Beauty Shots

My artistic side.



Practicalities.



A casual moment.



Cute derrierre.



That Mona Lisa smile!

We Pickup the Checker

I was putting out a despondent want on Craig's List for the umteenth time. Wanted Checker ... well on the Seattle list, I got a bite, it came as an email with a link to a set of pictures. I had a feeling the second I looked at the car that I had found my Checker. I again spoke with the owner, Erston R., and before we finished our conversation I knew this was the one. Well, I later confirmed and "shook hands" over the phone. I then called a local rental agency for an aluminum car trailer and got Jerry to agree to run up to Tacoma with me to retrieve the Checker. This all transpired over ten days and today we brought her home.



Here Erston and I seal the deal. He's got half his garage back and I have a project for next seven months. The car is rusted and haggered, but underneath that aged rhino-like skin lies a wild animal waiting to be released on an unsuspecting public!





Here's Jerry's rig. This baby has got the POWER. I had to look back to see if the trailer was still there. The ride back from Tacoma was really a straight run with a bit of a slow down in Portland for the evening rush. We got back to Salem about an hour before dark and the trailer, which was great, did all the work of lowering the car safely to the ground.

To say I am excited is an understatement!

Covered Bridge Tour

I read in the paper about a narrated tour of the covered bridges in and around Stayton. It was to be guided by a gentleman named Bill Cockrell and he wrote the book. Literally, he wrote the book on these "Roofs Over Rivers". I had to go. I tried coaxing the family, but no one wanted to go. We had done our own tour of the bridges last spring with Lauren, Dawn and Abel, but this time I was on my own. The tour started at 9:00 am and I got to ride a flat nosed rear pusher school bus on a 3 and half hour tour. I was as excited as a kid on his first day of school.




I had asked Bill if he would mind my making an audio recording of the tour and he said it wouldn't be a problem at all. I made almost an eighty minute minidisc from about 7 segments. Here you see Clarence Wood, an eighty eight year old, who as a young man of twenty helped to build the Hannah Bridge. His father in law gave the state the land for the bridge with the stipulation they hire Clarence to help. Clarence said as the young man in the crew he did all the odd jobs. But, for a year he and a crew of about 8 worked with nothing more than block and tackle, shovels hand saws and muscle to erect this beautiful covered bridge.





Martin Harding, on the left, is the Linn County engineer who oversees the bridges of the county. I think he said he had been at it for 30 or 40 years. He had a lot to say about how his crews with their limited funds were hard at maintaining these structures. Covered bridge maintanence costs ten percent of the bridges budget and account for less than three per cent of the bridges. Unfortunately, when decisions are made to deconstruct a covered bridge it may solely be based on funds not its historic importance. The Covered Bridge Society of Oregon is championing the fight to save and preserve our covered bridges.

The gentleman on the right is Bill our guide. He was really great with just enough facts and just enough humor to make the three hours go by very quickly.



In account of the day, I must say I had a great time. These bridges are wonderful just to look at and hear the sounds of the creek rushing underneath. To have as speakers and guides the fine folks of the Covered Bridge Society made this an educational and heartwarming experience. I want drive someone around to these bridges and share with them all the insight I gained from todays trip.

Shrewsbury Faire 2004

Shrewsbury Faire is a mediaeval blast. The sponsors really have their olde acts together and a fun time is had by all. 150 vendors, 1,000 costumed participants and 17,000 visitors in two days. Nestled in the beauiful King Valley somewhere between Dallas and Corvallis this anual event gave us a great day for $8.00 bucks each and a coupon.

The Food circle had appropriate fare and I dined on haggis and stag sausage.



Lauren befriended a fine Lady and her Lord. The Lady gave Lauren a beautiful stone and assured her it was a dragon's tear she had collected from the snow.



I'll bet there was a face painter at a gatherering of more than 5 neanderthals 10 million years ago. Today the tradition lives, and Lauren sports the latest Elizabethian eye swirl.



OK, she's cute, we all know that! But, this outfit really made her cute. At only $45.00 clams I would have bought it if it were in rose(pink) and two inches longer....I have her card.



I felt like a child reading Horatio Hornblower for the first time. This old man spun a tale of Magellan and his trials and tribulations in trying to circumnavigate the deep blue. The old man was a true master of storytelling!

