Oregon

I’ve been in Oregon on business the last few days. I flew up to Hillsboro Tuesday for a couple of meetings. On Wednesday evening I drove to Portland to meet my sister for dinner.  My sister, Dawn, lives in Spokane but her husband is a pilot for SouthWest Airlines and so she is able to fly for free.  Since I was going to be in Portland she just hopped on a short 45 minute flight and met me there.

Dawn and I both loves books so we went to Powells Books in Portland.  It’s a huge bookstore.  According to Powells it’s, “the largest used and new bookstore in the world.”  Yeah, it’s big.  We only had a few hours before Dawn had to catch her flight home so we were only able to spend about an hour in Powells.  If you’re ever in Portland I highly recommend that you spend a few hours there.  It’s just a blast.

After books we had a great dinner in downtown.  Portland is like a miniature San Francisco. It has some great art and a lot of character.  If you’re ever up in the northwest make sure you spend a day or two in Portland.

This morning I woke up a little before 5:00am to catch my flight home.  I was flying out of a small jet center in Hillsboro.  There was some very nasty fog.  So nasty that I was stuck at the jet center for hours waiting for it to lift.

I shot this picture with my iPhone this morning.  This scene didn’t change for hours.  My flight was nearly 6 hours late. I’m not a big fan of fog today.

One good thing is that we had free coffee.  Early this morning all the seats in the jet center were taken so we didn’t have much room.  I’m so glad my clunky old Thinkpad has enough room to hold a coffee cup.  Unfortunately the WiFi was out for hours so we had no Internet service.  Usually that’s not a bad thing because I have a book.  But last night I bought a few books for Dawn (The Pleasure Of My Company, Shopgirl, The Shadow of the Wind) and forgot to buy one for myself.

Eventually the fog lifted and I was able to hop on the jet and fly home.  I caught up on some podcasts during the flight and was inspired by This American Life #344: The Competition and #253: The Middle of Nowhere.  They are well worth listening to (you can download them free via iTunes).

Now I’m home and hanging out with Luka and Diane.  Diane is now reading The Pleasure Of My Company.  Dawn called earlier tonight to tell me she loved it and was just about finished.  I think I’ll write up my book review tomorrow.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Books, Family Stuff, Travel 1 Comment » December 2007

Growing Up

My brother recently found a cassette tape that’s at least 21 years old.  The tape features me and my brother, Lee, playing our guitars and singing songs.  Lee converted the tape to an MP3 file and e-mailed it to me. Wow, we were bad!  It took every ounce of strength I had to listen to the entire 19 minutes and 57 seconds that Lee sent over.

It was funny listening to myself as a teenager. If I had known then how bad I was at playing my guitar I think I would have given up on the spot.  But I was ignorant and kept plugging away.

Maybe teenagers are idiots for a reason.  Maybe if we knew how little we knew and how unskilled we were as teenagers we would have never have blindly gone forward and learned new things. Perhaps that’s the reason so many older people don’t try new things, we just give up too soon.

I vote for being horrible at something for a while.  Throw off the chains of immediate success and learn new things.  It’s OK to do something poorly at first.  Just keep at it and eventually you’ll grow up.  Unless you’re me – I’m still a pretty bad guitarist.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Family Stuff No Comments » December 2007

True Hero

When I was a boy growing up in Montana my dad had a good friend who we knew as Mr.Haws.  I was always impressed by the things he would do; cut wood with an axe, drive his manual transmission truck, kill chickens that would later be used for food. Mr. Haws was amazing to me because he only had one arm.

I remember lots of things about Mr. Haws. He drove all of us kids to camp every summer. He showed me how to pick rhubarb and eat it with sugar (yummy).  I remember trying to get a stain off a wall and not having much luck.  Mr. Haws grabbed the rag and told me I needed to use some “elbow grease”. He put some effort into the scrubbing and the stain came right off.  “Now you try it,” he said.  I did, and it worked.

As kids we were expressly forbidden to ask Mr. Haws about his arm.  I once thought of asking him what happened to his arm but my mother gave me a cold stare and I changed my mind quickly.

When I was older I learned that Mr. Haws survived the Baatan Death March.  He’d lost his arm while he was a POW in Japan.  I also learned that Mr. Haws brother was on that march, and died.

A photo of Alfred Haws taken by the Japanese sometime during his 3 years as a Prisonerof War.

