Lost in Time (but not in space)

Here's something to wrap your mind around today.

It's all about the past, right? That's what most folks assume when thinking about or visiting a heritage museum like Fort Walla Walla Museum. After all, that's the point, to see how things were done in bygone years.

While taking care of the past is among our primary duties ... "preserving and sharing" is in our mission statement ... we also must consider the future. While preserving congers visions of forever, perpetuity, and everlasting, we don't know how long forever actually will be. For us, looking down the road about 200 years is the best we can do given current budgets and technologies. We keep the lion's share of our artifacts in climate-controlled areas and are working to do that with much of the rest of our more than 42,000 (and growing) collection.

Somethings just won't work indoors. the 17 buildings in our pioneer settlement come to mind first, one of which, the Ransom Clark Cabin) is among the oldest structures in the state dating to the 1850s. For that building, periodic maintenance including log oiling, re-chinking, and roof replacement is what we're capable of doing. We hope that in 200 years, new ways of taking care of things will allow our grandchildren's grandchildren to gain some perspective through that window into the past.

In the meantime, there's the present. There isn't much point in preserving the past for future generations if no one cares about it today. We do our best to keep the public informed about our new exhibits, events, programs, and the importance of staying in contact with our shared heritage.

So there you have it ... we take care of the past for the sake of the future all the while informing the present about why it's all important. Whew! That's a brain-bender for sure ... fortunately, it's a lot of fun for us and we hope you think so, too. Today's pics represent past (the Ransom Clark Cabin), present (an urban wheat harvest across the road from the Museum in 2008), and future (an artist's idea of a city in the future).