A Walk Through Lithia Park

Posted on Feb 2nd, 2008 by

~~~ LITHIA PARK ~~~

Well folks, here we go! Do you have your walking shoes on? A lot of the park can be walked in sandals or heals, really, but if you are going up the hill - either way - you should have good walking shoes on.

We have found each other on The Bricks. It is early afternoon and there are a fair amount of people on the bricks, getting ready to see one of the matinees, getting their tickets squared around for tonight or just soaking in the ambiance of the Festival. The Festival does definitely have an ambiance. I feel it as magic. Part of that magic is the fact that there are a lot of people in one area who are excited, positive and interested. I pick up feelings from groups, and the prevailing feeling at OSF is one of subdued excitement and happy expectation. There is a reason that it is called a Shakespeare FESTIVAL; many of the people are truly in a festive mood. Then there is the fact that the people who work here are, for the most part, happy and passionate about what they are doing. It is, incidentally, one of the nicest places in the world to work. The benefits are fantastic, but most of all it is that the administration cares deeply about their people and wants them to be happy. They use the term “The Festival Family.” They mean it.

So, we've found each other rather easily … maybe it was the glitter all over Sprite's purple cloak or the butterflies I have all through my hair, but maybe not. As I said, people dress in interesting ways here. The people in the picture above are checking out the board to see what is playing tonight in all three theaters. We will be going to the Outdoor Elizabethan Theater. What is playing … can you see? No one told me what they wanted most to see, so I had to wing it. :-)

Are your dates coming on this walk, or are they back at the hotel getting some beauty rest? OH YES!! I've moved you into the Ashland Springs Hotel.

Lithia Springs Hotel - Photograph/Borrowed

This used to be the ONLY tall building in town. Now, there are two, as the fly tower of the New Mountain Avenue Theater is almost as tall. Still, this is the only tall building down town and it stands out so you can see it for miles. It is a historical site and has been an icon of Ashland for years, under a lot of different names. I'm still not quite used to “Ashland Springs.” It was the Mark Antony when we moved here and for years afterward. It was recently all redone and, yet again, renamed. The word on the street (that means my children and extended children) is that it really isn't particularly palatial inside, but that it IS an experience and experiences are always worth having!

So, all your bags and things are here now. The Winnebago and all the other cars are parked behind. We even have a limousine service that will come and pick you up at the hotel and take you the one and a half blocks to the Festival. I figured what they hey, you only live once, and I rented them for tonight.

Before we go down to the Park, let's duck into the Tudor Guild Gift Shop. They have the most incredible things here - masks and extravagant hats, quill pens and swords, jewelry, games and toys, toys, toys! The small hand held toys I love - Faeries and flying horses, wizards and knights on fire-footed steads! stuffed dragons, unicorns, faeries …And everything that you could possibly imagine that has to do with Shakespeare, Oh, yes and … . books …

BOOKS …

BOOKS …

PROBABLY THE SINGULAR WORSE PLACE IN THE WORLD
TO LET ME LOOSE WITH A CREDIT CARD …

Ah yes! All of these beautiful, mysterious hats, masks, adornments …reminded me …

One thing I should mention before we begin … I'm sure you all know that there are places on the earth where the shimmering gate that stands between this world and that of the Twilight Born is closer than it is in other places? Thinner, perhaps? Sometimes the edges of the mystic veil are caught by a sweet, purple wind and lifted? There are crossings, you know, crossings both ways.

Sometimes, when you are walking around town, you will see someone with that shadow of deep laughter in their eyes, or the wind will lift hair to reveal ears that are …

well, even the most unaware find themselves with the hair lifting on the back of their necks, or walking down a mossy emerald trail they are suddenly sure that they have seen …'NO!' they tell themselves sternly, 'that is absurd.'

For those who HAVE those senses that go far beyond five … well, you will undoubtedly see things … hear things …KNOW things. This whole side of the valley is this way … the hill behind my house is quite hollow, but the PARK … well… . if you find that things suddenly look the same, but not the same - at exactly the same time …

You HAVE tucked a bit of rowen in your pocket haven't you? Be sure you do, there is a tree right at the entrance to the park. Someone knew what they were doing when they planted the trees in Lithia park!

We start our journey coming down from the Festival toward the plaza. There are several ways down, but we will use The Shakespeare Steps. Note these steps carefully; you may read a book in which they figure prominently - someday. At the bottom of the steps we find a local mystery.

