Category Archives: BIGFOOT

Bigfoot Early Late July 02

These next 5 photos come from an apartment complex just east of Bigfoot, or wedged between it and the Blue Mtn. Urban Landscape. A picnic table awaits at Leola Creek for future thinking purposes. Can’t wait!

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There’s a very elaborate set of stairs leading from the apartments up on the ridge down to the creek and table. A lot of work was put into this!

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Gazebo on the east end of the apartment buildings.

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Nice view of the Blue Mtn. Urban Landscape from the fence there.

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A new object has entered Bigfoot today: a plastic yellow Adirondack chair formerly located just across Leola Creek. It never crossed my mind that I could easily carry the chair back into Bigfoot Proper until this day. It could replace the metal folding chair as the primary sitting and thinking spot of BP.

A sync connected with this: a second after resizing the below photo to insert in this blog, my wife asked if she could buy a couple of plastic Adirondack chairs from the local Lowes. She hadn’t seen what I was doing, and then even doubted that the yellow chair in my photo was an Adirondack because of the side view, which turned out to be untrue as I checked. I took the obvious psychic conjunction to mean that we were both on the right track. The new chair will fit nicely into Bigfoot Proper! Fate.

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So… Chesterton. Went there not once but twice yesterday. Couple of new developments. Chesterton, at least for now, has definitely split into two parts. Let’s call them Chesterton North and Chesterton South for present purposes. Below we have the center of this Chesterton North, with the 3 nice little Avon buildings already discussed before. A merger with animals also recently purchased has occurred. A giraffe poses between two of the three structures, standing taller than each. A large gorilla pulls a King Kong beside it. A pelican, elephant, goose, alligator, emu, horse, hippo, monkey, and lion also roam the village. A bag of marbles awaits opening. An apple infected with worm is also in the display. Is it the apple that poisoned nearby Snow White? I think in one way it has to be. The worm actually drives the apple around. Applecart? (don’t upset?)

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Another decision made this day was to make 12 rustier pieces of connected model railroad track *permanent* within Chesterton (North). This has never happened before in one of my toy/junk, um, happenings. I’ve always removed track when the event was over, like with the Fall 2015 Bigfoot one. The track is also exactly symmetrical: 4 straight pieces on each end, centered by 4 curved segment forming a hoop shaped eastern veer and passing between the 3 Avon buildings. Hoop, hmmm…

Northern part:

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Southern part with displayed toys to one side (return to them soon):

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Looking toward Chesterton North’s center over Wireway 61, which kind of parallels the permanent track.

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The Veer.

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Bigfoot Early Late July 01

We start at the Plateau of Raw Art and pictures from the improvised skateboard rink up there. The art has progressed since we last stopped by fall 2015. LINK

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Is this ghost-like image a Boo? Remember how Boos were depicted in a number of my collages (Boos series) created just after the Bigfoot fall happening? This must be Boone the Boo. 🙂 Dan’l? Why is he examining his hand which forms a peace sign? Is it too late for peace? And what of the vampire fangs? Does it represent the emotional darkness of the larger city depicted behind him or her? A city much too large to be Blue Mountain, I might add.

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There’s also some quite nice realistic graffiti at the park…

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… but I personally prefer the more symbolic stuff, like this…

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A failed attempt at realism? The failure, if so, tells a story as well.

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Fallen chain link fence. The park has a nice vibe to it. Safe. Urbanesque but not too much so. A small, safe skateboard rink for a small, safe town. I don’t feel threatened by its presence.

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Tiger stripes?

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Circle of wholeness. I could actually unscrew this 4 piece baby and take it down into Bigfoot, but would it be a good fit there? What other junk could the Plateau of Raw Art provide for Bigfoot happenings? Have I about gathered all that’s possible?

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Notes

I should be able to do a lot of constructive work in Bigfoot and specifically Chesterton this weekend. My goal is to set up a working marble track. See preliminary discussion of this in the previous blog post LINK. The summer happening might be coming to a peak. I might even take an afternoon off on Friday (?). Probably not, but I’d like to. Afterwards — you never know — rain might move in once more and put a choke hold on the rest of the summer. But, then again, there’s always the fall and drier October, the least rainy month of the year. I *love* October here in the mountains! But I see Chesterton as more a summer event, perhaps.

