Hard to believe but we are coming upon the one year anniversary of the Oso mudslide. So it seems an appropriate time to share a few images. Most are ones you've probably seen before but this was my experience. When I came home in January it was top of my list to visit the site. I grew up in the neighboring town. Many of my friends lived in Oso and went to Arlington schools, the same schools I attended. Being from a small community, everyone was somehow connected to someone involved.
Upon arriving at the mudslide site there was a women paying her respects and wiping tears from her eyes as she walked away. I imagine this is a daily routine for her. As I got out of the car and she was walking past me to go back home (one of the few still standing right across the street), she said firmly out of concern, "Be respectful, this is a grave site". I humbly responded "Of course". I just wanted to give her a hug. I understood the sensitivity of the area where so many lost their lives and so many spent endless hours searching and helping where they could. Some of them were my friends too. So even though I wasn't around when this happened, even from a distance, I still felt connected.
As I stood there surrounded by the beauty of the green, hilly country scene that I grew up in, I tried to imagine everything I had only seen in pictures that flooded the internet. The emotion I felt was overwhelming as I thought of every story & every life that is now a part of this land. This land that is currently a memorial full of debris and dirt hills with a large gap missing from the side of a mountain, also leaves a large gap missing from so many hearts.
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| 43 trees represent the 43 lives lost in the slide. |
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| On the opposite side of the slide where mud and debris continued across SR530. |