To tell the truth, we are not sure that it IS a mystery. It might be a joke. It might be vandalism, on the other hand, it might just be another local icon - one with a fine edge of irony. At the bottom of the Shakespeare Steps is a slightly larger than life statue of …

… come on, guess! Who would you expect to find at the foot of the Shakespeare Steps? That's right!

Abraham Lincoln. Some rich person decided to commission a slightly larger than life statue of Abraham Lincoln and put it at the foot of the Shakespeare Steps. Whatever.
It was odd, but it was fine for many years and then IT began. Mr. Lincoln … .

Headless Abe at the Shakespeare Steps - Photograph/Borrowed

Lost his head. They got him a new one, but sure enough,
in the dead of night when the APD was far away it happened again. And again. This went on until
the-powers-that-be just decided to stop putting new heads on him. For one thing, heads of statues are not free. But then … THERE he WAS. They couldn't just knock him down … some rich person had paid for him and even though he always has been rather incongruous, he is sort of an Ashland icon. They didn't want to keep re-heading him, and they couldn't knock him down. So they left him. The problem was, well, this is a tourist town and there he was standing right at the foot of the Shakespeare steps with his needle neck … . It's kind of macabre … and sort of embarrassing. But what are you going to do? It's a Catch 22.

THEN the city was contacted by a philanthropist, someone who wanted to help solve the dilemma and restore the dignity of the former President. So a new head was donated, one evidently attached with mega super glue. It gets even better! The philanthropist not only donated one head, but TWO! That way, when the Masked Head Snatchers manage to get the first one … Does anyone but me see a little flaw in the … logic here? Or maybe the ethics? Oh well. It is better than having that terrible little poker sticking out of poor Mr. Lincoln's neck …

Or is it?

Lincoln at the Shakespeare Steps - Photograph/Borrowed

The photograph is kind. It doesn't really even show the fact that the lovely new head is much too big for the statue's body nor the fact that it is not at all the same color as the rest of the statue.

On the bright side, if anyone in Ashland gets bored they can go down and sit on the bottom of the Shakespeare Steps and watch the tourists come past and notice Mr. Lincoln. “Ethel! Look at this! My GAWD Ethel, look at that HEAD!”

And of course, it is infinitely comforting to know that somewhere, in some secret storage facility, there is another head JUST LIKE THIS ONE!

Now we leave the Plaza …

And Enter The Park!

Lithia Park is 93 acres of emerald lawns and vivid color - flowers and trees that have to be seen to be believed. In fact, sometimes it's hard to believe them even when you are looking at them. The park contains tennis courts, a sand pit volley ball court, beautiful picnic areas - with the picnic tables made from rough-cut downed red-wood logs, and a splendiforous PLAY-GROUND! which combines some old favorites that have been there forever with some fantastic new equipment.

Ashland creek is allowed to run through miles of undeveloped woodlands on one side of the roadway while on the other is an exquisite Japanese Garden, Formal Rose Garden and Immanent Sycamore Grove. There are two duck ponds and a swan pond. Ducks have the right of way and there are Duck-crossing signs on the road all through the area.

Lithia Park began as eight acres in 1892 as part of the Chautauqua Association which brought entertainment and culture all around the United States. The Chautauqua was particularly strong in Ashland with the park and a large domed building that was constructed to house the lectures and plays. The walls of the original Chautauqua building sill surround the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Elizabethan Theater.

Entrance to Lithia Park - Photograph/Borrowed

Lithia Park was designed by the eminent Landscape Architect John McLaren, who also designed Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Going against the trend of the time to make parks and gardens resemble a certain time period or look exactly like another park or garden, McLaren designed Lithia organically, following the natural canyon; designing the Park around the water source rather than forcing the water into an unnatural bed.

McLaren designed for both dry years and years when the river was higher. He couldn't, of course, have designed for every extreme that Mother Nature would go to. It is a good thing for humans to remember that we do not control the forces of nature, so we must learn to live with them. Ashland Creek has flooded fairly severely several times in recorded history.