A photo of Alfred Haws taken in 2007.  Alfred shows some of his WWII memorabilia, he is now 89 years old. I recently discovered that Alfred Haws is still alive.  He now lives in Amarillo,TX.  There was an article about him just recently. Here’s the article written by Jon Mark Beilue.  It was originally posted on Amarillo.com.

Sixty-five years ago. Alfred Haws shakes his head. April 9, 1942, doesn’t seem like that long ago to him, not that long at all. “Time flies,’ he said. “I try not to think about it too much, but it’s always there.

‘Odd, isn’t it, how fresh memories are of an older brother, Claude, dying in his arms just before they got onto a Filipino boxcar? Or what death must feel like when a Japanese soldier pulls him out of line, shoves a pistol in his stomach and repeatedly cocks and uncocks the hammer as he plays with his life?

Sixty-five years doesn’t dim anything when part of one of the most horrific war crimes of World War II, when losing 90 pounds and a right arm, when losing everything, it would seem, except his faith and hope that he would survive.

“I was a Christian and that helped an awful lot,’ Haws said. “I promised God I would serve him to the best of my ability as long as I lived if he would bring me back …and I’ve done that.’

Haws is now 89. He and wife Mary, married 61 years, have lived in a comfortable apartment on the fourth floor at the Continental Retirement Center since 2001. They have three grown children, including a son who is an area missionary in Clarkston, Wash.

They faithfully attend chapel service at the Continental each Sunday, especially this Easter Sunday. Haws used to serve as host of the service until recently, when arthritis began getting the better of him.

He knows he could have been dead, maybe should have been dead, at age 24 as an Army private just a year out of Clovis, N.M. All he can figure is the Lord had other plans.

Haws was part of an overwhelmed and undermanned U.S. Army contingent that surrendered to the Japanese 65 years ago. The U.S. was backed to the edge of the Bataan Peninsulain the Philippines with the South China Sea behind them and the Japanese in front.

“We were out of food, out of ammo, out of everything,’ he said. “We were eating horses and mules. We had no choice. All we had to fight with were our bare hands and some 30-30 rifles.’

And the next day, April 10, 1942, began The Death March of Bataan. It has always deserved capital letters, one of the most infamous times in American war history.

There were a total of 75,000 prisoners of war, of which 12,000 were American soldiers. It was a much larger number than the Japanese expected.

They were to move 63 miles north to a prison camp at Camp O’Donnell. Only 54,000 made it during the five brutal days.

There were some who escaped, but more who died. They succumbed to malaria, dysentery, and dehydration as they marched in the 100-degree heat with little water and no food.

They died at the hands of the Japanese. Atrocities such as beheadings, shootings, and bayonettings were frequent. Those who staggered and became too weak to continue were often put out of their misery.

“They were the most cruelest nation in the world at that time,’ Haws said. “We knew there was a prison camp somewhere, but had no idea what would happen.’

Haws was a strapping 190 pounds when he began, one reason he made it. That, and he already had malaria.

He was given a piece of rice the size of a golf ball during the march and no water. He never saw any atrocities committed, but he saw some buddies who were called out of line, never to return.

Haws said the Japanese motioned some Americans to a hut and some welcome shade. More than a few went, and he never saw them again.

A Japanese soldier pulled Haws out of line to carry his pack. He searched him, and then took what he could from him.

“Then he shoved a revolver in my gut and kept cocking it and uncocking it,’ Haws said. “Then he yelled at me to get back in line. I didn’t save myself - God saved me. Nobody told that Jap not to shoot me.’

After several days, a portion of the trek was on rail cars. Many prisoners suffocated in the transfer. Haws would have liked for him and his brother Claude to have risked it.

“He made it all that way, and then he just gave up on the way to the train,’ Haws said. “No noise, not a sound. Just died in my arms.’

Haws said when soldiers surrendered, he expected it to be no more than six weeks before they were freed. Instead, for the next 40 months, Haws was a prisoner of war. Japanese looked at prisoners as cowards, and in their samurai culture, a waste of a human life. They were often treated as such.

“The Jap in charge of the camp got on a table and said that he’d kill us all if he had his way,’ Haws said. “And, listen, we thought any of them could kill us at anytime.’

He saw executions by firing squad. He saw a Filipino head perched on a pole. An American POW was tied to a guard post, and every guard change, the new guard beat him with a club. That continued until he died.