Oregon State Fair 2004

Sunday morning September 5th, 2004. We have arrived early, to beat the Christians, and the heat. Paper said they'd open at 9 AM. We park right outside the gate and no one takes our money. Starting out just fine I think to myself. We get to the gate and the sign says it opens at 11 AM. Bummer. Time to regroup. We decide to walk around and see if we can find a way in early. I love to see setups. We wind up walking halfway around the grounds and find on the opposite side an open gate and its near the animals! Yee haw! We're in!



This matron had her hooves full. She was drinking from one end and delivering the goods out the other. And she had to work to keep up with all twelve of her youngins. Whatever she had it really livened up the piglets and seeing them tear around the pen made the entire crowd break into laughter. I recorded the ambience with my Sony Minidisc as well as the digital camera.



Here, the queen of the fair repasses with some cheap ice cream. We are taking a break in the Mexican Village. This would have been good to come back for a taco or civiche, but alas there were way too many distractions. Soon we were off to the craft section, but discovered they didn't have it this year.



Fortunately, we found this South American band and we camped for about three songs. These guys were so delightful, I willingly removed money from my pocket and bought their CD. Also, I managed to bootleg (Sony Minidisc) 3 tunes. I must say after hearing the CD that the bootleg is more natural and lively. The Sony Minidisc with the Sound Professional binural mics can really capture the moment!

After 5 hours of sensory overload we were burntout and made our way back to the burb. What a fun day!

Perseid Meteors/Ochocos

So I had this idea... why don't we all pack up and run over to the Ochocos and take in the Perseid's meteor shower, do some prospecting and get back in 24 hours!. And.. Jerry and Spencer agreed! We left Salem at about 3:00pm and drove about 150 miles, had dinner along the way, made camp in the dark and sat in chairs staring heavenward to enjoy a wonderful meteor display (about 5 an hour). The satellites were cool, too.



Jerry and Spence take in an incredible view of the Ochoco Mountains. As we walked onto this site we startled two grouse who exploded into flight. This place was very near our Thursday night campsite at a breathless 6200 feet. After a morning of flapjacks, scrambled eggs, sausage links and steaming fresh brewed java we wallked here to check out an abandoned thunderegg claim.



This monstrocity is known as Stein's Pillar. It should be Steen's after the man who discovered it, but it had been mispelled soo long no one wanted to change the name. Standing 350 feet tall this monolith proudly basks in the last rays of a hot eastern Oregon summer's eve.



Here Cindy, Bob(retired army chef), Spence and Jerry stand outside Kop's shack on the Lucky Strike mine. These guys were cool, with tons of stories about strikes, claim jumping and little known spots just waiting to be discovered. Kop was in town selling a ton of large thundereggs and came back with a fist full of dollars. He is quite a character. At 6 foot and weighing in at 128 pounds this strapping lad is a dynamo for an 86 year old.



Pardon my driveby shooting, but the Crook County Court House is not only the place where we miners file claims, but is also just plain pretty to look at.

Mediaeval Book

Here's a book I've just finished. It was a commission to be the Grand Prize in a HackMaster's game contest. Inside is the player's handbook of rules for HackMaster.

The book contents were perfect bound so I modified that to a more permanent kerfed channel linen laced binding. Outside the cover is binders board with raised panels covered and formed with split suede. Onlaid in the corners are triangular pieces of rawhide. The design in the middle is of a Phoenix rising from the sun. The Phoenix is black pig and the sun is gold tipped rawhide.



One of the fun things with this binding was to include train squashed pennies riveted through the corners. This allows the book to raised from the table surface. I had to beat the flat copper nails in a vice to "age" them.



The clasp I formed from #12 copper house wire. Then it was lamiminated between the boards with the receive being stitched for extra strength.

All and all it was tons of fun doing this and wish I could have more of these fun projects!

Antique Powerland at Brooks

Antique Powerland is at crossroads just north of Salem. The famers from near and far come to see mostly farm related machinery including tractors saws, water pumps and a variety of both small and humongous motors. Some are steam and some "one lungers" are gas. This train depot now serves as a museum.