I can show you one of these, because I saw it. Close your eyes and put your fingers, very lightly over mine … see if you can see this memory …

Nope! That's the Lithia Fountain at the Upper Opening of the Park … that was awfully close however, the flood did come down past the Fountain … Let's try again … clear your mind

Do you see anything yet? Well, let me tell you about it anyway …

In the fall of 1996 it rained - a lot. Between Christmas and New Years it rained so hard that you would get soaked to the skin between the house and the car. Everyone in town had water in their basements, standing in their yards, coming in under their doors. On about December 28th, it started to rain, hard, and it just didn't stop. It was New Years Eve, when the flood struck. Ashland Creek came out of it's banks and just sort of took Lithia Park with it … then roared through down town Ashland, carrying all the downed trees and up-rooted rocks with it.

All of the stores on the Plaza were filled with water, the ones on the lower level (like Munchies Restaurant) were completely filled with water, upstairs the water was six and seven feet deep in some of the stores.

I certainly won't ever forget the flood … it was New Years Eve and I had about thirty teenagers at my house … who couldn't get home for several days. Oh, yeah.

Hey! There you go! That last memory
must have been so vivid it swacked you right in!

What you are seeing is the area, behind the Plaza. This is where the Lithia Artisans Market is held and where the restaurants on the Plaza have outdoor seating, creekside. At this point, creekside was somewhere a couple of blocks the other direction.

This is the Plaza - about a block away - on a street called “Water Street” the city water main broke. Not only did this add to the flood damage, it left the city of Ashland with no water and no sewer for … a long time. I don't want to guess and be wrong, but it was weeks, not days. I'm remembering nine weeks. I think that is right. My house is outside of the city limits, on a septic system and at the top of a small hill. We were the only people we knew who had water. After a couple of days I had to put up a chart for the shower because I'd have six kids show up at the same time. We rotated the shower with the washing machine - there were not even any launder-mats that escaped the flood. Everyone did the minimum, but it was still a lot. The kids brought their own towels and took them home to dry because I couldn't find room for all of them.

The entire town lost both water and sewer. There were infamous long lines of port-a-potty's placed in several places around town. Not a lot of fun in the middle of the night, or if you happen to be a girl. The people of Ashland, however, bucked up, did what had to be done and made a lot of really bad jokes. The next summer in the 4th of July Parade, OSF won as best entry for their “Dancing Port-a-Pottys.”

Everyone was very involved and very emotional. In-spite of how devastating the flood had been, no one was hurt. It could have been so much worse. The kids hugged each other a lot and cried when they talked about Justin's leather bound Complete Works of Shakespeare which had floated away with everything else on his bedroom floor. Everyone helped everyone and when it was all over, everyone helped put everything back together. This included the stores all along the Plaza and much of Lithia Park.

There were a lot of beautiful trees lost in the flood, and I still miss them, but there are new ones growing in their place. Ten years later Lithia Park is flourishing and beautiful once again; all the scars from the flood are gone. What is not gone, is a deeper and more real understanding of the word “Community.”

This beautiful new bridge replaces the one that the flood of '97 took out.

Bridge over Ashland Creek - Photograph/Borrowed

One of the first things you will see as we enter the Park is the beautiful Swan Pond. It is a place of peaceful serenity; the wind ruffles the ancient trees, the swifts soar and dart above the water which reflects the half timbered, Tudor styled back of the Elizabethan Theater.

Get out your bear-toe's you will want to change the seasons here. You will want to see them all. This is one of those places where you never can decide which season is the most beautiful. Well, no. I am always deciding that which ever season I am looking at at the moment is the most beautiful. In the spring this spot is a wonderland of flowers, in the summer it is opulent with ever shade of green imaginable - emerald, jade and malachite, moss and citrine, olive and beryl, shamrock and chartreuse, turquoise and absinthe, nile and Kelly and sea and pea!

It is also one of those places where people don't believe that your photographs are untouched. Until you see the Lithia Swan Pond in Autumn, it is really almost more than you can make yourself believe.

Even in winter there is a grace and elegance that is in someways the most beautiful of all . The bare branches have shapes that you never see when the trees are full of leaves, a dancing, inner movement even before the wind catches them. They stand stark and clear within the warm embrace of the broad, luxuriant evergreens.

Winter

Swan Pond Behind the Lizzy - Photograph/Borrowed

Summer

Autumn

Spring

Ashland is a city, but we are not that far from either mountain or wood. We get frequent visitations from all kinds of wildlife. It is not at all strange to find a family of deer in the park … on in the back yard of the doctor's office … or strolling down the street in front of the High School. It is one of the graces of living here.