Another strong possibility I’d like to talk about is the end of Collagesity, my virtual home for a bit over 2 years now. A long time in Second Life! I’ve put all my land there up for sale just last night except for a 512 bordering the Rubi Woods, although at a higher price tag than what people might instantly jump on. My plan, if this goes through, is to keep the 512 and the premium membership, and that’s it as far as land ownership goes for a little bit. Later on, of course, I’ll have the choice of buying more land or renting or both. It’s just that nothing really has happening in Collagesity since the “Collagesity Winter 2015-2016” graphic novel ended in mid March. That’s over 200 dollars right there plopped down for a basically inactive virtual village. The idea is that I can spread out my builds in several locations that I don’t own. The Edwardston Station Gallery holding the Art 10×10 collages already exists in Cayuga. I have a Gloomy Gus set up in Asha. The place I’ve been calling BoB contains several small builds, and there’s a secret skybox in Mystenopolis just up the hill from it created last summer. The armoring of a “bodyguard” for Baker Bloch continues…

I think I’d like to develop BoB now: Birthplace of Bogota. Free up a 50 dollar allowance for toys and such. Focus on *Chesterton*, on Bigfoot. See where the toy/junk happening evolution takes me, since I have such a perfect spot for it now. Perhaps a graphic novel will develop *there* next (!?).

—–

Things to do:

…Take all toys that are going to be used in the event so far to Chesterton in the next several days and store them. I don’t want to store track there overnight, since the dew might start to rust it. But also think of the possibility of a permanent track, or at least what *will* be left behind here during winter months.
…Think more about *Oz* in the center of Chesterton, that needs to be revived. Green golf ball, Greenilochs, etc. Think of publishing the SID’s 1st Oz related interview with Booker T. from 2007 on the Sunklands site that I’ve just been reading. Strange document!
…Think of virtually exploring Chesterton, Indiana (perhaps both of ’em!) for more syncy fun and meaning.
…Dream of a Chesterton related audiovisual synch, perhaps involving 6 Feet Under (Oz?, Bowie? Snow White?)… I love the way the 3rd season started. We’re on episode 5 now of that season; should be finished up with the show in about a month to a month and a 1/2. Remember: Claire Fisher is The Tigers.
…Chesterton/Bigfoot related *collages* for the fall and winter. Bogota series?

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Bigfoot Late Mid July 02

Upon returning to Chesterton Monday, Pocket Rock had been overturned. Raccoons? Why, then? No, I think this is [another] message. Pocket Rock could even have a certain, specific power of its own. Is it the same as space explorer Rock Meadows of Whitehead Crossing legend? They’re about the same size. “We see front and back of things?”

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Looking down the track track I set up that day, Barbie Head to left, which the toy avatars of the original Bigfoot happening last fall chose to call Brian Head — not Brain Head, which might have been more logical. Now she’s beside the headless, blue Snow White container found on The Island, obviously making two parts of one thing; head and body together now, or at least beside each other. The head even has a blue dress on as a continuation.

Snow White fears wind now, understandably. That’s why she’s tucked tightly underneath the double stair platform, an object which also happens to be from The Island. Another 2-n-1.

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The center of Chesterton, or a *second* center beyond the downtown (get to that new rivalry in a minute), are these 3 really cute model houses, an Avon product retailing for at least 25 dollars apiece. I bought all three at the Mythopolis flea market the day before for a mere 5 bucks. The woman who sold them to me said another man bought them for his model railroad layout. I said I was kind of doing the same, but couldn’t explain in detail, since the idea of a toy happening is difficult to grasp for the uninitiated. So when she asked if I had a model train layout too, I just told her I was planning on getting one. I think the purchase was fate, however, since I was looking online just one or two nights before this for, yes, model train buildings. They’re expensive! Hard to get a decent looking one for under 20 dollars. I was very lucky.

