Unexpected Experience Wonderfully Wild!

As in Wildlife that is!  I was traipsing through the park again, (I know, HUH!!!), looking for a trail to follow and what do you know I found one!  I seen this small sign that said "Shasta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation"!  Kewl!  I knew that was were I was going!

First thing, I find out there is NO TOURS!!  What??!  Oh NOOOO!  Turns out that unfortunately their permits do not allow for tours!  Since their primary mission is for rehabilitation and they are dealing with "wild" animals, they need to try to limit the contact they have with humans.  Dagnabbitt!! Oh, well, it does not detract in any way the greatness of what they are doing here in any way!  It just makes it less exploitable!  Most people have a desire to see cute little furry things when they are needing to make a connection.  So it just makes it harder to solicit for donations!  :)

Anyhoo... I had the privilege of talking to a woman, Mary Anne, that was so enthused by her job you could see it in her face.  She virtually lit up as she talked to me about the animals and how they work with them and help heal the wounds and prepare them for their ultimate return "home". 

She was currently working with a baby crow, that apparently did not know how to feed itself yet, and I was taken aback by the size of this bird!  It was huge! It was hard to believe when she told me he was only (4) four weeks old!!  What?  Wow! It was pretty cool watching as she patiently grabbed a squirming grub thing and held it up to his beak, taunting and teasing him with it to force his attempt at trying to grab it!  I found myself cheering as he actually did grab it and toss it back for the first time!!  YAYAYAYAY!!  Then he made an even more proven point of his coming of age by flapping his wings and landing across the hallway!!  HaHaHA!  Now she will be on the run!! :)

What a very worthy cause this is!  I was amazed by what they do at this little facility and would really love to see if there isn't some way to get the word out for them!  They are the ONLY wildlife rescue in Northern Calif.  If someone or something tangles with the wildthings, this is where they end up.  I did notice they are a little prejudiced about bats and skunks though! :)

One thing I learned by visiting the website for them here, I did discover there is a benefit art show coming up for them, INFO, so I will be trying to pump it up for them!  I know that since the TB Caldwell Park Art Festival has been canceled this year a lot of artists are looking for alternative venues!  Artists Application, At only $40, this is a great bargain price for an opportunity to show your work, sell some pieces (they don't even keep any of your $$/sales here folks!!) and help out some really awesome people doing an excellent job in a little publicized cause!! "0

Anderson "Pioneer" Cemetery Haunting Stories Now Counts One OF My Own!

I headed on over to the local "Haunted Cemetery", so described by one of the local "pointing fingers" I mentioned in earlier post!  It was not hard to find, just on the other side of the RR tracks across from the City yard on Barney St.  According to a little Googling, it is known as the "Anderson Pioneer Cemetery" (as close as I can figure, if I am wrong, I will stand corrected) and is no longer in use.  I can say that I believe it has been unused for quite some time!  I saw some as late as 1930's so I am sure that was the end of the timeline for this place? I believe it is also known by the I.O.O.F. Cemetery?  I saw that on a couple of Google hits, I am not at all sure why, I could not find any more information at that time.

Although it was far too beautiful of a day to be scary by any means, it did feel very sad there.  Not ominous or foreboding, just very glum and heavy.  I felt grief at the obvious history lost by weathered tombstones washed smooth, upturned either by angry winds or troubled hands who knows and no matter, they are lost and gone none the less!  There are numerous, in fact most of the remaining stones and markers are nearly illegible, but one thing that was noticeable was the number of infants and children buried and marked there.  It must have been really tough back in those days to not only bear the children but to be able to care for them!  If there was hardship, I am sure there was negligible if any care for the mother during the pregnancy, then the child is likely going to be just under robust to say the least! Poor things, it is heart breaking, but it also serves as a reminder to be grateful to these strong and willing people.  If they had not persevered we would have a whole different history in our nation!  It is sad to see this history and know that most if not all of these stories are gone to us.  Yes, I am sure there are a few recorded here and there, but nothing can compare to what I am sure is gone!

Now, according to wagging tongue, this is supposed to be a very haunted place, I was not given any other details, only that it was super haunted!  So, last but not least here, I wanted to say that the creepiest and the most heart wrenching of all was the MANY, MANY markers with a simple tin stamped "UNKNOWN" taking up one whole section of the first right hand corner!  It was uncanny!  Why so many?  All grouped together too?  A post from a census type report from 1974 listed that number marked "UNKNOWN" as 50!  50?  OMG WTF?

So, I snapped a bunch of various shots of these in different areas.  Then when I get home and start working on downloading the pictures, I start looking for and wondering where all the pictures of the "Unknown" markers were?  I knew I had shot at least 12-14 but I was sure it was more than the (1) ONE I currently had on my computer!  So I took the memory card back out of my camera and opened the files on it to look around, I could still only find about 6 shots of these!  So, I copied the files again and put them in my picture folder again, BAM, next thing you know, they are NOT THERE AGAIN!! SWEAR TO GOD!  I could only get the ONE to download! So out of more than a dozen shots I get one lousy picture to co-operate!  I wish it could give me more information than "UNKNOWN"!!  :(

So, now I am a little freaked out that only this ONE picture out of 12+/- that I shot shows up!

Anderson Gets Taste Of The Italiano!

I guess I have to say, I think that the Paesano Days was a roaring success!  From what I saw it was definitely the place to be this last week-end in Anderson!  There was a lot of fun, food and frivolous behavior from everyone!  Some might say it is the Bocce Ball, BUT this is what it is really all about:

These events are wonderful for getting the people to come visit this small quiet community and get a taste for coming back again!  :)