10 Photographs at a Time: Photos 21-30 (Hong Kong 1969, Part 1)

Donald W. "Bill" McCaw Jr. (1945-2005)

I came across these long forgotten slides tucked away in a cabinet in my grandma's basement. They were taken by my late Uncle Bill, I'm assuming that he took them when he was on leave during the Vietnam war.

Of all of the family photos I've seen and sorted through these are some of my favorites. They transport me back in time to a place that is foreign and western, modern and ancient, vibrant and grimy all at the same time. 

There's no way I could limit this set to just 10 photos, there are too many great one's that I want to share. So if you want to see more, just check out Hong Kong Part 2!

The Hong Kong Festival was first held in December of 1969.
Not sure if the construction is related to that since this picture was taken around the same time. 

Much like Molly Shannon on Seinfeld this gentleman doesn't swing his arms when he runs. The randomness of this photo is great, I'm assuming he ran into the shot and this isn't the picture my uncle was intending to take which makes it even better. UPDATE: Taken at 3 Hennessy Road, showing a view of the Chinese Methodist Church that is still there but has since been renovated. 

These two appear in a few of the shots. UPDATE: Thanks to a helpful commenter who wrote "This must be the Hong Kong/China border. It was hard for a traveler to visit China at that time."

And here again walking the streets of Hong Kong looking like they stepped off the set of Happy Days. UPDATE: View of Hennessy Road, Wanchai.

Is that a 3-legged dog or is he scratching?
There's so much going on in this one I didn't even notice the dog's legs until the 10th time I looked at this photo. 

Hong Kong Harbor. At the time the population was estimated at 3 million, now it's over 7 million.

The best part of this photo is not the boy running with one hand in his pocket (and the other one carrying a ???),
it's that I'm pretty sure what's behind him is called "The Old Dragon Store". 

Sorry guys, there aren't any photos from inside the night club. 

There must be 20 slides of Hong Kong Harbor at night.
I can imagine this would have been an amazing sight to my uncle who had never left the US before this trip. 

10 Photographs at a Time: Photos 11-20 (Around the World with Uncle Doug)

Today we celebrate the birthday of the kind, generous, spontaneous, hilarious Uncle Doug. Uncle Doug is the youngest of the four McClelland brothers, my father the oldest. Because he was a teenager when my brother and I were born he's always been more of an older brother than an uncle.

My uncle started his journey in Berlin, when my grandfather was stationed there in the 50s. Every day is an adventure for Doug, and sometimes I'm lucky enough to go along for the ride.

Did they not have color photography when you were born Uncle Doug?
Ever wonder whose job it was to paint these photos? "What do you do sir? Oh I paint rosy cheeks on babies."

This picture is pure awesome. I would ask if you can get this close to the White House now, but I think we all know the answer to that. Also, do the kids visiting the president now wear suits and ties?  

I can't read it, but I think that's a certificate for Best Goggles. (August 1962)

Doug and my Great Grandpa Charles Siemen on his farm in Elizabeth, Illinois. (August 1965)

The back of this says "Doug Halloween" 4th Grade, Urbana, Illinois.
Way to prepare early for the Zombie Apocalypse Uncle Doug. 

That's my uncle far right. Despite it being the 70s there's not much I can pick on him for in this photo.
Where are your bell bottoms, facial hair and giant belt Uncle Doug? (August 29, 1975)

The house that my grandpa and Doug built. Lake of Egypt, Illinois. As much as we all groaned when grandma pulled out her Polaroid camera, I couldn't be more thankful that she documented every day occasions when I see photos like this. 

My uncles with the cool staches. San Diego circa 1987. 

