Exercise for the theme "One" for Art Club. I used a slide show to tell a little story about the place where I live, Humboldt County in Northern California.

1. In a land
shaped by
titanic forces
Earth and
sea met
Fierce seismic
clashes and
tireless ocean
rounding its
edges

2. At the edge
of these two
worlds
Fog and
surf
Blanketing
both the rocks
and the life
stubbornly
clinging to
them

3. Drinking deep
from the very
fog
Trees
grew tall
as giants
Feet anchored
into the
rugged land,
heads reaching
the heavens

4. For thousands
of years
People
lived on
this land
Fishing the
rivers, hunting
the forests,
gathering wild
plants and
shellfish

5. Then from
afar, spilling
over the hills
Men
came for
the gold
Claiming the
land as theirs,
they started
digging,
logging, and
farming

6. There the
men found
not only gold
But trees
mighty as
heroes
Lumber for
their railroads,
boats, houses,
buildings, and
factories

7. The newcomers
made and
broke treaties
T ook the
land by
force
Cheated,
displaced or
killed the
previous
inhabitants

8. Coming from
the nation
and abroad
Working
hard for
their pay
In an era of
harsh poverty,
poor living
conditions,
and war

9. The
instruments of
governance
Set their
courts
here
And called it
law and justice

10. Y the crowds
et
often made
their own laws
Evicting
immigrant
labourers
And that too
they called
law and justice

11. The newcomers
soon covered
the land
Sawmills
ringed the
shores
Logs floated
on every river
and pond, to
be turned into
lumber and
paper

12. The new
people took
root
They
built new
homes
They raised
their towns in
the footprint
of old villages
and threw
bridges across
sloughs

13. They carved
the land into
rectangles
Built
farms and
planted
Filling marshy
areas and
claiming any
flat spots they
could find in
the steep
terrain

14. Their
commerce
thrived
In shops
and
businesses
Flourishing in
a myriad
towns and
villages

15. The shape of
the past is
here still
It gives
the towns
their face
What was new
and brash now
carries the
lustre of time
and acquired
grace

16. Permeating
the landscape
is a pride
A
certain
character
Pushy and
individualist,
the people
who live here
now have also
grown tolerant

17. They live in
houses built a
century ago
In the
shadow
of mills
That ground
the bones of
trees and the
souls of
previous
inhabitants

18. But the
newcomers
changed too
Grew
new roots
here
Became part of
the landscape
and their souls
were ground
by the mills
too

19. They found in
themselves a
new approach
Using
Nature's
methods
Imitating its
processes to
their own ends,
protecting its
resources

20. The little
towns that
still live show
Colour
and
vibrancy
In their
markets and
their music

21. People proud
of their land
and towns
A web
of local
businesses
Displayed in
all shapes and
styles

22. Thorny,
prickly
inhabitants
Pioneer
blossoms
Proud of their
independance,
argumentative
and ornery

23. Marching to
different beats
Singing a
thousand
tunes
But now
they'll other
songs join in

24. All these
ideas left and
right
A true
balancing
act
Everyone
trying to fly
in a different
direction

25. Y somehow
et
out of chaos
emerges
A sense
of place
A unique
character and
distinctive
flavour

26. Though the
lives that have
come and gone
Still
haunt the
shores
Ancient
People who
walked before,
Asian
immigrants,
lost mill towns

27. Photo credits:
Slides 1-3, Copyright 2003-2009 Sophie Lagacé
Slides 4, 30 Edward S. Curtis, 1923.
Northwestern University Library, Edward S.
Curtis's "The North American Indian," 2003.
http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/curtis/
Slide 5 C.C Nahl, 1852, Smithsonian American
Art Museum, Washington DC. Photograph Ad
Meskens.
Slides 6, 9 Pacific Lumber Company collection
Slides 7-8 A.W. Ericson, 1880-1920.
Slides 10-11 Merle Schuster, 1947.