Haws was never beaten, but he contracted dry beriberi, a painful nervous system ailment.His weight dropped to almost 100 pounds, lowered by work and a diet of a bit of rice and something called whistle-weed soup.

He was at McDonnell, moved to Cabanatuan camp, and eventually volunteered to go to Japan to work there. His reasoning was it was better to volunteer then than later when U.S. ships would have a better chance to sink a Japanese vessel that Haws might be on.

How terribly ironic. It was in the last days of the war in August 1945 that Haws lost an arm from an American bomb. He was working as a prisoner in a Japanese steel mill, unaware how near the end of the war was.

He could see the glow of the atomic bomb on the seaport city of Nagasaki, about 100 miles away on that Aug. 9, 1945. Something was happening.

The next day, U.S. planes dropped conventional and incendiary bombs on key industrialsites. Including the steel mill where Haws was.

It was the darndest thing. Haws had survived for three years as a POW, and then an American bomb exploded one week before the war’s official end. Haws didn’t feel a thing, but his right arm was blown off.

He took his belt and used it as a tourniquet. Sulfa powder was put on his burns, and he was told to lay on a bunk for three days, in Haws words, “to see if I’d live.’

He did, and he has.

Haws came home, married Mary Moss from Clovis, who lost two brothers in the Philippines. His final surgery on his arm was March 1946.

He took home with him a Japanese samurai sword, but thinks a grandson may have it now. There are framed reminders of that time that began in earnest 65 years ago, some small newspaper clippings, the belt that later saved his life, a POW declaration.

To look at Haws now at his kitchen table is to see a man’s man, generous, yet firm, sometimes funny, but often stern. It’s easy to imagine 65 years ago what a tough son of a gun he must have been.

He’s still strong at nearly 90, one of just a few living survivors of The Death March of Bataan. But life has taken its toll, too, and a proud man can’t do what he once could.

But it’s Easter, and Albert Haws has celebrated maybe 65 of them that odds say he probably shouldn’t have. But he knows why he has.

“God brought me back,’ he said. “It was all up to him.’

Posted by admin Posted in: Family Stuff, God, History No Comments » May 2007

Looking for my ring, finding local art.

This Saturday Diane and I checked in with BaileyBanks & Biddle to see if my wedding ringwas ready yet.  We ordered it in late September.  The first time the ringcame in it was the wrong size.  On Saturday they had a ring that was the rightsize, but the wrong ring.  The ring is a customScott Kay ring so we expected to wait a little while, but this is getting ridiculous. Twice the ring has come back the wrong size.  We asked for our money back butJeffrey, the Manager, promised to make things right.  We agreed to give themone more chance after they gave us a significant discount on thering.  I’ll let you know if they come through.We left the jewelry store and headed down to PhotoMark tolook for a new tripod for Diane.  We found a great Manfrotto that is solid witha lot of great features.  She got the 055Protripod with a ballhead.  The ballhead is so easy to use I’m thinking of changing the head on my tripod aswell.  It’s much faster and easier to use than the threeway head I have now.  We also added the spikedfeet for the tripod – this is a must for great stability.After we picked up the new tripod we headed downtown.  We checked out the PhoenixArt Museum’s new exhibit, KeepingShadows.  The exhibit had some very interesting photos, but it was far toosmall and limited to demand the $9 for the exhibit (I paid about $15 for a ticketto the Louvre).  Not only was the exhibit small, they had misinformation aboutthe photos and photographers.  Anyone who’s studied the history of photographywould know that the information posted on the walls was misleading.I was very irritated by a plaque on the wall describing Groupf/64 which was founded by several photographers in the early 20th century (AnselAdams among them).  It’s description of “pure” photographyvs. pictorialism wassimply misleading.  The information was limited and gave the impression thatAnsel Adams did no manipulation to any of his images – which simply isn’ttrue.  Don’t get me started.I think the exhibit really missed out on this point.  The debate in the early20th century is being repeated in the early 21st century with digital cameras and ethicsin photo journalism, the definition of “art”, what’s acceptedpractice, etc.  People think these are new things for digital photographers,but the debate has been raging for 100 years.After we left the museum we shot a few photos for the photoblog andthen discovered we were hungry.  We zipped down to Fate andhad some incredible food.  We actually got to Fate a bit early so we walked overto Red Dog Art Gallery and checkedit out.  They had a few interesting works on the walls.  If you’rein the neighborhood you should take a look.

