(if you’re looking for the Tom Roush who makes Civil war music, that’s not me. But I’ve contacted him, and if you’re looking for him, his response is: There are 3 places on the web where folks can find me. I can be found on YouTube, Facebook, and at my incomplete website, tomroush.us)
Tadaa… Regardless of which Tom Roush you decide to look for – welcome.
So about me…
Well, I’m a husband, a father, a Christian who wonders often about God and how He makes Himself known in some of the weirdest places.
I’m an observer of life, sometimes telling stories with pictures, sometimes with words.
On top of all that, I’m currently a computer geek with a degree in photojournalism who’s been told I should be a writer.
So… I’m writing.
If anyone were to ask me why I’m doing this – gosh, there are a number of reasons…
It brings me happiness – and some of the stories literally make me laugh as I’m writing (often on the bus on the way to or from work – people look at me funny when I do that).
And some made me cry – both as I experienced the event, and as I wrote about it. (The story about my friend Betty was exceptionally hard to get over).
I find the writing brings me peace – sometimes coming to terms with things, finally learning a lesson and using the stories to share them, sharing the faith that I hold onto to get me through some of the rough spots in life, but also reliving and sharing the laughter of events both recent and in the past.
Some of the stories have lessons in them – where 30 years after the fact, I’ve had that “Aha!” moment and finally “get it”.
And some don’t… Some are just fun.
If the stories touch you in some way – let me know. Just comment on the story – if you don’t want the comment published with the story – let me know, I’ll respect that. I’d love to hear from you.
Oh – one other reason I write… My friend Francis felt so strongly about me writing a book that he told me, and this is as direct a quote as I can remember: “If I die before you publish your book, I’ll come back and haunt you until you do.”
So Francis – consider this my attempt to keep you off my back. 🙂
Take care…
Tom
——————————————————————
Oh, about the pictures.
The main one, of the lighthouse, is up at a place called Fort Casey, on Whidbey Island, in Washington state. It’s officially called the Admiralty Head Lighthouse . I’ve gone up there for years, starting off with college, then family, then with our scout troop, and most recently with our church group. It’s become a special place for me, and every time I go up there, I get a lighthouse picture. The first time was in 1983, and I climbed a tree to take the picture, so the water was directly behind the top of the lighthouse. That made it special, and also made it into both the yearbook for the university I was going to (SPU) and the Christian Science Monitor a bit later when I was freelancing. It became a tradition, every time I went up there, to climb the tree and get a lighthouse shot. The one you see now was taken more recently, and that tree I climbed for the other images, while still there, is no longer climbable, so one year when we were up there in the summer, I saw the beginnings of a good sunset, and positioned myself for this image, and then, as I’ve done with most pictures worth anything, I waited for the right moment.
And what you see is what I got.
—
The portrait, the smaller picture, came about in a weird way…
I was speaking for a database conference and found they needed a picture…Now, given that I’m a photographer, we’re officially into the ‘the cobbler’s children have no shoes’ territory. As in – I didn’t have a picture of myself.
At all.
So, given the thousands of images I’ve taken in all sorts of conditions, I clearly needed to come up with something very complicated and highly technical.
So I asked my son Michael if he’d help me out and do the honors.
…and he actually got a couple of good ones – he took a picture of me one evening with my face lit up with the light of the laptop (a not uncommon occurrence). The reflections in the glasses were a little too much, and he was hand holding a ¾ second exposure, which, while possible, (He is my son, you know…) was a touch on the fuzzy side (he did quite well though, I must admit)
We tried it the next night, a Friday, and I was exhausted after a long week, and it showed. I hadn’t shaved that morning and looked out of focus as a result (weird)…
So I figured, what the heck, I’ll do it myself, so the next morning (Saturday) I tried again and sat down at our kitchen table to do it…
Now since I didn’t have a studio, I took the clock off the wall and hung a black coat there.
Tadaa… backdrop.
I looked out the 4 x 5 foot kitchen window at the clouds and realized I had the world’s largest soft-box out there (large, soft light source).
Tadaa… Main light. (coming in from the left of the picture)
I grabbed a box of Rice Crispy treats and a box of Oreos, stacked them on a chair and put some tinfoil over them.
Tadaa… Fill light. (filling in the shadows from the right of the picture)
I velcroed a little tripod to a swiffer handle that I leaned up against a kitchen chair, I put on a blue shirt, put the Nikon on the tripod, set the timer, and took a couple of pictures.
And there you have it…
PS. if you have questions about using the stories, please see the copyright page.