This one says "Leaving Victoria BC on a boat."
I'd like to get my hands on that cool white coat your lady friend is wearing Doug. (May 1976)

10 Photographs at a Time: Photos 1-10 (Japan circa 1948)

It's hard not to get overwhelmed by the neatly stacked boxes of slides and photos in my closet. They are the legacy left behind by family that is no longer here, handed down to me because no one else would take them. Although it's not accidental that I was the one who gladly carted them home from Illinois. As a cultural anthropology major, amateur photographer, and part-time writer, I'm fascinated by the stories that they tell. The social scientist in me wants to catalog them, figure out exactly where they were taken and who's in them. The photographer wants to color correct them preserve them, and the blogger wants to share them with the world.

I've come to the realization that it will likely take too long to scan all of them and then categorize them by time and place. So I've decided to just start tackling them 10 at a time, somewhat randomly, and posting them here. They are already sorted by the places my family lived, although I'm not sure that these labels are entirely accurate.

This first set labeled "JAPAN" would have been taken in the late 40s, after the defeat of Japan in WWII. As an army officer, my grandfather was part of the allied occupation and reconstruction that took place from 1945 - 1952.

Floating Fish - There's something magical about the washed out colors and the subject of this photo. 

I believe this is my dad, I can just picture my grandmother telling him to go stand next to this car for a photo.

Photos like this just beg for a description and make me wish my grandparents where here to tell the story of this day.

 

Thatched Roofs

My Grandma Kate

My father and my uncle Dan striking a pose

 

Japanese Children

I'm sure this double exposure was unintentional, but it's one of my favorites. 

Looking at the license plate, this appears to be taken in America, not Japan. 

Out for a picnic. 

 

How do you know if a runner is training for a marathon?

Every time I run a marathon I tell myself at mile 20 that it will be my last. Just signed up for marathon #9, I'm beginning to think I'm not a very good listener. 

Running a Ragnar Relay, Better than a Pit of Snakes – My Ragnar Race Guide

Ragnar Lodbork may or may not have been a Norse Viking king whose many conquests in France and England made him legendary. He was allegedly killed by being thrown in a pit of snakes.

The Ragnar Relay conquers the challenge of running a 24+ hour relay, in two vans with a dozen of your craziest running friends, and a couple of even crazier drivers. While I wasn’t afraid of being thrown in a pit of snakes, I was afraid of no sleep, smelly runners & being thrown out of a van at 2 a.m. to run. I vowed to never run a Ragnar, but as anyone who knows me knows, I’m more susceptible to peer pressure than a thirteen-year-old. Yes mom, if all of my running friends were doing it, I would jump off a bridge while running too.

Looking to talk your friends into running a Ragnar or have you been talked into running one yourself? Here are a few of the things I learned on during my 27 hour, 200 mile journey.

Location, Location, Location

One of the reasons I was never interested in running a Ragnar was the less than glowing reviews I’ve heard of the So Cal Ragnar course. Plus I live here and run here all the time. Paying to run here and getting no sleep while doing it didn’t seem very appealing to me.

But when my running friends:

and 

said "let’s run Ragnar Northwest Passage, I double dog dare you", how could I resist? Washington State is beautiful, green, not in the middle of an extreme drought, my mostest favorite uncle lives there, and yes, all my running friends were doing it.

So pick your location wisely. While I’m sure you could have fun running a Ragnar Relay pretty much anywhere, you’ll have more fun if it’s somewhere you’ve never been. 200 miles of places that look like this? Count me in!

Not too shabby right??

Captain O’ Captain

Make sure you pick a team captain early, one who’s organized and cracks the whip when necessary. Thankfully the aforementioned "This Guy" volunteered.

Other than the general coordination of finding 12 runners, getting us signed up, and assigning our legs*, here are some additional things our captain did that made for a smoother race:

1. Rented a giant house the night before that slept our entire team so we could do a little team bonding over leg maps, gear checks and van decorating.
2. Had us submit team names, and then made everyone vote until there was a winner.
3. Designed tshirts so we could all pass the finish line in matching outfits.
4. Had his first mate create a closed facebook group so we could communicate pre-race about what to pack, where to meet up, etc. and share photos and updates during the race with the other van and our families. 

