THE UNION PACIFIC MEMORIAL IN WALLA WALLA

Union Pacific Memorial

(All images in this post are Hawaiian Odysseus photos.)

Just west of Jefferson Park in Walla Walla, Washington, adjacent to the 9th Avenue portion of Highway 11 which connects the aforementioned city with its Oregon sister approximately ten miles or so to the south--Milton-Freewater--you'll find this iconic iron giant from yesteryear resting in a cyclone fence-enclosed area.  

I happened to be walking past this railroad memorabilia this morning.  The temperature was menthol brisk, and I was comfortable in jeans and a light jacket over an aloha shirt. The sky--oh, that glorious panorama of azure!--had its celestial gates closed to members of the cloud family, and the sun was out in its brilliant promise to warm things up a bit.

Only a third of the way through visiting February, and yet we're blessed with a mid-spring day.

Good thing I brought my camera! I thought as I found a clean spot on the grass to lay my backpack down.  Unzipping my faithful blue and black accessory, I grabbed my simple yet invaluable Fuji digital and jockeyed around the cyclone fence to capture a few images.

In 1917, this Union Pacific #2357 locomotive was built for the Union Pacific subsidiary known as the Oregon Short Line.  It was donated to the City of Walla Walla in 1959. 

Established on April 14, 1881, the Oregon Short Line was the appropriate choice of name for the shortest route possible from Wyoming to Oregon. The construction of a standard gauge line from Granger, Wyoming through Idaho to a junction in Huntington, Oregon, was successfully administered by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company.

This memorial has existed for over five decades adjacent to what could arguably described as Walla Walla's busiest thoroughfare.  Yet, as is the case with so many beautiful images, ojects, and--sadly--fellow sojourners of terra firma, we engage in this perpetual habit of neglecting to see what is right in front of us.

In my work on eBay and its close online cousins; in my views and life philosophy; in my spirituality; and especially in my interpersonal relationships,   I want to do my part and start seeing--really seeing--what I've been taking for granted.