Since taking these pictures, I figured out a way to remove the plugs and attached bulbs from the buildings. So when they are returned to Chesterton, they’ll be cordless. I’m just showing these pictures to prefigure a “final” layout.

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More new stuff: Winnie the Pooh with a butterfly on his nose standing close to a princess or queen of some kind — I’m not sure from which show or movie. Not “Frozen,” I don’t think, judging from images online. But for here, we can say that this is probably another version of Snow White because of the white outfit involved. She holds a white purse in her lap. The butterfly flutters just above. The butterfly may have just escaped from the purse. Anyhoot, this is connected to Collagesity’s Curse Purse that both Baker Blinker and Dr. Mulholland have possessed at one time, collected from the distant planet of Muff-Birmingham. More on that soon, but here we seem to have a direct bleed-through between Chesterton and Collagesity, perhaps even a portal of some kind.

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Closeup of one of the 3 Avon buildings: a church. The mossy rock beside it might simply be refered to as The Rock, around which all else is built. The 4 colors of the Mmmmmm’s to one side seem to refer to TILE, another “religion”. Is this a TILE Church, then, and not a Christian one? Or has the former transplanted the latter?

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The new Chesterton center looking south toward the downtown, which may no longer be the downtown.

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Looking north, with The Bramble in the background now, which one cannot get through. Impenetrable.

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We move south of Chesterton now on Second Road to uncover this day yet another root loop, a stumpier and shorter one this time. I’ll have to make a more detailed map of both Chesterton and Second Road soon. Preliminary examination has the southern part of Second Road below The Bramble divided into about 14 logical segments, with Chesterton occupying the first 4 or 5.

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This particular Bigfoot visit also took me to The Island (and beyond) on its northern side for closer examination. I didn’t find any new objects there to add to the Snow White container and the double stairs platform, but I did find this bee posing on a rock while preening itself.

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The Cliffs just across Leola Creek from The Island. Quite impressive. Maybe 20-25 feet high and much longer.

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The Beach of The Island. Even has bagged sand awaiting distribution. I briefly contemplated taking these 2 sand bags back to Bigfoot Proper or Chesterton but balked after picking one up. Too heavy to lug that distance while hopping across creeks, etc.

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I discovered this little rock with a face beneath The Bridge of The Island, or the way back into Bigfoot proper. The bridge into Bigfoot, in essence, since I’m fairly sure The Island is not technically within its boundaries.

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On the same day, another object from Bigfoot Proper was moved up to Chesterton, with the thinking being that it could serve as a prop for the developing railroad track loop.

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But that plan didn’t quite pan out this day of experimenting, so I added it to the downtown region next to the pressure canner.

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Another shot of Pooh and “Snow White” princess.

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Head and body reunited, again.

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And I also decided to lay this metal butterfly found in the same box as Winnie the Pooh at the Mythopolis flea market directly about the much smaller butterfly on his nose. Together they set me back one dollar. The association is obvious; the butterfly (and attached purse) become central. The metal butterfly also reminds me of a white horse decorating hillsides of Wiltshire and other English counties.

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I was unable to finish the full track today, but the idea of running it all the way to Chesterton’s downtown area and back has been scuttled. And I don’t even have enough pieces to complete this shortened version. I’ll have to dig around our junky basement more in coming days — because I *know* the number was greater than the 40 pieces brought in so far. The Bigfoot happening last fall, by itself, contained 47 segments of track, I believe, and I remember at the time that I had a significant additional amount to play around with, if desired.

In connection with this at least temporary loss, a reorganization of our house is most likely in order. Toy gathering and indexing, for example, could easily get out of hand.

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Bigfoot Late Mid July 01

The complete pot or, more precisely, pressure canner or pressure cooker. Looks like about a 40 quart one based on comparisons with this similar item.

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The point I want to make with the following photo is that I found the pot not in 2 pieces but 3, with the bottom removed as well as the top. It took me a minute to even associate the bottom and sides of the pressure canner together when I found them close to each other almost 3 months back now. As regular Bigfoot event readers will already know, the top was procured from the Plateau of Raw Art in the fall, and was prominently featured in the October art happening at Bigfoot Proper (BP). One of the odd things about this is that I’m not sure where I found the top — memory doesn’t serve me for that more distant event. It *could* have been near the sides and bottom, perhaps in front of the fence that they, in turn, were then found behind later on. I just don’t have clear recall.

