Wildlife

Forest Creatures

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The vast forests of the northwest are famous for cryptids such as the Sasquatch, a fabled furry forest creature. They are rumored to look like a tall human, and there are people who would love to capture one. Their only proof of existence being rumor and a rather dubious home movie. But there are other creatures to be found in the northwest, like these.

This baby was spotted crouched on a stump, in preparation to disappear into the shrubbery.

This one was seen sunning itself on a mossy rock, it seems safe enough.

Here’s a freshly hatched baby, and where is it’s mother? I hope she’s close at hand.

This is obviously a land turtle, as there is only a trickling stream nearby, but there is plenty of delicious greenery.

Why I do believe this is a pterodactyl (one of my favorite dinosaurs). I must have startled it, so it’s taking off.

Actually, these are not real relics of the past, but in the forest, hidden among the tall pines it seems possible. These creatures are a labor of love, artfully ensconced in a believable setting, and are a minor tourist attraction that appeals to the 5 year old inside of us (well, at least I have this). And I think probably that one is more likely to encounter dinosaurs than a Sasquatch, so I found these figures enchanting. And if you find your way there, they are waiting still, for you.

Art, Doings

Low

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I love cars, perhaps because I have not always had one. And because I am old, I remember when these different sorts of cars could be seen driving about. Today, the best place to see interesting cars is, unsurprisingly, at a car show. And this was a show put on by local enthusiasts for a particular type of modification, low riders.

When I was in college I sometimes drove my roommate’s truck which was quite similar. These originally came in your choice of dark green, or dark green and were intended as a utility vehicle. It had a four speed stick shift, no power steering and was also intended to be driven in pastures and such. This one has been dropped, re-chromed and painted in two tone metal flake. It can’t be driven in a pasture anymore.

I formerly used to drive one of these, and I can testify that it was a lot of fun. The unmodified version will do up to 120 mph on the freeway, but painting it red is asking for a ticket. Even without modification it is a low car and you can easily high center (like in a pasture).

Low riders are not limited to cars, motorcycles can be low too. This was an amazing example that has been chromed and etched on every possible surface. It includes a blanket if you need to camp out, but I think that there is also the pasture problem on this vehicle.

This was my favorite car in the show, and I hope it won a trophy. The metal flake paint job was a work of art and it included an artwork under the hood. Every bit of chrome was redone and it was a deluxe model from the era when everything was chromed. This car does have hydraulics in the trunk, so it does not always ride so low. It could possibly drive into a pasture or rough road, but I suspect that it sits in the garage most of the year and is too precious to drive. That’s a shame as it is a beautiful tribute to both culture and automotive design excellence.

Doings

Travel

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I have heard that the easiest person to fool is one’s self, and I certainly live up to this saying. By this I mean that I continually forget how much I hate the act of travelling, and somehow imagine against hope that it will be different this time, and it will be easy. So I had convinced myself to go to California (and being there was, in fact, great fun) and then came the bit where I returned home. Because my town is located near a big city there are limited options for direct flights and I chose the “budget” airline. And this was where I ended up.

There were lots of palm trees in California, but here in the desert there is limited water, so the palm trees tend to be of the artificial type.

This place is also famous for lots of neon, but in this case they were saving electricity by not spelling out the entire word.

This portrait made up of tiles shows one of the famous residents of the city. In place of the usual sort of background music there was music from the residents in the 50’s and 60’s who originally made the place famous.

This place is a mecca of legalized gambling and there were noisy electronic games on every concourse. I did notice that there are lots of international flights to here, and that some of the games seemed to be aimed at the Asian market. (I certainly hope that this dragon is lucky).

I know that you were wondering where I had ended up, well this was it. I spent 4 hours that seemed like lifetimes at this airport because due to a delay I had missed my connection. Among the many attractions that were touted, there is a museum of crime in this town and the airport is named for a senator, so I suppose that is fitting. And now I have yet another piece of evidence that travel is over-rated (but I am already planning the next trip). 😉

Uncategorized

Seaside

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Where the ocean touches the land is the beach, a place intermediate between earth and water. The seaside (as defined by me) is the place beyond the beach, where one typically finds tourists. Where one goes for entertainment as one sees the sea.

