What Do You See?

They Say A Picture Is Worth...

...a thousand words.

Does that mean it would take a thousand words to describe the scene? Maybe, depending on the scene. I would say in many cases, it might require how a person feels about the image, what their personal experience(s) might be with the subject of the image, or something or someone similar, or just the overall tone and feeling it portrays.

I'm interested in knowing what you get out of it, though. Would it be a thousand words?

Well, let's see. I'll go first.

This is one of the larger lakes in the area where I spent a few years of my childhood. It's called Foster Lake, and it sits just outside of Sweet Home, Oregon in an unincorporated area called, you guessed it, Foster.

In looking it up, I guess the more proper term is Foster Reservoir, since Foster Dam on the South Santiam River creates the lake. I couldn't immediately find a history of it, but I know it's been around for at least the better part of my life, since I lived in Sweet Home from a little before I was attending kindergarten through the first half of fourth grade.

While I've been by it quite a few times (mainly on trips to Central or Eastern Oregon, Idaho, or Utah), I can only think of one time I've actually been somewhere at Foster Lake, and even that memory is hazy. As you can hopefully tell from the image above, it is a very beautiful, tranquil area, when the hordes aren't invading it, which is pretty much anytime the weather is nice.

While I don't have any specific memories of it, pleasant or otherwise, I do have kind of a loose association with it.

When I was younger (and they may still do this), the area had some sort of festival or celebration that usually fell on the first day of summer, or thereabouts. I don't remember how it happened, but for a while, I thought it was because of my birthday. Of course, I was somewhere between five and nine at the time.

There were lots of boats, fireworks, and other festivities, and whether it was or not, it was close enough to my birthday that it just seemed logical. It wasn't until many years later that I figured out it had nothing to do with me. Fortunately, by then, I was old enough to take the otherwise crushing blow it would have been to my young psyche. Funny, my parents never said anything. Maybe I never told them, but kept it all in my head.

My maternal grandparents and an aunt by marriage are buried in the local cemetery, and this is the lake it overlooks. It's a great view, and would be even better if you could be among the living to see it, rather than among the dead.

Beyond this point, starts the foothills of the Cascades, which takes you into elevations that have snow quite a bit of the year, which is mostly the reason why I haven't traveled that way as often as a route through Portland on the I-84. There isn't a lot in the way of civilization for hours and hours the farther you go east this way, either, which is great if you're trying to get away. Not so great if you haven't managed your gasoline correctly, need a pit stop or want to get something to eat.

I'd love to live near a body of water, but I'm more interested in a tropical part of the ocean than I am a lake. Fishing is supposed to be good in certain areas around here, too, for those who like to relax. And of course, there's the water sports of boating, jetskiing, etc.

I'd say if you're in the area ever, and like getting on or in the water, this is a great place to do it. The warmest time of the year is typically late July through mid-September, but temperatures can get into the 80s well before that. This year has been a little different in that we've had some cooler weather mixed with sprinkles and rain in the middle of the warmer temperatures, so we've not had the build up to hot weather nearly as much as we normally do.

At any rate, summer is dwindling. The official last day of it is some weeks away, even though school will start after Labor Day in the U.S., when the last of the vacations and nicer days will give way to classrooms and eventually rainier, cooler, cloudier weather.

Well. It doesn't look like I made it to a thousand words. Perhaps not all images are created equal.

What do you see in this photo? Don't worry about a thousand words. Just let me know what comes to mind.

_{Image courtesy of Glen Anthony Albrethsen}