Karen Laslo

January 2017, Five Mile Recreation Area, Bidwell Park.

Early January brought sustained rains to the Sacramento Valley, a great volume of water draining out of the mountains, a muddy flow scouring the banks of rivers and flooding adjacent lands. I saw in this unrestrained force, a veritable image of the coming inauguration of a man who advocates racial and ethnic hatred and exclusion on religious grounds, a man who muddies the language with harsh and ugly words, a man intolerant of anyone who dares to criticize or even disagree with him, a man who brags of sexually assaulting women.

Between the election and inauguration of Donald Trump, January found some of us gathered in an interim of relative peace to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We took heart in the presence of each other and in Dr. King’s legacy of nonviolent resistance to whatever forms injustice might take. We shared a community meal, feeling mutual support and knowing we could face whatever threat might arise. It was a time of great beauty, a reassurance of shared humanity.

And in the pauses between January storms when the mud settled out of the river waters, I saw in the clear current an alternative to Trump’s muddy turbulence: an unstoppable human river of protest to Donald Trump’s inauguration that spread from the shores of the Pacific to the Atlantic. And here in Chico as well, the downtown plaza and streets flooded with the bodies of ardent protesters, knowing that they could rely on one another to survive even the most treacherous current in this time of crisis.

January 15, 2017, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Beloved Community Celebration, Trinity United Methodist Church, Chico

The People gather for the celebration.

Dorothy Johnson (red scarf)

Doin’ It Justice choir.

“We Shall Overcome” slide show compiled by Serena Kirk

Bethel AME Community Choir.

Bethel AME Choir singer.

Vince Haynie, Pastor, Rhema Word of Faith and MC for the Celebration.

“Light of Day” a Hearthstone School Dramatic Presentation.

Dominique Silva-Soares sings “Greatest Love of All.”

Armenta Hawkins, Director of Chico Peace and Justice Center, explains Alternatives to Violence Project, “Parallel Pews.”

Dr. Nandi Sojourner Crosby gives talk, "The Fierce Urgency of Now."

Dr. Nandi Sojourner Crosby speaks of, “The Fierce Urgency of Now.”

Love.

“Blessing of the food” by Deacon Joe Person, Jr.

Beloved Community Dinner.

January 20, 2017

The Ugly Inauguration

Thanks to Miles, the Pageant Theater gave a free showing of Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! broadcasting live from Washington, on the day of the Trump’s inauguration. While Trump gave his speech, Democracy Now! simultaneously showed photos of thousands of protesters.

Later that evening, protesters gathered on the corner of Notre Dame and the Skyway in Chico.

January 21, 2017

The Beautiful Women’s March on Chico

An estimated 2,000 – 2,500 people marched through downtown Chico, the biggest demonstration in the history of Chico.

After the Women’s March the People returned to the Plaza in downtown Chico for music and speeches.

Hanna May.

Indigenous women speak out.

(Not) The End . . .

By Lin Jensen, photos by Karen Laslo

Music by Led Zepplin

Karen is often found afield with a camera in hand. Yet recent storms brought down more trees than she could possibly photograph. They lay strewn like fallen giants on the paths and roadways of Bidwell Park; they crushed the roofs of houses and thrust up great slabs of sidewalk. While Karen couldn’t record it all, she managed nonetheless to capture images enough to show the inexorable and sudden force of wind and rushing water.

There’s no point in arguing with the weather; you’ll find it totally indifferent to your wishes and preferences. The rain does not rain for our sakes nor cease for our sakes. Nor do trees germinate or grow or topple and die because of any concern for our wellbeing. Nature is its own life and force over which we have no control but can only endure and at best admire. But it is possible to tamper with mechanisms that influence the weather, which we humans have done and for which we are now reaping the consequences. In a series of storms such as those of these past days, we get a small sense of what nature is capable of, and a measure of how little recourse we have to ward off the very forces we have set in motion.

Look at these photographs with an eye of consequence, and know that these images are but a fraction of what might be in store for us. Natural forces are both wondrous and threatening. What Karen has shown through the lenses of her camera these past days, awakens us to a humility and reverence for the forces of nature, and turns us toward an essential harmonization with our native surroundings that constitutes our only true life on this planet.

An English Walnut Street Tree tumbled over barely missing 2 houses but pulled the sidewalk up about 3 feet.

This Valley Oak clipped the roof of 2 houses when it fell on 8th St. Valley Oaks don’t like a lot of summertime irrigation.

Fortunately, when this oak fell it didn’t damage Sycamore Pool.

Valley Oak on the north side of Caper Acres.

Chico Creek over flows Sycamore Pool at One Mile, Bidwell Park.

Sycamore Pool.

One Mile/Sycamore Pool, looking east. Note the life guard stands and the pool ladders.

Lower Bidwell Park next to the freeway.

Sandbags to keep the creek from flooding houses on the south side of Bidwell Park.

Sandbags to keep the creek from flooding houses on the south side of Chico Creek, lower Bidwell Park.

Manzanita Ave. bicycle tunnel.

Five Mile Recreation and picnic area.

The flood gates at Five Mile. A large log washed down from up-stream bangs into the gates.

Chico Creek looking east as seen from the flood gate bridge.

Chico Creek looking east as seen from the flood gate levee at Five Mile, Bidwell Park.

Five Mile picnic area.

Sacramento River as seen from River Rd. Note there isn’t any bank visible.

Sacramento River at the “Wash-out.”

A Picture's Worth

Author Archives: Karen Laslo