Below you can see the crack all around the edge of the bottom where I had matched it with the sides again. The canner is a magical 3-in-1 item. It represents Chesterton rising to at least equal importance to Bigfoot Proper in the long term happening that the overall Bigfoot area is becoming. Little Vincente looks on, alternately staring at and admiring each. He can’t weigh in on an ultimate judgement either. It’s like choosing one parent over another, which no kid likes to do. But I think Chesterton will win out in the end, as one sex rises to prominence over the other. I think it is the feminine.

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Speaking of females — this is another weird thing that happened. Remember in the Bigfoot related picture post just before this one that I was quite shocked to find both of my toy tigers still standing on a small stone after a recent wind storm? Well, I come back this day to find the female tiger basically *embedded* in the pine needles about a foot in front of the rock. I could not remove the figurine without disturbing the needles basically woven around her. The male tiger had also moved, but appeared to just topple over from his standing position on the rock. Something is definitely happening in Chesterton that one could call paranormal. This is a direct comment on male and female energies. The female tiger here was selected as the carrier of the paranormal message. “Where I am could not happen without intelligent intervention,” she seems to relay. The male tiger toppling over could be an accident — this embedding, as I said, falls into another category.

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I’m writing the text several days after taking these photos and I know a similar, paranormal event will happen to the below pictured rock very soon. This is Pocket Rock, formerly located in Whitehead Crossing and which I removed from same this past winter, for reasons I outline in a post at the time. In short, Pocket Rock was deemed an “alien” import into Whitehead Crossing and removed. The same is accepted into Chesterton as a welcome guest, since all of Bigfoot was designed as a nest for toy/junk happenings. It is home?

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Further south on Second Road below Chesterton, a good number of fallen pine trees appear in a row. What felled them? Another storm?

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I arrived in Bigfoot Proper through First Road to find that a cracked, brown nerf ball was gone. I subsequently found it in a weedy area of Bigfeet Swamp, about 20-25 feet away. Granted, the ball is not very heavy, but is this more evidence of “poltergeist” activity in the area? I certainly can’t rule it out. The nerf ball became exposed to the elements after I removed the pressure canner top formerly covering it and took the it to Chesterton. All this seems to make some kind of fantastical story, or the unfolding of such.

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Nerf ball now in Bigfeet Swamp.

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Bigfeet Swamp.

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Red rooted plant at Mina’s Pool. I’ll have to check to see what kind; obviously likes water.

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Bent cattail leaves at Bigfeet Swamp. Naturally bent?

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Nerf ball.

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Edible blackberries are appearing in the Bigfoot area. Yummy!

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Doors are open once more at the old press box of the football field, like when I took these pictures last fall. Who opened them? Anything different inside? I’ll have to check soon, at a time when skateboarders aren’t around to take note of me.

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Purple flowers and yellow pipe at the Plateau.

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Next Steps

I should be able to play around in Bigfoot at least this coming Sunday morning. Go in early; take [railroad] track. See how to set it up for a fuller happening down the road a bit, perhaps in the fall (or a drier period in the summer, even). I’m going to push the envelope with this one. I’m even thinking about getting rid of virtual Collagesity to save a bit of money each month for toy happening related purchases. I have my eye on some model railroad landscaping products already. I might start frequenting local flea markets. It could be — *could* be — that Collagesity’s purpose reached its peak with the creation of the large and important (to me) “Collagesity Winter 2015-2016” fictional work. I finished that about 4 months back now and haven’t really done anything much with the virtual berg since then. I’ll have to think long and hard about this one. Perhaps a chat with Carrcassonnee is in order.

Carr:

Sell. I am present in Cayuga still[ on top of the Art 10×10 Building there]. You have places all over the place now.

BB:

But it’s *your* village.

Carr.:

I…

Hucka D.:

Hellow!

BB:

Howdy Hucka D.!