This photograph was taken in 1915. It is the Lithia Gazebo which shelters the taps of Lithia Water. The Gazebo is still standing in the Park and the Lithia water is still flowing. Ashland made it on the map because of Lithia Water. Early in the twentieth century mineral water was thought to cure just about everything in the world. Lithia water was bottled and shipped all over the world. There was a Spa here as well, for people to come and be healed with Lithia water. There IS something healing here, that much is certain. I'm not sure it is the Lithia water, however.

Still … when you visit don't leave without coming down to the Park to drink some Lithia water. There is a tap on the Plaza as well, right under Iron Mike. I'm sorry I can't do any better virtually than to tell you about it … you are just going to have to come to Ashland in the flesh to taste it! Bring some jugs, you'll want to take some home.

Near the Gazebo is the Lithia Band Shell. All sorts of fun things happen here. There are band concerts during the summer and Ballet in the Park performs here every week. It is a place where all kinds of bands practice often. One of my favorite things in the world is to come and find a couple of little girls putting on a concert for their mothers, or for no one. It is my opinion that there is nothing more beautiful in the world than a child dancing.

It is here at the Lithia Park Band-shell that we carry on with the one, universal ritual left to us as a people. Have you ever thought of that before? I have done research on how important ritual is for humans; I then look around and find that, in truth, ritual is almost totally gone from our communal lives. Some churches still have some, but the trend has been away for it. There is still some ritual involved in some marriages, but nothing universal. This is the only thing that is left. When a young person has completed their schooling, to a particular level, they put on a long robe, and a strange flat hat with a tassel and they walk down an isle to be honored for their achievements.

It is at the Lithia Park Band-shell that Ashland High School Traditionally holds their graduation ceremony. It is a “ceremony” and it is full of tradition. The kids do the long walk from the road above down between the well-wishers to the band-shell. They walk in two's and it is important to the kids who they “walk” with. Many of them decide when they are Freshman who they will “walk” with. They file in and listen to speeches, which are full of hopes and remembrances.

Here, the fellows in the back row let it be known that they agree with the speaker who has just said something to the effect: “Ashland High Debate Team Rules!”

They listen, mess with their hats, do something moronic like bat an inflatable beach ball around, file up to get their diplomas (where you hear for the first and last time everyone's middle name.) They file back to their seats and are officially “Graduated.” They move the tassel on their hat from one side to the other and then …

They throw them…………………………

They all go up………………………and………………………….they all come down……………………

Almost. That would be my son's hat sticking up there in the band-shell.

When he was two years old I told him, “every-time you throw something up, it ALWAYS comes down!” He looked at me and he said, “Why?” I explained gravity to a two year old. He nodded and then said, “Why?”

That one hat that didn't come down … an incredible metaphor for an incredible child …

And so … the Lithia Park Band Shell cradles our hopes for the future, in this, the only ritual our culture has left. Some of them will go through this ritual again in a black robe with a black hat; some yet again wearing a velvet hood. By fall most of them will hit I-5 whooping and cheering to finally be getting out of Ashland. By the time they are thirty, many of them will have come quietly and thankfully back. There is a Modoc legend that says you cannot leave this part of the Rogue Valley. They say there is a vortex here. You can try to leave, but no matter where you go or what you do, the vortex pulls you back. What IS that vortex, I wonder. Does it have to do with the mathematics and biology; or with the geography and grammar that they learned on their way from the first day of Kindergarten to the Lithia Park Band Shell?

I don't think so.

From the band shell we go across the road and up the hill. First we see the Formal Rose Garden. This is rose country. I've got a black-thumb, I can't grow anything, but my roses are incredible. I have Peace roses and Camelot roses, white and yellow, red, rose and peach, twenty shades of pink and even purple. Several of my rose bushes are actually trees - they are taller than my 6'1” son and twenty feet around. My peace roses are the size of grapefruits - I've never seen roses that big. I've never seen roses as beautiful nor smelled them as fragrant. The rose garden at Lithia Park is very beautiful. It is very formal. And all the way down the road, the wild roses tumble in an unruly riot of wanton beauty.