Drivers? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Drivers

Think since you have six runners in your van you don’t need no stinkin’ drivers? Think again. Despite the fact that you may have 7-8 hours between your runs the last thing you want to be doing is driving. So recruit a couple of people just crazy enough to drive you and your sweaty friends around, but sane enough to navigate a ginormous van to 18 or so exchange points.

In our case we had two amazing drivers, one just happened to be my uncle, who as a Boy Scout leader, Washingtonian & eternal optimist was uniquely qualified for the job. The other was a good friend who made us laugh just as hard on our last leg as our first, and as an added bonus, was willing to get paid in coffee. And not the foo foo fancy stuff either, just a plain ol’ cuppa joe.

JStew, still wicked smilin' after 27 freakin' hours!

"Druncle" Doug in his natural habitat.
Love this guy.

Scope Out Meals At The Major Exchanges

There are plenty of Ragnar blogs out there (like this one for instance) that will tell you what kind of food you should pack in your van, but consider that your snack food. At some point you’ll be wanting real food, not another bagel or granola bar. Yelp your restaurant options at the major exchanges ahead of time, and for goodness sake, when Uncle Doug tells you to get the potato burrito, get the potato burrito.  

Now that's a good potato burrito!

Designate a Texter in Each Van

Those few hours when the other van is running are precious; you don’t want to squander a single minute of them. Text the other van when your next to last runner starts running their leg, then again when your last runner starts their leg with an estimate of when you think they’ll be arriving at the exchange. That way you can make sure no one is left holding the baton at the exchange point, and you can sleep, or eat or just rest for as long as possible.

Cheer Your Runners

This may seem like a no brainer, but when I say "cheer your runners" I mean "really cheer your runners like cheering is your job." This doesn't mean just meeting them at the exchanges and patting them on the back after they've finished their run, this means stopping along their legs every couple of miles, pulling over, getting out of the van (provided it’s not a "no van support leg") and clapping, yelling, hootin’ and hollerin’. Believe it or not, this helps the runner as much as it helps the non-runners stay awake.

No one says you can't cheer your runners while also eating ice cream.

Why Stop at Decorating Two Vans, When You Can Decorate ALL THE VANS?

Silly us. We came up with a team name, bought matching t-shirts and decorated our van. We thought we were doing pretty darn good in the team spirit part of the competition. But little did we know we were woefully unprepared.

When we arrived at the start and left our van to get our bibs and do safety check, we came back a few minutes later to find that among other things we’d been Wet Willy’d, Quacked and our Kills turned to Kilts.

So if you want to tag your competition (and believe me you do) buy lots of magnets with your team logo, and be prepared with your window markers to have your best artist tag the vans around you.

Caught in the Act - Even the Undead Can't Resist a Little Van Tagging Fun

Hydration Stations

This isn't your standard "every 2 miles there’s a water station" race, on the majority of this 200 mile course there are no volunteers holding out little cups to quench your thirst. So bring your own bottle of water, or have someone in your van hand you a bottle while you’re running (again provided van support is allowed for your leg).

Stay Happy & Hydrated

Kill, Kill, Kill

This may seem a little morbid. But "I’m just out here to have fun" you say, "do I REALLY have to kill someone???" Yes, yes you do. A "kill" is a runner you pass during your leg. And believe me, during parts of your 2nd and 3rd leg, it may be the only thing that’s keeping you going. The last thing you want to do is go back to your van and tell them you had zero kills. On my 2nd leg it felt like 90 degrees out, I had a huge hill at the final mile but luckily I had at least one kill in front of me to motivate me to keep running to pass her. As my van passed me I was passing her, and let me say it was glorious.

Unfortunately or fortunately we had just under 200 kills, which meant by the end of the race there were only four teams ahead of us. While it was nice to be so far ahead, it was a bit lonely and a bit scary for those brave teammates who had to run at night when there was no one around but a few coyotes. True story, actual coyotes followed one of our runners!

