Be prepared to stop

Jan. 3, 2020

After all these years my little flip cellphone is starting to fail and Verizon seems to be already pulling support bit by bit as the ancient gizmo I use has been deemed obsolete. So this is my final post on this blog. Adios.

[Update: Apr. 7, 2021:  Shortly after this final post the COVID-19 pandemic broke out changing the world forever. In many ways the dramatic transition to a new reality has made me glad I stopped this blog when I did. The changes since Jan. 3, 2020 have been so enormous that the images on the posts have become nostalgic in a very short time period, faster than one would expect]

After the floods

Dec. 22, 2019

This town was built on a cedar swamp and sometimes the branches of Wildcat Creek like to get out and stretch a bit. Over 100 years ago Jake Anderson, who owned the west half of town, used to pole through what is now the Maple Street area in his little skiff.

In modern times First Street is especially bad. In 1990 the street was a raging river as I recall. Cars in the Rainbow Park lot off of First were in the water up to their door handles. Beerbower Park was a lake. The little pedestrian bridge between the Park and Mommsen washed out. Actually it was almost gone as a result of the high water and a couple kids rocked it away, finishing the job. I saw it happen.

The 1990 flood happened right after Simpson clearcut a hill on the southeast corner of town. Following the flood Simpson turned the property into a housing development and after having cut all the trees comically named it "Evergreen Heights." Although too late for the 1990 victims, they did install a retention pond.

Another place that used to flood was near the intersection of Summit Road and what is now Buck Street out in the new development north of the railroad tracks the McCleary Grange lost due to some unfortunate financial decisions from what I understand. Anyway, I see they have a retention pond there now.

Dollar General swimming pool?

Nov. 24, 2019

This interesting swimming pool-sized excavation at the Dollar General construction site has me puzzled. Wouldn't it be great if it was going to be a public indoor swimming pool, y'know, for kids?

Weirdo-shaped parking strip

Oct. 26, 2019

What is with that weirdo-shaped parking strip between City Hall and the VFW Hall? As usual, there's a story there.

On the right hand of the photo is Beerbower Park. In the old days that chunk of land was Henry McCleary's original lumber mill, which was shut down in the 1930s.

On the left hand of the photo is the present Simpson door plant. In 1910 Henry McCleary bought the Chehalis Fir Door Company and moved the whole operation, including most of the workers to this camp. A giant clearing took place and a mountain of wood was burned to make space for his door plant. When it opened it was all electric and one of the largest and most modern door plants in the world. It also produced airplane and automobile parts when those industries used more wood in their product.

The two huge operations, sawmill and doorplant, were connected by a pedestrian skyway. Roughly about where the first tree in the line on the right sits there were two ugly buildings, big hulky two story cubes on either side of the road. A covered walkway on the second floor connected the twin structures.

For people arriving to town from the north, this gave the impression of entering through a Medieval gate during the feudal times, which in fact was not far off from reality This was Henry McCleary's Kingdom-- a one-man principality where you were paid in script, lived in company-owned homes, and God help you if you ever even entertained the very idea of forming a union.

This pedestrian skybridge did not exist for very long. The building on the west side where the door plant now resides was torn down first. The eastern building remained for some reason and just sat there like a wart. After Henry sold the entire town to Simpson on the last day of 1941 and the park was created by local people out of the ruins of the old mill, they had to work around that building and hence we have that elongated triangular parking strip.

When it was finally torn down maybe in the early 1950s a local newspaper commented that in the old days "they didn't build for pretty."

Skyline at dusk

Sept. 18, 2019

Doubleback Alley

Sept. 4, 2019

Doubleback Alley

Bear Stew on the Float

July 13, 2019

When it comes down to it, McCleary is really a weird town without knowing how incredibly weird it really is. This lack of self-awareness about their own weirdness is what makes McCleary genuinely weird rather than the pretentious self-conscious or rehearsed weird of other places. The day we see coffee cups or shirts proclaiming "Keep McCleary Weird" will be the day McCleary has become gentrified and no longer weird. And I am afraid that day will come sooner than we think.

Bear Festival Float Preparation

July 13, 2019

The parade floats for McCleary and Shelton prepare for the Bear Festival shindig in the shadow of the Simpson door plant.

VFW quick fix

Apr. 2, 2019
Another victim from the snowfall this winter.

There goes the roof!

Jan. 7, 2019

A recent windstorm decided to strip off giant sheets of metal from the roof of one of the buildings at Simpson.

How foggy was it?

Oct. 19, 2018

It was so foggy that Simpson's smokestack is barely visible at 10:33 AM as seen from the front of the clinic!

And you think moss on your roof is a problem? Check this out.

Aug. 3, 2018

For a company that has a long history in cutting down forests, it is somewhat amusing to see several young broadleaf trees apparently thriving on the roof of the Simpson lumber dry kilns.

McCleary's microclimates

July 11, 2018. Looking north at Oak and 5th. The fog totally obscures the view of the Simpson plant.

For a city this small McCleary appears to have definite climate zones. This becomes especially apparent with weather involving fog, ice, snow, and even rain. There are times when one stands on the crest of the hills on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and Main streets and can see the visual border between the zones.

Old Oaken Bucket

July 6, 2018

This rather unassuming SE corner of  Simpson Door Plant once served as the spot where a two-story wooden structure known as "The Old Oaken Bucket" stood.

Rolling waves of the Pacific in the sky

Jan. 6, 2017

Facing west at Gordon's along the Simpson fence.

Rainbow Park scene

Sept. 27, 2017

Red needles on black rock

Aug. 28, 2017

At the entrance to Simpson, on Simpson Ave.

BC Haze

Aug. 2, 2017

Haze from forest fires in British Columbia begins to get thicker over town

Late October view from Rabbit Hill

Oct. 28,  2016.

The smokestack as seen from First St.

Aug. 24, 2016. If Simpson ever implodes that thing, it will be a gala event. There are still a few people around who helped construct that edifice.

I'm not a Freudian, but if I were I could have a field day with this. I'm not even a Freudian who is Jung at heart.

Sometimes a smokestack is just a smokestack.