas Nelson's men to flee Williamsburg in the dark of night...these men were led by James City County Delegate and retired Army Colonel, James Innes to this location on 21 April 1781. This tavern would be the Americans base of operations for the course of the next seven days while Arnold and his men occupied the town.

It was my mission to find the the historical marker that marks this location so I could see for myself where it was and know how far exactly it is from Williamsburg. After some brief research on where to locate this marker Portia and I set out to complete our mission. We drove for sometime and while we saw plenty of historical markers none where the one I was in search of...I knew I needed to turn around and head back but I decided to keep driving as I had not been outside of Williamsburg much...we drove on to West Point, VA where I decided to turn around...this was quite an exeperience as this little town reminded me of a combination of little towns back home...with its docks, papermill plants, and lumber yards. After a quick drive back across the York River the hunt was on again for Six Mile Ordinary...

It took some doing but sure enough we were able to find the marker it was just located on the side of the highway in the parking lot of a shopping mall. I parked in the lot and jumped out to read the sign, snap a photo, and look around. After finishing up I turned to go back to the car and as soon as I did I noticed a very familiar sign upon the shopping mall...PENDLETON...I could not be more serious.

Here I was on an adventure to see a place where my character had served during the Revolution and my journey to find his past had lead me to a place of my own past.Now I know to some of you that may sound stupid...but not to me. To me it was something pretty significant. Prior to today I had no idea there was a Pendleton store anywhere around here...let alone in Williamsburg itself!

Excited I went inside just to look around. I talked with the sales lady and let her know I was a graduate of Pendleton High School and had spent most of my growing up years there. She was surprised to have someone from Pendleton come into the store...and I swear I am not making this up...while we were talking the phone rang and she answered it: "Thank you for calling Pendleton. This is Virginia. How may I help you?" Well naturally I did a double take to look at her name tag and sure enough her name really was Virginia!

The store was one of the larger stores in the shopping mall. And they had all that you might expect in a Pendleton store...the blankets, clothes, etc, etc,. The best part for me were all the framed pictures of the Woolen Mills, Pendleton, and the Round-Up from the early part of the 20th Century. I tried to convince the sales lady to let me purchase a couple of the posters as they were duplicates to the ones hanging on the womens side of the store...but no dice. "We don't sell those, the company sends them to us to decorate the store...they don't let us sell them." So the best I could do was take a quick snapshot on my cell phone.

In my book I would mark today's adventure as an amazing success...I found a piece of Innes history in the parking lot of a Pendleton store...if that isn't an amazing connection I have no idea what is!!

My Day...

On my way to work...but today is MY DAY, twenty-nine years running. The rest of you have a great day as well!

Almost Famous...

It has recently come to my attention that my image is starting to get out there...first it started with an article that was published in the July 2008 COOKING LIGHT magazine where they had a special about Colonial Williamsburg (I'm the guy about to apply hot tar to another person's back)...well then it turns out some other photos have been brought to my attention, here they are....

The first one is taken from some random art gallery I am completely unfamiliar with:


This second photo seems to be some part of a display at some mall somewhere...your guess is as good as mine as to what this display is supposed to be for...



And this last photo is perhaps the most exciting ...apparently someone gave my headshot to Victoria Beckham for her to sign ...


How random is that?!?!?

Back To Oregon...A Tribute

It has definitely been a week were I have wished on more than one occasion I could be back in Oregon, or that in some insane way the states of Oregon and Virginia could be far closer than being on opposite coasts from one another!

This weekend marked the 10 year anniversary of my graduation from Pendleton High School…the Buckaroos of 1998 gathered back home in P-town for what I understand was quite the reunion…complete with Pendleton Whisky and all sorts of shenanigans worthy of the class of ’98. Oh how I wish I could have been there! I must admit it was quite a relief to find out the class of ’98 reunion went on as a celebration and not a re-creation of my mother’s 18^th Birthday bash for me…to make a long story short it was a fictional 10 year reunion of the class of ’98 that just happened to coincide with my “funeral” complete with casket and pall bearers. The guests dressed as they saw themselves 10 years down the road (or what they thought they would be like in 2008…boy were most of them off and thankfully so was my mom!) the best part was after the casket had been rolled in by the pall bearers the “spell” was broken by my best friend rising out of the casket and in her best Marilyn Monroe impression led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday.” It was quite the birthday, indeed!

Work is going well and honestly I wouldn’t trade my job for anything in the world…but sometimes as the Broadway Calls song BACK TO OREGON says, “I want to run back to Oregon. Fall every tree that blocks me from my street…” And trust me there are a lot of trees that block my way! I miss my friends, my family, the big outdoors, horizons, views, and stars in the sky at night…those are the hardest things to live without right now. It is difficult to admit but I really wish I could have been there to see my old classmates if nothing else than to re-connect with old friends. I miss having friends around like the ones I had in Bend, to play softball or go exploring with…friends like my best one to go and see a show at Center Stage or go out to a local night spot for food and drinks.