This old guy must have been a hundred! He had the biggest smile in the whole crowd. I will bet he's older than the tractor he sits on.

The old steam tractors puffing all in a row. At high noon they all let go with their whistles and it is deafening. I couldn't hear for half an hour!

Abel's Departure

The three host families that had Abel in their homes gather for his "party of the goodbyes". Here seated are Martha Deutch, her husband and family, Glenda Melton, her daughter and family, and Dawn and our munchkin.
The Last Supper ... Abel couldn't leave the country without another hamburger for the road. It was a double patty double cheese! (1,000,000 calories)
Security was tight at Portland Airport. I've been to the airport so much this summer that I am thinking of writing my name on a reserved parking spot. The security guard checked the papers carefully and sent Abel through the metal detectors. On the other side he stopped for a moment caught our eye and gave us a big wave bye. He's a good young man and I hope we see him again.

Glass Butte, Oregon's best obsidian!

Wow.. a trip to eastern Oregon. We had been talking this up for over a week and it was a week that had temperatures in the valley soaring as high as 107 degrees. But, we were determined to head across to the even hotter desert to Glass Butte for obsidian. And not just any obsidian, this stuff is choice and the site is host to the famous mahogany, gold and silver sheen varieties. Here's Jerry's truck at the milepost 77 turnoff. Glass Butte (officially Glass Buttes) is in the background.

Abel and I have finger shot this sign to heck. The sign for Obsidian Road has been down for some time. Needless to say, we were totally stoked for what lay ahead.

Jerry and Abel compare notes on their photography. Here on top of one of the lesser buttes it was 92 in the shade. That wasn't too bad with a wind of about 12-18 miles an hour. the vistas were great up here. We saw the whole valley and there were thunderheads forming to the east. Occasionally the clouds would cover and shade us as we dug in the pits.

Abel and Spencer swinging along in a mahogany pit. This hill top had great mahogany and mahogany lace obsidian. I got GPS coordinates for our favorite spots. I want to get into a routine of documenting our finds. I dug in the pit, too. It is quite a sensation to remove a rare substance from the darkness of earth and be the first to enjoy its beauty. I also walked around the pits and selected samples others had left. Some of these had been worked and had weathering that could be 500 or 5,000 years old, I just don't know.

After leaving Glass Butte we took a side road out to a place I had heard about for years...Pine Mountain Observatory. This place is owned by the University of Oregon and maintained by the Friends of Pine Mountain. Unfortunately it's closed on Sunday and we could only walk around the buildings. Here I am in front of the larger observatory. Next to this place is a Descutes National Forest campground that was deserted! I want to come back here with the tipi and a telescope.

Ginko Tree

Here's a leaf from the Ginko tree located at 350 Winter on the Capital Mall. Story goes that it was to be cut down for the improvements at the mall and Mark Hatfield stepped in to save the tree from destruction. It is one of Oregon's Heritage trees. This tree species is one of the only ones left from the time of dinosaurs. It's somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-200 million years old. Can you imagine..a Brontosaurus munching on these leaves. I tasted it and it IS good! I saw the fruit, but it looked too green to try. I will be back.

Portland Expo 2004

Well, today Jerry, my sister, Abel and myself went to the famous Portland Expo Flea Market. Held three time a year this antique flea market is the premier event in its class. It literally took 6 hours to walk all the aisles. The crowd was moderate and being a Sunday it seemed the vendors I spoke with were doing well. There was something for everyone, no matter what income bracket.

The guy pictured above is Dick Mitchell a vendor of transportation collectibles. I was looking for a taxi/cabbie hat with a badge. I saw his (not on his head) and asked how much? Its not for sale he says. He had about 25 badges all dated 1941 which incidently is his birth year. At current badge prices this was a thousand dollar hat.

We saw it all and returned to Salem exhausted. I wasn't able to find my hat either!

Current Project: Mediaeval Book

Here's the knave himself, about the design and with a table littered with jewels. Basically, I am to create a grand prize for a large Dungeon and Dragons tournament. The prize is the rulebook/manual done up mediaeval with leather , gold and stones. The game has some aspects of the phoenix legend incorporated in the playing so I decided to use this in its design. Scott, who commissioned me, came by with some of the young men organizing the event. I showed them the process and answered their questions. Tomorrow I am going to Portland Expo and will scour the flea market for cool stuff to gaud up this cover.

