Astoria, Oregon ~ December 8, 2010
Yesterday's mystery photo was a gray, lumpy stone, looking for all the world like an ancient tree trunk, so imagine my surprise when the first guesser, cieldequimper, commented, "That has got to be a sleeping dragon, all curled up." Well, it wasn't, exactly, but it was part of a Chinese stone installation prominently featuring dragons. Lying within two or three feet of the mystery stone was the carved marble dragon shown above. Clytie and Jean B were both close with "some part of a statue." How did you guys do that? Both the natural stone and the dragon column can be seen outside of the old Englund Marine store at 15th Street on the River Walk as part of the Astoria Chinese Heritage Park project still in progress. The park is on the other side of town; I'll have to get over there and see if anything new has been done. Meanwhile, the rock art has been lying next door to my place since October.
Here is a more complete view of the column. I'm not sure how many columns were imported to Astoria, but it seemed like there may have been a dozen. I have photos of the day the crates were brought in and opened, but I'll have to find the right folder. I know I have them, but I can't locate them quickly.
This is the mystery rock from my photo. I took the picture standing on the other side looking over the ridges. The details in the rock are quite unusual.
Above is another of the stones.
And this description tells what they are and where they came from. I'm sorry, I don't know any more about the carved dragon columns at this time. I was out of town when the opening exhibition was held on October 16th.
The exhibition was held here in the old Englund Marine building, which also served as Goonies' Headquarters during Goonies Week last June. The banner says:
Astoria's Bicentennial LEGACY GIFT
The Garden of Surging Waves
Bronze & Stone Artwork from Xi'an
Exhibit Opening October 16, 2010
Mayor Willis Van Dusen can be seen talking about Astoria's Chinese heritage and the meaning of the park in this video by Ron Law. The Chinese Heritage Park also has a page on Facebook.
Here's what's left inside the building.