11 comments
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October 18, 2011 at 9:26 am
Jack Hoying
Hello,
I just read your story about the F-4 Phantom. It’s a favorite airplane of mine also, and I was surprised last Summer (2010) when I saw a privately owned one at the Oshkosh, WI airshow. I’d guess that it’s cost $5000.00 in fuel and maintenance to put it in the air for an hour! Here’s a photo that I took of it.
http://www.pbase.com/jmhoying/image/126859025
Jack Hoying,
Fort Loramie, Ohio (also enjoyed reading the story about Harry Frilling)
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June 12, 2012 at 2:32 pm
tomroush
Hey Jack – sorry it took so long to get back to you – it’s a fun story – and a neat plane to be around. And… Fort Loramie… that takes me back a bit… I’ve got a few more stories on the blog about Sidney – and one that I have from Fort Loramie (back from the sesquicentennial). That one was a picture that was hard to take, and the fallout from it was pretty hard (a little boy ran out in front of a truck, and the community rallied and literally lifted the truck off him – I’ll have to find the photo I took and run that story – the ‘behind the scenes’ story. Take care- again, thanks for writing, it’s always good to know folks are reading and enjoying the stories there…
Take care,
Tom
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June 1, 2012 at 6:02 am
Marcy Hawley
Bob Lammers passed along your dragon story. Wondering if you’d like to talk about publishing, as, well, I’m a publisher.
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June 1, 2012 at 6:40 am
tomroush
Um, why yes, I’d love to talk about publishing. 🙂 It’s been suggested to me a few times. I’ll send you something offline.
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June 11, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Edd Dickerman
Tom – I made a Treasure (jewelry) Box for my grand-daughter’s sixth birthday and in one wall put a music box playing ‘Beautiful Dreamer’, which is only a short version. So she could love the whole piece, I’m sending her the link to your recording – I think Foster would love it as much as I do – with the sheet music and Civil War era ‘dreamers’, I don’t see how it could be any better. Thanks very much for living and best wishes!
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June 12, 2012 at 9:39 pm
tomroush
Hey Edd – I think there must be another Tom Roush that you’re referring to when it comes to music – I don’t have any recordings yet. Eventually I’ll have some of the stories I’ve written, but I have no music. My dad was a woodcarver, and made some fascinating things – would love to see a picture of the music box when you have time. Take care, Tom
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August 25, 2014 at 4:44 pm
Wayne Wheeler
Hey Tom. A blast from the past… I was reminiscing recently about my time in Roy, Washington, living with my Aunt and Uncle back in ’80-’81, and thought about you and your family. -I’m enjoying what I’ve been reading of your blog. All the best to you and yours and hope everyone’s doing well!
-Wayne Wheeler
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September 24, 2015 at 10:53 pm
Mimi
I admit that I was looking for Tom Roush, the musician and came across your blog and I am glad I did. I am just starting to learn blogging using wordpress.com and hopefully write some short stories and this and that. However after reading some of your stories, I realized that I have a very long way to go. I am impressed that you’ve been writing consistently since 2010. By the way, you mentioned that you are Christian and often wonders about God and that’s exactly what I wonder about too. You see, my father was Christian, my mother a Muslim, I am Christian married to a wonderful husband who is Buddhist. Nowadays, when people hear the word “Muslims”, they immediately envision them as satans or terrorists at best. My mother was a very liberal Muslim and went to American Missionary School from kindergarten through high school, then graduated from Judson Missionary College in Burma, with a degree in English and American literature and world history. She was well acquainted with the Bible and knew more about the Old and New Testaments than I. In college, she would sometime tag along with her christian friends to church and sang Hymns. Actually, it was my mother who told us Bible stories and taught us Proverbs. I bet the Muslims in the middle east countries would label her as infidel. Both of my parents instilled in us to believe in God but they also give us the freedom to follow the religion of our calling. My mother believed that there is only one God and the different religions are different paths to reach the same God. They also stressed that just believing in God is not enough but that we must follow God’s commandments and be good (i.e. be moral, honest, etc.) Well, I think I must stop now. My comment is beginning to read more like a story. Thanks for your time and I shall visit your blog again soon.
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September 25, 2015 at 11:06 pm
tomroush
Hey Mimi, thanks so much for writing. Am out of town for the weekend trying to refresh my mind, body, and spirit. I’ll send you a note when I’ve gotten back. Take care, and keep writing! 🙂
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January 21, 2016 at 6:18 am
John Lammers
Class of 1963 Minster Ohio. Henry Ned Miller died Nov. 2015. Don’t know him do you. I met Ned at a dusty airstrip in the middle of the Sonoran desert in Bouse AZ. He was pushing 90 years old. We shared a passion for airplanes. We sat in the sun and enjoyed some serious hanger flying tales. Ned was born in 1925 and was a veteran of the Marine Corp. He was one of our greatest generation that we owe so much to. The more we talked the more interesting it became. Ned loved music and playing quitar. He started writing songs and did some performing wrtittng and singing country songs. In 1957 he recorded his first song. It didn’t do well. The record company pulled the song. Disappointed Ned however continued on. 5 years later he convinced the record company to re-release his song. So class of 1963 you do know Ned. Fort Loramie Ohio. Brukens or Al’s Bar and the juke box is constantly pounding out Ned’s song From A Jack to a King. Ned’s #1 and only hit record.
Life is so fascinating. To meet someone like Ned after all those years. Someone that gave us so much enjoyment,and we never really knew who he was. Well classmates now we know.
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January 26, 2016 at 11:12 am
tomroush
Can’t say I knew him – but he sounds like he’d be someone interesting to have known. Thanks for sharing that – Take care John,
Tom
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