City, Doings

A Saturday

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I do like to get out and about in the community. This community has lots of the same sorts of things that one might find anywhere, and then there are the bits that make us unique. So on a recent Saturday this is what I was up to.

So the city has a gorgeous and much photographed park that is a must for tourists and that is where the first event was taking place. And it was a beautiful day with perfect weather for an outdoor event.

This bunch of turkeys were not the least bit interested in the events of the day, and so they buggered off out of the park as soon as they could.

So there was a couple of vendors selling delicious fry bread tacos, an important part of every pow-wow.

Grand entry was at noon and there were a couple of special dances, like fancy dancers, shawl dances, honor dances, etc. But my favorite dance is always the potato dance, because it’s always funny to watch. They give a couple of people a potato and they have to put it between their foreheads and keep it somehow off the ground while they dance. Dancing slow will help to keep the potato in place, but when it gets down to the last few they start making the couples dance faster, etc. So these girls came in second which is pretty darn good. (No potatoes were harmed in the performance of this dance.)

And then it was on to the next event of the day, which was located by the jail, hidden down ( it really was hidden, they had closed the north part of the only road to the place) in the industrial part of town. They had moved up the time from 5 to 3, so I went there in my pow-wow outfit. And what was that event? It was a tour of the coroner’s office and I thankfully (for you) didn’t take any photos there. As it was for writers, he showed us lots of pictures of various kinds of fatal wounds, so that we could describe such things accurately and talked about what actually goes on there. It was interesting, but not nearly as much fun as the pow-wow. As this is the sort of writing that I do, it was not that useful, but who knows? Perhaps some day I shall write a novel. If nothing else it was an unusual way to spend the afternoon.

City

Fiesta

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Well you already know that I love street festivals, etc. so here is yet another one. And how does one create such an event? One needs some sort of sponsoring organization to pay for permits and police, a reason to have this (in this case, a battle fought in Mexico) and vendors to pay for these booths. Et voila, a celebration.

The most important part of any street festival is grilled food on a stick, like corn covered in chili powder, cheese or both. It’s not the sort of everyday food, like the hotdog stand which was on the opposite side of the street, one can only find such special foods here.

The best festivals involve dressing up in some sort of symbolic outfit. These costumed dancers are walking past a wrestling ring, where masked and costumed wrestlers will shortly appear.

The cowboys outfits ranged from elaborate historical recreations to everyday work wear. I think that the gigantic rowels on the spurs are a bit of an overkill (and I feel bad for his horse).

This was not his horse, it was a horse of a different color.

In keeping with the vaquero tradition a mechanical bull was available to play on. As this is a replica, no spurs allowed. (Spurring a bull is a very bad idea.)

I must say the car show (the reason I came to this) was a bust, as there was another show going on at the same time. But there were also beer tents (mandatory for a proper festival), and various booths with social and health information (note to them: too much beer is bad). So it was identical to the many other festivals I have been to, but was a splendid way to spend a sunny afternoon (I did not have to wear spurs, either).

Doings

Fair

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I have a love of fairs and carnivals and I have been attending various ones for years and years. Yes, they are a commercial enterprise, and are often somewhat cheesy, but their reason for being is to entertain, and that can’t be all bad?

What is more fun or scarier than a mobile ride that was bolted together by an itinerant worker?

And where can one purchase such items except at a fair? Why one would purchase such items? Because one is at a fair!

And it is indeed a “fried fantasy” of food that is available at the fair. These vendors spend all winter during their off season to try and think of new things to dip in batter and fry. None of these offerings are noted for their nutritional value before being dunked in oil, but that is part of the appeal, I guess. Also available are unusual meats, like alligator on a stick. All of these things are best consumed with a group a friends who may or may not be sober.

This was my favorite booth, which was handing out free samples of roasted green chile wrapped in a flour tortilla (free being the best price to enjoyment ratio).

People have been holding fairs since the beginning of recorded time, usually to celebrate a harvest or some event. This fair has been in existence since 1872 and I hope that this sort of entertainment continues on into the unknown future. (Not pictured are bull riding, concerts, beauty contests for animals and sundry other events of the fair).

Art, Toys

Pteri Tales

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Oftentimes you buy something and it does not live up to your expectations. We’ve all been there. And sometimes we buy something and find that it is so wonderful and perfect for the job. Some years ago I was at the hardware shop, no doubt buying something extremely practical when I spotted a bin of plastic dinosaurs. So there was this little pterosaur with a happy expression and I instantly decided that I needed said dino, As I looked more closely, I decided that this dino was photogenic and we have since had a number of adventures. This is the most recent one.

I had gone out to get the newspaper and I noticed that due to the recent rains, some puffballs had sprung up. Pteri obliged the photo op.

The Archaeopteryx (also a possibly flying dinosaur) was available for posing too.

By the next day the puffball had opened and Pteri was a good sport about posing again.

The next day the puffball has fully opened and I imagined that Archy would come the rescue of Pteri. This little inexpensive pterosaur has once again been a source of amusement and art. I have held, that almost any picture is improved by adding a pterodactyl, and here is proof.

City, Ephemera

Clouds

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I grew up in a place where the clouds always seemed to be quite close, almost oppressively so. When I first moved to the West, the clouds and skies were so vast as to be almost frightening. But I grew to love this beautiful open sky (someone even wrote a song mentioning “the spacious skies” of this area) and clouds are what makes it so. So, I went to an outdoor art festival recently, and the thing the impressed me the most were the clouds on that day.

The clouds were teasing us with the possibility of rain, but didn’t really deliver.

This place is very near to the mountains and does get more rain than the plains, so the trees are taller and more imposing here.

The clouds were keeping the temperature down and it was a perfect summer day for strolling about.

Rain is pretty much always a localized event in the West, with rain alternating with innocent blue skies. If by chance one is rained on, just wait a minute and the weather will change.

Even the reflections of the clouds are beautiful. The windows doing the reflecting are part of a replica of a French palace (why build an ordinary mansion when one can have their very own palace?)

And another local-ish person was inspired (perhaps by these Western skies) to write a song that says “it’s clouds illusions I recall” and that was what I celebrated this day.

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). 😉

Ephemera

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.

random bits of life