I really miss the outdoors and scenery that Oregon has to offer…here in Virginia I can’t even see across the street due to all the growth of indigenous and non-indigenous plant life that choke out the sky and horizons. My dad, sister, and brother-in-law, and my dad’s dog just came down from the Eagle Cap Wilderness, one of my most favorite places to go and hike and campout. With all the high, glacier lakes and the scenery it is one of my most favorite places to go in Eastern Oregon. Needless to say I am a bit jealous and wish I could have taken Portia so we could have tagged along with all of them!

I miss my family…all of them…it is hard living this far away from home, where it is very difficult to “go home” for the weekend. This week my family lost a big piece…a piece of our family and our history. My great-grandmother Zacharias passed away, or as my Father put it “she crossed over the River Jordan.” Great-Grandma Martha was a loving, wonderful great-grandmother and I feel very fortunate to spend nearly 29 years on this earth with her as her great-grandson…I realize that is an honor not many people are blessed with. She will be missed greatly and I am sad I will be unable to travel to Milton-Freewater to attend the service this Tuesday. My heart will be there no matter what.

For those of you who didn’t get to know her this was my Great-Grandmother Martha Schindler Zacharias:

Aug. 21, 1941-July 23, 2008
Former Milton-Freewater resident Martha R. Zacharias, 93, of Salem died July 23, 2008, at her home.

Graveside service will be Tuesday, July 29, at 11 a.m. at the Milton-Freewater Cemetery with Tim Zacharias officiating. Visitation will be at the funeral home on Monday, July 28, from 9 to noon, 1 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.

Mrs. Zacharias was born August 21, 1914 to John and Rachel Wall Schindler in McCluskey, North Dakota. She spent the first years of her life on the Schindler farm in McCluskey. The family then moved to Fargo, N.D., where her father worked on the railroad.

In 1920 the family moved to Startup, Wash., and then to Milton-Freewater in 1926. She grew up and attended schools in Milton-Freewater. She married Eugene Zacharias in Walla Walla, Wash. on March 12, 1931. The couple lived in the Ferndale area near for several years before moving to Enterprise in 1943. They farmed and ranched for many years before moving to Portland, where she was employed as a hospital cook at the Oregon Health Sciences University and Kaiser Permanente hospitals. After retirement, they moved to Hubbard, Oregon, where they lived for a number of years.

Mrs. Zacharias enjoyed flower gardening, homemaking, quilting and embroidery. She especially enjoyed helping her daughter-in-law, Gwen, with ceramics and attending the Haines Baptist Church where her son Eugene was a pastor. She had been an active member in the Rebekah Lodge in Joseph.

She is survived by four sons, Robert Zacharias of Joseph, Eugene V. Zacharias Jr. of Baker City, John Zacharias of Salem and Bill Zacharias of Oregon City; one daughter, Patricia Zacharias of Salem; two sisters, Adeline Stephens of Milton-Freewater and Gladys Hutchinson of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada; 13 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, 12 great-great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband on Jan. 21, 1994; a brother, Albert Schindler; a sister, Regina McLane; grandson Neil Zacharias and great-great-granddaughter, Charley Patricia Jenkins.

Memorial contributions for Mrs. Zacharias may be made to the March of Dimes through the Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home, 902 S. Main, Milton-Freewater, Oregon 97862.

Oregon, My Oregon...no not the song

It's been a very warm and busy summer here so far. I haven't been very diligent in keep up on my blog here. The picture is from 4th of July when my parents were in town...this is only one small portion of the audience we had that day. And despite the heat and the struggling economy the people still seem to come in droves...which is a good thing. I do apologize in advance as this blog will most likely be a collection of random thoughts and probably not very coherent...

The most exciting news that has happened for the past few weeks is that my buddy Capt. Kirk got engaged to his girl, Janna. (Janna is an amazing professional snowboarder and lover of Christ, she is absolutely perfect for Kirk!) What makes this news even more exciting for me is that Kirk asked me to be in the wedding party!

I of course said yes (much as Janna did just prior to the above photo!)...which means come this September I will be able to return to my beloved Oregon and more specifically Bend, Oregon for a few days. Which to tell you the truth will be a huge blessing in and of itself.

I am not going to lie, I LOVE my job...honestly and truly...even with all the crap that goes on I really do love my job. However, to-date...Virginia sucks...no way around it. I live in a place that has no horizons of any kind...big deal you say? Well, when you don't have any horizons you are left without any real sunrises or sunsets...it just gets brighter and darker every day. Oh and not to mention at night it is almost impossible to see more than a couple dozen stars, that's if you're lucky and are looking real hard.

I still am struggling to find a good church home and a solid group of friends. It's hard to really get involved in much as my only mode of transportation at present is still my own two feet...but I do make every effort to get out and find a church and friends. Yet, I am still in the negative in those two categories.

I have come to the hard realization this week that there is maybe two people I know here whom I can put some trust and faith in...the rest? Well, I have learned it is best to keep your co-workers just that...co-workers...not your buddies, not your pals, not your main set of friends. Now, I am not seeking any sympathy of any kind, I am just stating a lessoned learned. And it isn't a bad or even a hard lesson...heck I know that if it wasn't for our job none of us would have much in common anyway.

Well I suppose I will take my best pal and buddy, Portia, out for the afternoon...I have rambled on here long enough. I hope and pray I continue to stay the course that God has intended for me and that soon enough I will be able to visit my beloved Oregon.