Hucka D.:

I can be your guide again. Choose me!

BB:

If I get rid of Collagesity, what are the consequences?

Hucka D.:

Not much. It will have to go eventually. Like Bigfoot itself. Bigfoot is a nest for you to hatch and grow in a nurtured environment. Then: Middletown. Give up the tier now. You’ll have a larger virtual reality later.

BB:

What about[ the projected] Bogota [series]?

Hucka D.:

Bogota goes as Bogota is. Umm…

BB:

You don’t know.

Hucka D.:

No. Carrcassonnee might know.

Carr.:

I don’t[ know].

BB:

Nobody knows nothing about Bogota.

Carr and Hucka D. (jointly):

No. Not really. (additional muttering here)

Bogota:

*I* know.

BB:

David Bowie!

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Bigfoot Map 03

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click to enlarge

Other aspects:

The Bramble: A corridor of thicker vegetation pictured in the very center of the map and paralleling/overlapping the Intake Stream flow for Bigfeet Swamp (see below). The Bramble begins at 4th Road and runs downhill all the way to 1st Road, where it ends in The Hollow (not labelled). The Caves, individually named Holey and Unholey, are on the upper side of The Hollow. This is where Taum Sauk made his winter camp. In fact, I’m pretty sure he still lives there. Perhaps soon he’ll make a visit to Chesterton just uphill to see what all the new excitement in Bigfoot is about. I’m sure he’ll be an honored guest.

The Bramble quite effectively protects Chesterton from northern incursions. In fact, it’s about at its densest here. I’ve not attempted to get through it to span the two parts of 2nd Road. Might be possible in the winter, but I’m not betting on it because of the presence of a good number of briar plants.

Mina’s Pool: You can spot this small body of water if you look at the lower part of The Bramble and head right. It lies at the lowest end of Intake Stream. Named, of course, after Taum Sauk’s recently deceased wife (who lives on as a spirit?), this is where she drowned sometime before or during the October 2015 Bigfoot happening while attempting to “float like a boat.” That’s about all the information I have about the tragedy presently. Mina’s Pool represents a popular spot for bird baths. It is also home to salamanders and frogs… not sure about fish (hafta check).

Streams:

Intake Stream: In ways, the spine of Bigfoot as a whole, passing underneath all 4 forest roads before emptying into Bigfeet Swamp at Mina’s Pool. Each road except the 4th has a square cement slab marking the place of its underground passage. Many mysteries remain unsolved about the true nature of this stream, and, in fact, all other streams of Bigfoot, including…

Outtake Stream: I prefer to think of this as a separate stream from Intake, although you could obviously make the case that they are one and the same. Outtake Stream emerges from a pipe leading to Bigfeet Swamp to create another, smaller pool in comparison to Mina’s Pool, which remains unnamed. It takes about 50 more feet for the stream to merge with Leola Creek, running past a prominent stone known as Point Rock. Outtake Stream is not considered a part of Leola Creek’s “Safe Zone” mentioned before. Explorers of this flow can fairly clearly be seen by house and apartment dwellers on the opposite side of Leola Creek. Needless to say I haven’t walked down there that much during my many Bigfoot visits. Too risky in general.

Orangie Stream: Another important stream of Bigfoot, and emptying into Leola Creek on the opposite side of its Safe Zone from Outtake Stream. The flow is noted for its intense orange color, perhaps properly defined as leachate.

Hmm… this just came up third in a pertinent google search list for “Blue Mountain high school built on landfill”. Chesterton again (!).

http://chestertontribune.com/Environment/landfill_developers_determined.htm

I was trying to determine if the site of the old Blue Mtn. high school, now the Plateau of Raw Art, was formerly a town dump of some kind, explaining the orange color of Orangie draining from its eastern side.

Orangie also may be named Tiger, an orange cat. Some might also call it Cheetah or Cheeto, although that appellation seems to apply more to…

Cheetah Stream: … another small water flow just to the east and north of Orangie. Cheetah starts somewhere near the mouth of Orangie. In fact, if it weren’t for its clear nature, I might guess it’s a continuation of the same flow. Cheetah empties into Leola Creek near the southern tip of The Island, at the Bigfoot side of The Bridge already discussed in the post before this. It is named for an illusion of a cheetah head caught in one of my May photos, discussed here.

