Items

• 
  2021-05-26

  Boucke Campsite Debris

  This is a photograph of the Boucke campsite at Camp Wolfeboro in 2021, before camp had opened to any Scouts. There is a variety of natural debris on the ground, including pine needles, pine cones, and branches. This debris had to all be cleared off of the ground before camp started because this is a campsite used by Scouts and Scouters. The week of May 26 was "Chainsaw week #2", where volunteers went to camp and helped prepare camp to be ready for Scouts to arrive. The photo was taken during the week of May 26, 2021, and was submitted to the Camp Wolfeboro Shutterfly site by Chris Chapman, who is on the properties subcommittee for the Golden Gate Area Council, which owns Camp Wolfeboro.
• 
  2020-07-05

  Painted rocks on Iron Horse Regional Trail

  These are a series of photos I took on July 5, 2020, of a set of painted rocks I found on the Iron Horse Trail in Danville. The rocks say: "BE KIND" "STRONGER TOGETHER" "DANVILLE GOT HEART" "WHEN THERE'S NO PEACE ON EARTH THERE IS PEACE IN CHRIST" "SRV '20" (in reference to nearby San Ramon Valley High School) "SMILE! 🙂" "EMBRACE THE PAUSE!" "count your BLESSINGS" "Learn from Yesterday" "LOVE has many COLORS" (with a painted Pride flag in the background) "TOGETHER we will PERSEVERE" The rocks are all positive in tone, with a rock celebrating the recently-graduated seniors at the local high school, a rock advocating for queer people, a variety of rocks with generic inspirational messages, and a message urging others to find solace in religion. There is also one rock that references Danville's community explicitly.
• 
  2021-01-26

  Pandemic Kindness

  The pandemic has caused so much death, destruction, and sadness. I wanted to share something positive that has happened to me during this difficult event. While this begins in tragedy, I promise it turns around... My service dog passed away suddenly from cancer one month after his first birthday. It was April and the virus was spreading rapidly so there were new restrictions being imposed everywhere. I had to go through the process of my dog passing away all on my own and my dog had to spend a lot of the time alone in a cage in the vet's office while I was forced to wait in my car. My mind was plagued with thoughts of my dog long after he had passed. I could no longer ride in my car that I had spent so much of my dog's last hours in. Everything was closed because of the pandemic so I was forced to stay at home and everything in my house reminded me of my dog. I became very depressed and barely came out of my room. I forced myself to get up and get a blanket from the living room and I saw a rock on the table near my daughter's crafts. I don't know what it was, but I just decided to paint one. One had a triangular shape and I turned it into a shark head because it reminded me of a shark tooth. I had never drawn or painted prior to this but I was proud of my work and, at the end of it all, I realized that I had spent hours in my living room! I decided to get up the next day and paint another rock. I did this for a week and once I gathered a small pile, I put a few in my pocket and went for a walk, dropping painted rocks in random places along the way. The rocks had made me so happy at one of the darkest moments of my life and I wanted to spread that feeling to others. The whole thing really taught me how something really small can make a big difference. Painting rocks has helped keep me connected with others during the pandemic. I've found communities of rock artists and we share ideas with one another. I've also discovered I have a talent for drawing and painting and have recently begun taking commissioned art requests. I still make sure to paint plenty of "freebies" and I leave them everywhere from gas pumps to hidden in trees. I am so grateful to be able to spread even a little bit of kindness during this difficult time.
• 
  2020-11-30

  Protest Amid the Pandemic

  Protests are happening in Punjab, India amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Punjab government 3.330 farmers had committed suicide, from 2000-2019. Due to the high debt, 536 farmers took their lives in just 2019 alone. Will privatization of the farmer market increase or decrease the debt? The new farm bill which was passed on September 27 is stressing a lot of people, they are confused and are protesting. Earlier, the government bought directly from the farmers. The new bill makes the farmer market a free market making entry for private companies. Privatization is good for the development of the country, but what about the small farmers? They are worried, stressed and not aware about what’s going on. They need a Minimum Selling Price (MSP), which is already given to them by the government so why the protests?
• 
  2020-05-02

  "The Plan Won't Accomplish Anything..." (Great Scott, RIP)

  On May 1, 2020, the manager of Allston music venue Great Scott announced that the club would not reopen. In the days that followed, residents gathered in front of the doors to mourn its loss and share memories. On the blackboard used to advertise each night's bands and set times, someone wrote "The Plan Won't Accomplish Anything If It's Not Implemented," a lyric from the Built To Spill song, "The Plan" (from the 1999 album, Keep It Like A Secret). Built To Spill is not from Allston (they are from Boise, Idaho), but they are a seminal indie rock band and a formative influence for many musicians and fans who frequented Great Scott. The sign also reads "Allston Rock City" and "Thanks!" One of Allston's nicknames is "Allston Rock City."
• 
  2020-05-07

  Los prisioneros

  A political cartoon riffing on the band Los prisioneros, a Chilean rock group, slightly anarchistic. The cartoon shows that the virus is destroying the system. Published in the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio.
• 
  2020-04-07

  Cleveland Rocks

  On a neighborhood walk, our family counted sixteen rocks along two blocks of Edgehill Road painted with positive messages related to the pandemic. Similar rocks have appeared in other communities around the nation, a result of a desire to find new ways to occupy time spent sheltering at home. They offer opportunities either for scavenger hunts and certainly brighten the spirits of passersby. Like the rock pictured here, most of the rocks we saw were propped against tree trunks in what Clevelanders call "tree lawns" (sidewalk strips). After seeing the rocks, our daughter felt inspired, so when we got home we found some rocks, gathered her art supplies, and sat on our front porch to paint some rocks of our own.
• 
  2020-04-12

  Rock Garden in Fresno, CA's Fig Garden Neighborhood

  A community project that invites passers by to find a rock, take it home to paint, and bring it back as a contribution to a neighborhood rock garden. This is just one of many instances I've seen in which people are creating safe ways to connect with others. The result is actually a greater sense of community as we invent ways to reach out to each other during a crisis.