I-95
I was meant to be driving to DC as I am writing this, but due to the winter storm nailing the I-95 corridor, I ended up leaving last night. I stopped just North of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, got a room for a few hours and was on the road again by 6.30 this morning. It started snowing just after I parked in Peter’s apartment building in DC, and now at 2.15 it is really coming down. And cold to boot. I really wanted to make it here today as it is his 25th birthday. We’ll get to spend the whole day together and then go out to dinner somewhere in the neighborhood this evening.
Tomorrow I am off to Tilghman to shoot Chesapeake Bay related artifacts for the Watermen’s Museum. Originally Peter Carroll was going to be shooting video as well, but he basically had no safe way of getting here from Ithaca due to the weather. He and I have been working on the island on and off for over 5 years now and it is such an interesting place. / The second of his films about the watermen and their families will be shown on Maryland Public Television Tuesday, 23rd April at 8.30 PM. Here is a teaser. And here is a link to an earlier post of mine about one aspect of the project.
Willard Suitcases / Mary E. B.
We had a very productive day shooting in Rotterdam yesterday. Again, most of the cases were largely empty, but there was still some interesting things to notice. You can see the outline of the handle in dust from when the suitcase was stored in the racks at Willard. I like how the museum staff left it as they found it before wrapping it up for storage.
This was all that we found in the case. The New York Central luggage tag is beautiful.
This is what was written on the reverse site. When I showed it to Peggy, she got a chill. We both often react that way when the real life of the person is shown to us through their possessions. Mary had a suitcase, she travelled, and at one time, she lived at 417 W. Main Street in Waterloo, NY.
Paperwhites
A few years ago my sister Karen gave us some paperwhite bulbs and told us how to get them to flower. The process seemed to mysterious to me; put some dried up bulbs on some stones, add just enough water to cover the bottom of the bulbs and in a short amount of time…voila, you have the most amazing smelling flowers in your house. In winter! So we do it every year now. Give it a shot. It is a great way to brighten up a household.
Fog and Palm
Heading back North tomorrow. We had time for one last walk on the beach today, but had to bail. Very odd conditions. Foggy, misty, windy, and loud from the roar of the surf. It was very disorientating and made walking difficult. It was hard to stay balanced and the conditions made us both a bit dizzy. Went for a long walk away from the beach and it was nice. Had a bit of a thunderstorm late this afternoon to cap it all off.
Happy 2014 to you all.
Ausbourne G. + Twitter and Tumblr
I have been uploading more cases to the willardsuitcases.com site. This is a photograph from Ausbourne G’s possessions. He brought a good collection of tools with him to Willard in a nice wooden box. / I am making good progress on getting all the cases online, and will continue to upload more as time allows.
I have set up a Twitter account for those of you who would like updates on a more regular basis. Check it out at @willardsuitcase (no s). And I have also set up a Tumblr site which I have linked to this wordpress site. willardsuitcases.tumblr.com This is the first post where I have linked to both, so let’s hope it all works. Any feedback is appreciated.
Wing
There is a group (collective noun?….any help here?) of bobcats that live next to my brother’s house here in South Carolina. As I was out for my morning walk I saw this wing lying next to the road. I looked around and it seemed to be all that was left of the bird, which appears to me to have been a seagull. / Even though we are surrounded by nature all the time and so close to it in many ways, it is unusual to be so close to the cycle of predators and prey. It made me feel connected in a way that doesn’t often happen.
Willard Suitcases / Agnes J
Earlier today I uploaded Agnes J’s case to the willardsuitcases.com site. (Go to “The Cases” and click the link on her name.) She is important for many reasons, not the least of which is that her satchel contained a wealth of correspondence that revealed so much about her life. Hers was the first case that I shot with so much personal information.
There is a line in the letter below that explains so much about her being sent to Willard.
“But don’t come back to the Y.W. and threaten to kill that girl again–that’s what put you where you are now.” Chilling and so sad.
She started this letter to President Hover [sic] while she was a patient at Warren State Hospital which is very near to where I grew up.
So please check out her two cases on the suitcases site. And I’d like to welcome all the new readers to this site. Something was published somewhere on the net that linked to my project, and I have been getting lots of interesting emails from people in the past few days. If you want to see all of my wordpress posts about the project, just click here, and welcome.
Beach Again
We are back on the beach for a bit. It has been quite cold here in South Carolina until today. The ocean was really roiled up this afternoon, and the tide was just ebbing from its high point. There were lots of really beautiful small shells at the tide line.
The biggest of these guys is about an inch across.
I especially like the bottom one here.
Hand Dryer / Sumpter County, SC
Cris and I are back in South Carolina for a quick visit. On the way we stopped at a rest area on the 95 and as I was drying my hands, the dryer did something I have never seen before. Must have something to do with germs and ultraviolet light. I still had to wipe my hands on my trousers though.
Willard Suitcase / Gordon K. + Cemetery News
Gordon K was admitted to Willard in September of 1962. The inner lining of his small grip was different than most we have seen. More like flannel than anything else.
This morning Cris was reading the news on her computer and forwarded this story to me. I couldn’t help but think about the Willard cemetery, and the work that Colleen Spellecy is doing at the Willard Cemetery Memorial Project and that Lin Stuhler is doing at her Inmates of Willard site. After watching the piece, I was curious about how the group was able to get names from the state.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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