The Tigers: 2 conjoined construction barrels on the edge of 4th Road that act as a prominent landmark for Bigfoot. Possessed by spirits, the barrels are known to have the ability to turn into actual tigers, or at least toy avatar representations. A 3rd Tiger (construction barrel) is embedded within Bigfeet Swamp. He/she/it is known as The Wanderer, or The Detached. Something.

(continued in)

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Bigfoot Map 02

(continued from)

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click to enlarge

Paths:

There are several paths that lead into and out of Bigfoot. Let’s start with the main path in, which is the one I mostly use in the summer. It’s really cool — you park your car quite legally at a lot just to the west of the Plateau of Raw Art and then walk above and to the south of it on one of those old logging roads that are multitudinous within the area. The path crests about 1/2way between the parking lot and Bigfoot. At that time the walker may be close to 200 feet above the level of the plateau, so quite a bit up from it. Rare is the day when I use this path that skateboarders aren’t present at the old high school tennis courts below, along with their constant slapping and rolling sounds. But it doesn’t bother me that much, despite my condition…

At the upper right of the map you can see where this Main Path intersects Bigfoot at its southwest corner, or at the southern end of 4th Road. Just into the field to the left as you enter, you find this mysterious blue circle adorning a cement slab. LINK

At this point one has a choice to follow either 4th Road or South Path down into the heart of Bigfoot. South Path represents a much steeper descent directly to the Bigfeet Swamp past the southern edges of 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and then 1st Road to end. You can use 1st Road to access Bigfoot Proper now, following either an eastern or western navigation around the swamp. I do not generally go down to Leola Creek from 1st Road through the set of stairs on the southeastern side of Bigfeet Swamp when I first arrive at Bigfoot, but you also have that option here.

If one instead uses 4th Road to access Bigfoot Proper, you head north until close to its end near the old school track and then turn right on what I’m also terming a “Main Path” on the above map. Maybe I should change the first such named path I’ve mentioned to *Crest Path*. Anyway, once again you cross 3rd, 2nd, and 1st roads to reach Bigfoot Proper, except when you reach 1st Road from this direction, you’re already basically on the edge of Bigfoot Proper according to present definitions. Again, BP is the yellow highlighted area in the lower central part of the above map.

And more recently formed and still fainter paths can take you from 4th Road down to Chesterton on Second Road (yellow highlighted square more in the upper central part of the map) and ultimately to Vincente on First Road.

Before the poison ivy comes out in the spring (and after it retreats in the fall), one can also access Bigfoot from the nearest of two old baseball fields, following a path that runs behind the scoreboard and drops into the area north of the swamp. This is the path I’ve marked with “closed for summer” on the right hand side of the map.

From the north and south directions, there are no easy ways into Bigfoot — no paths to mention. This certainly helps protect the area from visitors. Practically speaking, to access Bigfoot you have to use paths coming down from the Plateau of Raw Area to the west or those coming across Leola Creek to the east.

So let’s deal with those eastern accesses. When the water of Leola Creek reaches a certain low level, you can cross the creek into Bigfoot through stepping stones at specific places. Not many, but I at least know one fording place of this nature, which would come in the area I’ve labelled “Safe Zone” in the lower center of the Bigfoot map. I applied this name to a small span of Leola here because it is out of a direct viewing line of house and apt. dwellers to the north and south. I can hop and play on the numerous rocks in this zone knowing that my silliness is probably not going to be observed.

Another, longer way you can access Bigfoot from the east is across a log or fallen tree bridge seen on the extreme lower right of the map. First you have to reach the island we only see the southern tip of at this bridge, an easy hike from apartments on that side. The island doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s the only legitimate geographic feature of its kind within Greater Bigfoot; all other “islands” in the creek are basically just moss and plant bedecked rocks that I’m recalling.