And then we come to the Japanese Garden. It is small, but it is perfect. Breathe deeply and see if you can see … spring / autumn … two sides of the same thing … yin / yang …here in this secret, secluded spot of serenity …

here on this small hill
eternity encircled
clear water on stone

Spring in the Japanese Garden - Photograph/Borrowed

We are come now to my favorite place in the Park. It is likely my favorite place in Ashland. It is definitely one of my favorite places on earth. This is the Sycamore Grove. I call this the Immanent Grove. I got the name from Ursula LeGuin's “Wizard of Earthsea” trilogy. In the School of Wizards they have a grove used for special meditation. The grove moves. Or at least it seems to move. At one time it is in one place and another time it is in another place. It is finally explained to the Wizard Ged that the Immanent Grove is the center of the world It is the world that moves, the grove really stands still.

My Immanent Grove does seem to move. Seriously, for all that it is quite large and full of big Sycamore trees, sometimes it is difficult to find. From the first time I walked beneath it's trees, I have felt that it very likely could be the center of the world. I used to take the little girls there in the middle of the night to hug the trees. I go there to meditate, though I sometimes feel that I am the meditation, rather than the one doing it.

I could not find a photograph of the Immanent Grove on the Internet. That is perhaps not surprising. I might have gone and taken one myself, but in a delicious irony, while I write of Camelot where the snow always stays on the mountain and the valley stays dry … the roads are currently impassable because of one of the biggest snow storms I've seen since we lived here.

And so … this will have to do. I painted this of the Immanent Grove. It is entitled, “Coming Home.” I've always thought the painting had that feeling to it, and after all, it is one of the homes of my heart.

Sanctuary - Elizia Comes Home to the Immanent Grove

We go back across the road to the “wild” side of the park now. Here I am not going to talk so much. We will walk quietly through the lush, living green - right next to the incredible beauty of Ashland Creek. I have always felt that one of the most beautiful things in the world is water in motion - fountains, waterfalls, the sea, and especially rivers. This particular little piece of moving water is one of the most beautiful in the world.

Walk softly and watch carefully … you may see them … they are here …

Ashland Creek With Soft Light - Photo/Borrowed

We have come to the “wading place” … the river has a natural shallow here and the city has helped it a little so there is a safe place for little ones to put their toes in the water. This is a sacred spot as well. The running water is a beautiful metaphor and it is it's own ritual. Go in one side and let the crystal energy of the water pour over. Who comes out the other side does not have to be who went it. And there is no reason that it can only happen once … the water keeps flowing. I pray that the water will always keep flowing.

Here at the wading place are my daughters. They all work every day to bring about the changes that must be made to keep the sacred water flowing. A Yoga Instructor and Therapist, A Shakespeare Expert, A Massage Therapist and Holistic Healer, A Medical Doctor, A Film Production Manager, A Environmental Film Specialist, A Midwife
and Doula … they know where they are going and, as you can see, they know what is important. They grew up here, in this park. They grew up in a town that has the judgment and sensitivity to know how important places like this are; a community that has the wisdom to understand that human beings need more than just food and shelter to thrive. Trees, animals, wild water, beauty, fresh air … it's all here in abundance. It's here for everyone … come and get your share!

The shadows are long across the grass as we come out of the park. Do you suppose we have time … .? Of course we do! We have all the time in the world, WE'RE VIRTUAL!!

So before we get dressed for dinner and the theater, we'll run up the Shakespeare Steps and up the hill, we'll run all the way up to the top of the OSF parking lot. From here we can see the entire valley. It is so incredibly beautiful ! We can see the green Siskiyou's on this side of the valley and the gentle, lion colored Cascades on the other side with a sky of magic and marvels spread between them … because the sun is just setting.

The cool, evening breeze has begun blowing in from the west, as cool and as sweet as wine … speaking of which! …

Wine in the Parking Lot! Photograph/Borrowed

LOOK AT THAT! My daughters have tracked us up here and brought us a bottle of cold Pino Grigio from the Ashland Vineyards!

Now, HOW did they know that we were going to run up here to see the sunset?

There are a lot more glasses in the basket, and more bottles as well! A cork screw, my goodness, they thought of everything.

There is plenty here for everyone who is with us AND plenty for those who will be with us the next time we do this … because it is virtual, people can join us and we can have this day over and over … isn't that remarkable?

Speaking of remarkable! LOOK at the SKY!

This is a real, untouched shot of a sunset over Ashland. I told you that people don't believe how pretty it is here. If you don't believe it, I guess you'll just have to come and see for yourself … won't you?

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