This piece of art is on a cliff above the ocean along a walking path. It’s a giant puffin, perhaps it is there to frighten the tiny puffins who live in the rocks offshore. How does one create such a work? Why you start by collecting all the bits of plastic debris that wash up on the beach, sort them by color and before you know it, it’s done. And it’s a reminder to care about what goes into the water.

What? You don’t care for puffins or walking along a path? Well then right there in town there is a lovely giant sculpin or something(?) made out of similar flotsam. The effect of the whole is really much greater than the parts (but looking closely at the parts is also interesting.)

If a tree falls in the forest, what do you do with a massive trunk? Why one whips out the trusty chainsaw and creates art. (Actually, I’m not sure if this was done with a chainsaw, but it might have been). This is a splendid carving which the local fish cheerfully posed for.

Of course what is a seaside without a fish shack selling the delicious bounty of the ocean. There are a couple of these located along the seafront, including one that will clean and cook whatever you have just caught, providing that what you caught was a crab. I must say that they were quite delicious, and now I am dreaming of a return by the sea.

Doings

Ocean

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It is rather sad how I have neglected this blog, but I have been out and about doing things. And this is one I have heretofore neglected to mention, I went and visited the Pacific Ocean (of course I have seen this ocean before in different places.)

My friend had a craving for a complete change of scene and so she bought a house that overlooks the beach, and I was invited to come for a visit. The airlines have service two days a week, that helped in planning the logistics, so there I was.

For some unknown reason (user error) I took this picture as a video (I blame my fat fingers). It was low tide, so we could walk along the beach just watching the waves crashing onto the rocks. The rocks were formerly on the bottom of the ocean, but have been scraped up by plate tectonics and are rather unique.

This dagger-like rock is a local landmark and is quite popular with photographers.

This is the view looking south from the nearby town. It’s a small town that formerly relied on lumber, fishing and cranberries, now they get jillions of tourists every year (like me).

This is the view from my friend’s house, which is really spectacular. At my house the sun goes down early whatever the season as there are mountains to the west. Here there is nothing to obstruct the view (except for those rain storms) and the sun takes it’s time to slowly disappear from view. I was exceptionally fortunate as it did not rain the entire time I was there. It is a beautiful spot and I think shall have to visit this place again as a respite from the mountains.

Art

Art Night

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I do try to drag myself from the comfort of my tv occasionally, so there I was on a First Friday. Now that the sun goes down later than the 4:17 of December it’s rather pleasant to be out and about. There was a new show opening and that is catnip to me.

I can’t say I loved this person’s exhibit, but I did like this piece. The exhibit was about colonialism and mostly consisted of re-printed vintage photographs of indigenous workers standing next to European fruit trees. The artist was insulted that the workers were not identified by name, but the trees were. Oh well, that’s the past for you.

This massive bronze is also an idea from the past, but I love the mountain behind this.

This window has a better view of the peak. Some musician was playing a variety of string instruments, that’s why there was a speaker.

The first piece I ever saw by this artist was at my old campus, and I can’t say that I love his work because he makes his people look rather ugly. He chose fiberglass as his medium, so I assume he used a mold and helpers. These larger than life figures are outside on the lawn. I think that they look great against the lighted building as one can’t really see the details. Perhaps that is the secret of this artist’s appeal.

Art

Fashion

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Every year the local college sponsors a pow-wow (the college gives a number of scholarships to people from the reservation so that they can go to college with a bunch of rich kids). This year it was held in the hockey arena which was a great idea because it was extremely windy outside. Because it was a small informal event I focused in on the dance outfits (I wore a black dress, red scarf and my summer dance shawl).

The woman on the right is wearing a jingle dress, (traditionally the jingles are made out of chewing tobacco lids) so she was a serious competitor. I haven’t seen the chevron design on a ribbon skirt before, the other two ladies chose interesting fabric for their dance shirts.

What’s interesting in this group is the woman on the left in black and red. The wide belt is traditional for a woman’s outfit, but I’m not sure what style she had.

The woman in the middle has ribbon work (shaped ribbon designs) and not just plain rows of ribbons. She is there to compete (they do give out prize money).

These two were the head dancers so they were fully decked out in finery, I think that they automatically get some sort of remumeration.

These guys were my favorites after I saw them outside smoking cigarettes. So pow wow outfits can range from ordinary street clothes, to street clothes with some sort of Native logo to dance outfits. The guy with the hoodie over his dance outfit is a perfect blend of the traditional and modern and very chic. I love the outfits that reflect the individuals sense of style mixed with tradition. We carry the past into the future.