Posted by admin Posted in: Family Stuff, News, Photography No Comments » January 2006

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! Diane and I are doing great and our puppies are happy. 2005 was a big year for me and I hope 2006 will be as well. Here are some of my favorite things from 2005, click on each one for more information:�

• Diane and I got married!
• Weadopted Luka (now called Luka Bear because he looks like a fluffy bear).
• I launched my Photoblog.
• I was invited to join IPNstock.
• A week in Paris! [Clickhere for blog entries.  Clickhere for pictures.]
• A few more weeks in India. [Clickhere for blog entries.  Clickhere for pictures.]
• My photography classes finally got offthe ground.

I’m sure there is a lot more I could list, maybe the ridein Nashville that was a blast (and made me sick), or our Family Reunion, or… There was a lot going on in 2005.  Thanks to everyone who was a part of it!

Posted by admin Posted in: Family Stuff, News No Comments » January 2006

Married!!

Saturday evening Diane and I had our wedding. It was great! We had a small group offriends over to our house and had the ceremony in the back yard. After the ceremonywe had a dinner and celebration. We haven’t had time to go through all of the photosyet, but I’ll post them as soon as we do.

We are now getting our house arranged; figuring out where everything goes, buyingnew furniture, getting rid of some old stuff. Most of our house looks like a bombexploded, but it’s fun merging our houses into one. Stay tuned for photos and stories!

Posted by admin Posted in: Family Stuff No Comments » October 2005

Transition

>You may have noticed that my blog and photoentries have decreased in the past month or so, well now I can tell you why! The bottom line, I’ve been really busy.  Not only busy, but going throughbittersweet life.Most importantly I’m happy to tell the world that Diane and I are getting married! Getting married is glorious, but it’s been consuming all of our time. We decided to get married a couple of months ago, I’m not sure when, I thinkwe made the decision while I was in India. There was not big proposal or event, I’m not even sure how to explain it. But we made the decision and we are very happy about it.We were going to keep our wedding details a secret, but Diane forgot all about thatthe moment we chose a date.  But that’s another story and I’ll lether tell you about it at some point.  Our official wedding date is October 8th– a week from this Saturday!  Woohoo!Once we decided to get married we made a mental list of all the things we’dneed to do before we could have the ceremony.  The first big item was to findhomes for Diane’s cats; Toaster and Mossimo.  We looked for months butcould not find any homes.  Last weekend we took them to a shelter in North Phoenixthat will have the means to locate good parents for them.  It was a very, verysad moment.  Diane has had her kitties for 6 years.  Moving the cats tomy house was not an option because of the dogs.  So we did what we thought wasbest.  But we will miss our furry friends.The second big item was selling Diane’s house.  Before we could put iton the market we had to do some work on the back yard.  So we put in a drip system,planted new plants and a tree, had curbing added, and shoveled 3 tons of decorativerock.  The yard really looks great now.  Once that was finished the housewas listed.  We thought we’d it would take a week or two to sell - it soldin 12 hours.The third big thing was moving Diane’s stuff out of her house.  Not onlymoving, but fixing all the little things the new owners requested in the contract– fix a leak here, replace a circuit breaker there, adjust the sliding glassdoor, etc.  The past two weekends have been spent packing, cleaning, fixing,and hauling.All of the new stuff at my place means that my house is in total chaos. My garage is full of boxes and furniture and odds and ends.  But I finally havesome art on my walls.  The house is filling up with Diane, it’s awesome. Now we just need to figure out who’s furniture to keep and what to sell.During all of this change my Jeep decided to die.  Awesome timing!  Thanksto Cecil forlending us his truck to move the big stuff, we would have been sunk without the help. Saturday I replaced the radiator, thermostat, and serpentine belt on the jeep. I thought the water pump might need to be replaced too, but I decided to see if thenew radiator/thermostat would do the trick.  Nope – I still need a newwater pump.  So I’ll be doing that sometime soon.Did I mention I started a new photography class two weeks ago?  That’sright, I’m teaching a new class for this fall.  I have 13 students andwe are meeting two hours a week at Barnes & Noble in Gilbert.  It’sa lot of fun and I’m really enjoying it.But that’s not all!  (I feel like a steak knife commercial).  I’vealso been invited to join the IndependentPhotography Network.  I got my contract today and my submissions will belive next month.  It’s a great honor but also a lot of work choosingand categorizing all of the photos.During all of this excitement I learned that some good friends, Brandonand Denise, are moving to Oregon. The Bohlings have been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement to me duringthe past three years.  Diane and I were talking about how much we are going tomiss our friends.  Brandon and I talk a lot about photography, trade ideas, andbounce questions off each other.  Denise always has a fresh perspective on life. And they both love good food and great wine.  I’ll miss running to YenMi to eat Pho andget lost in conversation.It was the Bohlings who invited me to hikethe Grand Canyon, encouraged me to become more involved in photography, showedme parts of the world I’ve never been to, taught me about spro,and made the daily grind more enjoyable.  I’ll miss you guys!There is even more than that going on, but I’ll stop for now.  I don’thave time to tell you about Diane’s college classes or my crazy schedule atwork this week.  I’ll be in Portland tomorrow night and Wednesday. Maybe I’ll have time to post some more thoughts while I’m at the hotelor on the plane.Until then, enjoy life – love your pets and cherish your friends.  Eachday is a blessing.