So you carefully walk across the log, hop the stream I’m calling Cheetah 2 times, and then while continuing to head south you have to also leap across Orangie Stream (rename this Tiger Stream?) to reach the swamp, once more. Coming from the direction of Bigfoot, you can also use this bridge to access the whole Blue Mtn. Urban Landscape which lies just to the east. Nifty.

(continued in)

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Bigfoot Map 01

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click to enlarge

Classic seeming map of Bigfoot above. Future maps, when they come, will perhaps be of similar proportions in terms of an overall cropping. Both Chesterton and Bigfoot Proper (yellowed on map) will deserve more detailed looks. Interesting tension forming between the two. Reminds me of rivalry between my self created virtual towns of Pietmond and Teepot in 2010-2012. What community gets what object? What toys are more identified with one or the other? How do the marble races — actualized for Bigfoot Proper and hypothesized for Chesterton (more on that very soon) — differ between the two? Although both are on old forest roads, the communities contrast in other ways. It’s good to have this tension through natural rivalry. Helps each grow and define itself better. Bigfoot Proper will never go away as long as Bigfoot is around. Nor will Chesterton. And what of little Vincente between them now? Will a beach form there, accessible to both bergs?

To present details of the map [enlarge]:

Well, let’s start with those communities. You can spot yellow outlined Bigfoot Proper next to Bigfeet Swamp in the lower center of the map. The two shapes within, circle and square, stand for its spool table and metal chair respectively, both heavily featured in the Bigfoot Art Happening last fall. LINK Notice on the map that north is to the right instead of at the top. This means that Bigfoot Proper lies on the north side of the swamp. Again, Bigfeet Swamp got its name through an influential 1998 survey, which determined it is about 100 feet long, which became a “big number of feet” and then just “bigfeet”. The name Bigfoot for the overall area stems from Bigfeet, then. Before this, Bigfoot Proper was called Middle Game (and before that Iron or Irontown or Ironton).

Vincente (on west side of Bigfeet Swamp, or upper side on the above map), lies between Bigfoot Proper and Chesterton, forming almost a right angle with the two. It may be older than Bigfoot Proper. Then again, Chesterton may be older than either Vincente or Bigfoot Proper. But in hypertime, it doesn’t really matter at the bottom. All form “at once”. Vincente remains the smallest of the three by a considerable margin. The name comes from painter Vincent van Gogh in a convoluted way involving a resident of Utah’s Brian Head that I befriended at a temporary job in Middletown about 25 years ago. Unfortunately, we haven’t kept up with each other. Like Ironton Missouri, Brian Head Utah lies within an Iron County, one of four such named counties in the U.S. (Michigan, Missouri, Utah, Wisconsin). Iron is associated with Bigfoot Proper especially because of the presence of a full golfing iron there when I first visited it in September of last year. From this grew the legend that BP was originally known for its iron smelting, hence its original names.

Vincente may have been the site of the Middle Game high school. Did kids from both Bigfoot Proper and Chesterton attend? Or did these larger communities have their own schools? I’m guessing the former, at least for a time. The Middle Game name also refers to the middle position of Vincente between the two, then.

Chesterton is highlighted in yellow above Vincente, in the upper central part of the map. The pressure cooker seeming pot is symbolized as a circle within. The top of the pressure cooker originally appeared in Bigfoot Proper, built when it was known as one of the “Irons”. A second iron, only a head this time, was moved into Bigfoot Proper at one point, procured from the Plateau of Raw Art (far upper part of above map). Only the very lower part of this plateau is shown on the map. It is not part of Bigfoot but remains separate. It is essentially a less visited community park of Blue Mountain now, skateboarders being the most frequent guests. Some people also walk their dogs there, or lob baseballs around in the old fields or run around the track and stadium stairs for replenishing exercise. I’d say 10-15 people visit a day.