Doings

How much was that dragon in the window?

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It’s the weekend of the local writers conference, not that I’m going, but am I still a writer if I don’t ever write? So, lots of things have been happening and here is a bit from the recent past. Of course the start of the astrological New Year is long past, but due to a tragedy at the local college it had been postponed. So, here is an overdue tribute to the Year of the Dragon, my favorite Astrological sign.

They had already done the traditional dance with a bunch of people carrying this beast about. But I really like him (I am assuming this dragon is male, it’s a yang symbol after all) even when parked against the background of the mountain (also yang).

The thing above the dragon could be a proto dragon, or worm, but, surprise it’s art (yes I know it started as a baffle from the garden center, but now it’s art.)

Someone was demonstrating a tea ceremony with the most adorable dragon tea set. I had my cup of tea from a tea bag, hardly anyone has time to do all the steps, and you can’t get this from Starbuck’s. (My neighbor does teach tea ceremony if one needs to know.)

I’m including this guy and his dragon just because the dragon is so adorable (I know that you would take this cute dragon home).

Anyone can be a dragon with this mask, assuming that one is a little kid. It was from a booth run by a local Chinese school (it’s the sort of place that one’s parents makes one go). There were a bunch of booths from different organizations with various other traditional Chinese trinkets for sale and I supported them by buying little bits (all are for future un-named art projects, really). It wasn’t as big as previous celebrations, but it was a lovely way to pass an afternoon.

Art

Art Day

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I do enjoy a gallery opening, it’s always interesting to see what sort of art is deemed worthy of display. This was an absent pleasure during Covid time, so when I saw a listing for a feminist art show at the local university off I went.

And there were several persons in the show, a ceramicist and a couple of painters. What struck me was that one of the painters had not framed anything, her work was just stuck up directly on the wall. (Is framing a sign of the patriarchy?)

This artist did go to the trouble of having her work framed, and it is nicely set off against an interesting printed wallpaper.

The ceramicist’s work was all done in the same colors, black, white, grey and red. The red really pops against this somber background and she showed the most works in this grouping.

I liked the choice to mount this work at floor level, and of course it makes sense. Why would a dog be floating up onto the wall?

I know that I have mentioned in the past that every gallery opening should have some type of nibbles, and this was part of what was available. The multicolored carrot and radish were artistic choices, but the lunchmeat cut in the shape of a mountain lion (the school symbol) was inspired. Because it’s a university there was no free alcohol (but one could purchase this). Overall it was a great show and a great showing, so well done university.

Art

Pictures in my Pocket

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Some years ago, the US Mint decided to change the quarter coin from a traditional looking eagle to representations of each state. I think it started with the 13 originals and they added new ones in the order that they became a state. I think this was to encourage coin collecting, or maybe they just got bored making the same thing.

So a friend’s grandkids got a starter set for doing just this. And as I just throw my coins into a sack, I had a number of quarters that I was saving to put in parking meters. So I pulled these quarters out and actually looked at them for the first time in years. And I saw that I have these miniature works of art floating around in my pockets. After making 50 state designs, the Mint just couldn’t stop. So here are a few that I especially liked.

You know that I like Great Blue Herons, but I also like loons, pheasants, and whatever the other one is.

An egret is nice, but the bats are the best (and I am keeping them safe from a parking meter). These bird designs all have a nice graphic quality to them, one can tell what they are supposed to be.

I selected the Utah coin because it is such a weird design. I believe it is intended to represent the joining of the railroads from the east to the west at Promontory Point. But this image features a head-on collision with a giant railroad spike floating mysteriously above. Well done designer.

The other coin is design celebrating art in a place I have never heard of, that apparently exists to be painted.

Besides states and places they have also designed series with people, famous men (who cares?) and famous women. This is my favorite, the beautiful silent film star Anna Mae Wong (and she is not going in a parking meter either). The other woman represents the contributions from the influx of farm girls into the Satanic mills of textile work.

And the obverse side of the coins has also had an upgrade, with a new rendering of the founder, looking rather dapper. I can hardly wait to see what sort of art is coming in the future (assuming that we continue to use actual money, instead of going virtual). There will continue to be a place in my pocket for the parking meters until then.

random bits of life