Posted by admin Posted in: Events, Family Stuff, News No Comments » September 2005

Mannon’s Cogitations

My Dad has a new blog.  He’snew to the blogger community, but already has some pretty good stuff on his blog. He’s retired, so he has some wisdom to impart to us kids.  You can read his blogby clicking here.

Posted by admin Posted in: Family Stuff No Comments » April 2005

Proud Uncle!

Well my Brother’s baby, Zane, is doing great.  It’s pretty amazing.  Here’sa picture my brother sent me.  It’s the first time I’ve ever seen them together. What a great shot!  God is good.

I wonder what my little nephew is going to be like.  I have five other nephewsand five nieces.  They are all amazing.  I love Jordan’scastle video,  he’s also a rock star and social activists.  I cherishthe memories of Stephen having a good laugh when I came out for a visit and gotmy Jeep stuck in the mud; he made it a fun day.  Zoe is an artist and I predictshe’ll dictate fashion in the near future.  Genny is a thinker and I love hearingher point of view.  Her gentle words will heal souls.  Olivia is a queenand will one day make men tremble.  Tanner is the athlete, hockey fans preparefor the new Gretzky.  Calin is a great guy, I could spend hours with him. He engages me in conversation and could be the most polite person I know.  Summeris a girl who knows where she’s going; always.  She’ll cure cancer.  Sarahis a young woman who is graceful, smart, beautiful, and full of integrity.  Shealso sends me cool San Dimas High School stuff.  Jesse is a gentle giant; alwayshumble.  His cannonball splashes are simply the best!

What will little Zane be like?  Will he laugh a lot?  Will he have a temper? Will he chase girls in 1st grade?  Who will be his best friend?  Will helike Nascar?  What will be the first movie he watches?  How many times willhe fall and scrape his knee?  I can’t wait to find out.

Posted by admin Posted in: Family Stuff No Comments » January 2005

World, meet Mannon Zane Wallace!!

Well today was one of those days that will be celebrated for years. What a day!!The most significant thing happened in Seattle, WA.  My older brother, Lee, andhis wife, Tammy, had their firstchild!!! I’m so excited I can’t believe it.  They named him Mannon Zane Wallace. He was born at 11:06pm (pacific time).  He was 7 pounds 12 ounces.  Thelittle guy is 20 inches long with a swirl of black hair.  Man that’s cool.The second really neat thing to happen today was a new addition to Diane’s family. Yep, she adopted a dog today.  She found a darling dog named Buddy. He wastaken in by a kind neighbor after his unfeeling owner moved and abandoned him in hisyard.  In an attempt to free himself, he scraped his head on the fence and developedan open sore.  With treatment by the neighbor, the sore has healed up and hisfur is growing back.  Diane found him on a neatwebsite while doing research on Sammy.  The complete story will be told tomorrow,it’s just too late to go into detail tonight.And finally, at long last I’m launching my photoblog. It’s nothing fancy, but I’m hoping it will be an easier way to upload photos and keepthe site fresh.  I’ll still use the photoalbums for a lot of pictures.  But for daily experiments look to the photoblog.And that’s all the news for today.  Check back tomorrow for all the details.

Posted by admin Posted in: Dogumentary, Family Stuff, Photography No Comments » January 2005

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