The four forest roads of Bigfoot are also marked. First Road comes close to surrounding the swamp, with a gap between Bigfoot Proper and Vincente where the intake stream’s pipe comes down from Plateau of Raw Art. BigFoot Proper lies on First Road, at the northern edge of the swamp as stated. 2nd Road lies above (elevation-wise) and west of First Road. Chesterton is on this road. For this and other reasons Bigfoot Proper is sometimes dubbed First Town and Chesterton Second Town. But this is mainly done by those from Bigfoot Proper, who are biased about the importance of their town relative to a primary rival. Bigfoot Proper as a whole is still seething that Chesterton stole (and enlarged) their smelting plant. “You have the spool table still,” counters Chesterton as a whole, in turn. Bigfoot Proper scowls and starts its usual spiel about its advantages, blah blah blah. Chesterton shoots back that it is more long term and naturally evolving. It also touts itself as more hidden and also more central. Little Vincente tries to speak but cannot be heard above the shouting of its “parents”. “Blah blah blah”. Well, “blah blah blah!”. That’s what it all sounds to Vincente’s peewee ears; makes him want to hack ’em off, or at least the one turned in their direction. The other is listening to reason.

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Bigfoot Early Mid July 01

We had a terrible wind storm the other day here in Blue Mtn., with many trees knocked down. Yet when I returned to Bigfoot the next day, I believe, my two little tiger figurines I had set on a small rock were still standing! I was amazed; I thought they’d be blown clear across Leola Creek to parts unknown. The forest and also plateau above them must have acted as a buffer. But even then the wind couldn’t have been that severe here… the storm must have largely passed Chesterton over somehow. And, in fact, I didn’t see any fallen branches in Bigfoot either that I noticed. Hmm…

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Two new objects I imported into Chesterton this same day.

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Down at Bigfeet Swamp now, I’d been meaning to take a picture of this broken cement slab near the southeast corner of 1st Road for a while now. Obviously use to be square shaped. Now broken fairly cleanly down a central diagonal. Like a broken locket?

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Bigfoot Proper: I simply could not choose what objects needed to be moved up to Chesterton and what needed to stay here. So I made no large decisions this day on that matter. But we definitely have two sides of a balance in terms of Chesterton vs. Bigfoot Proper. Like black and white rocks. Like a marriage of some kind. Yin and yang, perhaps.

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More Bigfoot Proper objects… for now. Speaking of yin/yang, one thing I believe that definitely belonged in Chesterton from Bigfoot Proper was that old “iron smelting plant” which actually was the top of a pressure cooker, it seems. I’ll tell more of its story down the line. I’m not sure exactly *how* the 3 main parts of the pressure cooker got back together (!). More broken pieces, that have been reunited in this case: bottom, sides, top.

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A continuing theme for this post: broken or fractured rock found near Orangie Creek north of the swamp.

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Another unusual “rock” nearby. I’ll have to take a closer look at this one soon.

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A plastic cup and some kind of spray can embedded in the banks of Orangie. They partially inherited its color.

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We move to the extreme west of Bigfoot for these next 3 pictures, including a cement decoration that I could barely budge. No way I could get it back to the swamp, let alone Chesterton uphill.

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Unusual rock path along Leola Creek wedged between what I’m defining as Bigfoot and the Blue Mtn. Urban Landscape. I want to talk to the creator! But, then again, I don’t want to attract attention to myself via Bigfoot in any way, beyond the cloaking mythology of this blog.

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Another object found near the cement decoration mentioned just above. This would be next to the northern edge of The Island, which I’ll have to take more pictures of soon as well. This Snow White shaped dispenser *did* make it back to Chesterton. Probably contained a fabric whitening product originally.

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Snow White, eh? And I even found a kind of two staired platform for her to stand on at another part of The Island. During windier times, she can fit into that hole between the two stairs for protection.

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The Chesterton “downtown” is also developing as well. I’m sure at least a handful of toy avatars will call it home soon. I’m thinking Lisa the Vegetarian should number among ’em. We’ll see. I rolled that tire in the background down from the Plateau of Raw Art this same day. It was just waiting there for me on the old high school track when I arrived; not present before. I’m seeing it as maybe a sports stadium for Chesterton. What will the attached sports mascots be? Tigers? Cheetas? (Goldfish?)

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A small “forest” of plants more in northern Chesterton. I think it should be deemed a park. You can see Wireway 61 on the lower right of the picture.

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