Marking Kills, In Red of Course

Don’t Fear the Night Runs

Okay so maybe there were a few coyotes, abandoned quarries, and scary shipyards, and most of the time our runners were running all alone in the pitch black. But really the night runs are one of the best parts of the whole race. Night runs are when you say to yourself "oh yeah, THIS is why I’m a runner." Alone with your footsteps and the blinking red Ragnar lights to show you where to go, you will wish the run could last forever.

Okay, so maybe not forever.
 I was a little bit happy that this was the last mile of my 2:30 a.m. final leg.

Find a Quiet Place to Sleep

You’ll have about 4 hours during the major exchanges (when the other van is running their legs) to eat, possibly shower, find a place to sleep, and actually sleep. Bring a sleeping bag and an inflatable sleeping pad. You may only get two hours of sleep, better make them count.

Finding a place to sleep is key. With hundreds of other people finishing their legs at different times it’s best to find a place that’s as quiet as possible, as far away from people as possible, and preferably not in the rain. We went to the back of the gym, away from the front door and when we awoke, voila! We were blissfully unaware that the gym had filled up with hundreds of stinky runners because we were in the way back. 

To quote JStew, "Zombie Apocalypse or Ragnar Runners?" You be the judge.

Well, What Are You Waiting For?

See? We’re all still smiling after 27 hours of racing. While it took a little convincing to get me to run my first Ragnar, I’ll be the first person to sign up for the next one. Hope to see you out there cheering on your friends and enjoying those 2:00 a.m. runs. But just remember, if I see ya, I’ll kill ya.

* Each participant runs three times, these times are called a "leg" with each leg ranging between 3-8 miles and varying in difficulty.

Day Trip to the Cache River State Natural Area - Shawnee National Forest

A Day Trip to Cache River 

When I travel to Illinois to visit my family everyone always assumes I'm going to Chicago. If you've ever been to Southern Illinois where my family is from, you'd know that Chicago might as well be on another planet. Southern Illinois is both geographically and culturally distinct from the rest of the state.

Maybe I'm a bit biased because my roots go back to this land since the 1800s, but I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the world (during every season except winter).

During my visits I usually visit the Shawnee National Forest, honestly it's a bit hard to avoid. This land makes up 280,000 acres of Southern Illinois and is part of over seven different counties.



This summer we took a day trip to the Cache River State Natural Area to check out the swamp and the cypress trees.

Cache River Wetlands Center

We started at the Cache River Wetlands Center to learn more about the area. They have a great exhibit that tells the geographic and cultural history of the area as well as descriptions and samples of the flora and fauna. We were instructed to watch out for "Tick feeling the call of love" before we set out on our hike.  

Singing: Katydids

Big Cypress Tree Trail & Canoe Trail

We headed out to check out the state champion bald cypress tree, and found that exploring the river trail by canoe would have been the better way to go. Next time we'll definitely be renting canoes. White Crane Rentals will rent you one for $15 per person for 2.5 hours.

Cue "Dueling Banjos"

Little Black Slough Unit

Over the river and through the woods...

We then ventured by car over to the Upper Cache River, an easy walk took us over a bridge to the horribly named "Little Black Slough Unit".

Bridge Over River Cache

The "Unit" is what the Illinois DNR website calls "a floating carpet of brilliant emerald duckweed" and that about sums it up. There's a floating path so you can walk into the swamp and the canopy of cypress trees. The green of the duckweed and the leaves on the trees are indeed a brilliant emerald like I've never seen.

Floating Walkway

Cypress Canopy

DUCKWEED!

Wild Rose

Unfortunately that was all the time we had for the trip, but we plan to visit again, and check out more of the 20 Day Trips in and around the Shawnee National Forest. 

More photos from the Cache River State Natural Area