Lookie who I saw!

In a small town like Salem, (150,000) you can't go far without seeing someone you know. At the art fair I bumped into Christopher, Gina and their 2 year old daughter. They looked great and the baby is soo cute. I told Gina I nearly cried when I heard they got her. They are probably going to be excellent parents because they had a lot of cats to practice with! Christopher has been a great friend in the past and I hope to have these guys over to get reacquainted. I know Lauren would love to show their daughter all her toys!

Salem Art Fair 2004

Wow another year and here comes the Salem Art Fair. Hot, dusty, great food, music and, oh yea, ... ART!  Abel, Spencer and I went down on Friday evening. I saw many acquaintances including; Bill Dorney and his wife, Glenda, Eric Vanderwall's dad and stepmom, Christopher and Gina and their precious adopted 2 1/2 year old, people from the UU, a recent client who said "follow  that guy he just got all my money"., George the wax sculptor and Jackie and Jeff from Mission Mill.
 
  Almost every one there was well behaved, but these two yodels have been coming to the art fair way too long. It's got to be my all time favorite booth. Its the one with the tea strainer basket sunglasses and the fork shades. I have got to go back and get my bug eye goggles!

I sampled small piece of elephant ear (yummy!) and a small piece of Octoberfest sausage. Oh, and I asked a lady to lift the cover on the tomales and I took a great big sniff (10 calories). We managed to see the entire thing save the Kidddie's circle. (shucks!) Thank God we went on Friday evening the crowd was just right and you didn't feel guilty if you stopped in traffic to sat hi to someone. I really would like to go back Sunday evening when the bagpipes come marching through to close the event. Well...we'll see.

Checker cabs

Here's a nice shot of a New York style checker. I have this idea to start a small tour company for a select group of travelers. These would be people who want to get off the beaten path and having the "real" Oregon experience.

What is the real Oregon experience? It's not just taking a picture of the coast, but digging clams. It's not having a glass of wine at a theme park winery, but driving through the vineyard to have a gourmet lunch on a hill overlooking the Willamette. It's not standing at pedestal binoculars looking at distant peaks, but walking an old growth trail to a meadow at the foot of Mt. Jefferson.

Seeing Oregon with a guide could be a delightful experience. Enjoying the secrets and common knowledge of the locals is much more the attitude of the traveler.

Salem First Wednesday + Car Show

Today after work we came home had a quick bite of Boca burgers with grilled peppers, onions and garlic over Jasmine rice. (About 450 calories) Then it was off to the Salem First Wednesday which featured antique cars this time. With a few streets blocked off, a mess of vendors, antique cars and brave musicians you get a sampling of what this "First Wednesday" is all about. Sis was wearing a poodle style skirt with a pink top. I told her there would be a pink or black car which we could use as a background for her outfit. And there was!

We started by going to the Capital. Here we saw a couple dozen classics of which a 1939 Buick was my favorite. Its' owner said it was considered a Doctors racecar and could clock a cool 100 miles per hour. After viewing the cars we went inside the Capital. I tried to get a shot of the interior of the dome, but my photo was blurry and dull. As we left the Capital we saw the Trolley getting ready to make a stop and scurried over to ride it downtown.

Once downtown we saw musicians on every corner. They all had low power amps and a small group of listeners. Chemeketa Street was closed from Church to Commercial. Here many food and crafts booths had located. In between everything there were rows of the old cars. For the most part, every car was really well restored and many were breathtaking. The paint was deeply shiny and the chrome's mirrored surface was a temptation to every photographer.

Lauren was captured by a display of kittens from the Willamette Valley Humane Society. These little creatures were very animated and it was dificult to say "no honey we can't take one home tonight." We managed to see everything and found our way back to the Trolley for one final ride through downtown. As we passed one corner I thought I heard my buddy David Birch's Calliope. When we got off the trolley I told Dawn and Sissy we would drive the Volvo to where we heard the Calliope. Sure enough, we did find David and stopped to have a listen. It is a wonderful thing to hear a Calliope. It reeks of circus, childhood and indoor roller skating arenas.