snow!

You may have heard: we got a truckload of snow in my neck of the woods: close to eight inches, and record-low temperatures. So. Cold.

Day one, with snow falling hard:

Out for a walk. These days I always wonder, "will he remember this?" He's at that age. Snow melts, but memories start to stick.

The strangest thing about the snow is the way light acts in the middle of the night. I took this photo at 10 p.m. Everything is reflected. (That's another way the snow is like little kids, by the way.)

Thanks for reading.

hometown tourist: the oregon country fair

"Hometown Tourist" is an occasional series in which I tell tales about our adventures around town, and actually, the whole state of Oregon. Take a peek and come exploring with us!

Phew! It was actually a little bit of a challenge narrowing our photos of this year's Oregon Country Fair in Veneta.

1) wizard and flamingo costumes on a break under some trees

2) "sexy" recycling bins (the fair aims to be 100% waste free)

3) energy park beyond the crowd

4) the famous condom rose booth has been there forever

5) tree costumes sans occupants

6) drums for sale on a vendor cart

7) totem pole costume made of recyclables (mostly corrugated cardboard)

8) vendor booth with costumes and leather flower clips

9) sign at the entrance to "Ark Park" (Archaeology Park)

10) fire-starting demonstration at Ark Park

11) northwest tipi

12) utilikilts; one of the fair's fashion trends

13) musicians performing a set in the shade

14) mosaic sculpture dragon bench

15) more musicians on the banjo

16) newman's commedia mask company booth (one of our favorites every year)

17) the trumbly designs booth

18) the kids' art booth

19) a nifty papier mache shark costume and an incongruous man in a suit and bowler

20) puppet theater, with large puppets

21) entrance to the hoarse chorale stage area

22) twig dragon hide-out and young musicians

23) metal flower sculptures and a Leave it to Beaver-ish sign

24) painted hawk (or falcon?) outside the baths and sauna at the ritz

25) etched glaze pottery from yogagoat pottery

26) large kaleidoscope sculpture near the entrance to the fair

27) the kaleidoscope shows through to the person on the other side

28) the shape of this gigantic globe vexes him

29) walking towards the car and the setting sun

Everyone who lives here should go once, or at least that's how the saying goes. :)

Thanks for reading! Does your hometown or the surrounding area celebrate a large, three-day hippie festival in the middle of summer? Do tell!

p.s. you can make these photos larger just by clicking on them, but you probably already knew that.

Days O' Work

I started this project a few months back, taking a photo of myself via web cam everyday at work. As I get older and become for comfortable with how I look, I have been contemplating a series of miniature paintings based on these photos, Frida Kahlo-style self-portraits done tiny.

Here are a few samples from the photo pile. The stack is now more than a hundred deep of these little snapshots of my working life, but this will give you some idea of what I've been working on . . .  Now picture them made into little gem-like paintings.

Too self-absorbed?