QUICK TOUR OF ABERDEEN, WA.

Earlier this month, I met my cousin David as an adult.  (I’d last seen him as a child of about six or seven years old).  I had a second opportunity to spend a bit of time with him as we were passing through Aberdeen on our way south. We needed some work done on the motor home, so Jim stayed while David gave me a quick tour of Aberdeen and took me to lunch. He must have intuitively known I like art, and the piece above is part of the “Imaginary Menagerie” of Aberdeen, Washington, an art project that started in 1998.

This is Bull Snout. Notice the cage backs up to a utility box.

The same artist who made the sculptures around town, also painted these utility boxes on  downtown street corners. They may have been made and painted by a group of artists.

What is really interesting about this art project, is the playful sense of  humor at work here. I can soundly report this city has a sense of humor.

Meet Aberbeanie.

What a hoot.

And Aberbeanie’s utility box.

My favorite, though has suffered some damage; the fishing rod is broken off. But, hey, a fish going fishing?

Aha! She is fishing for a human, the unexpected reversal  needs no plaque to evoke a laugh. Here is a List of the Rare & Endangered Species around town:
Humptulips Hornbee, Sand Squatter, Chinhook Salmon, Pile Python, Bald Beagle, Barkbeetle Beggar, Grizzly Hare, Bull Snout, Aberbeanie, Hoquiam Honker, Spotted Howl, Mud Puffer, Wishkah Winker. And, a new installation in 2014 of Spine Wart.

A slide show of all of them can be seen at the website link below:

http://artistsonthemap.com/

The City Arts Commission has an aggressive city beautification project, like this new mural and various businesses that house local artists work. Aberdeen’s former logging and fishing industries, especially logging, collapsed and tourism is on the rise.  David took me high above the city for a view of the whole area that covers Aberdeen and Hoquiam.  The clean air here is invigorating. And another appeal in this area is beautiful nature hikes, and parks. A signature of the Pacific Northwest.

We stopped by Jim’s Farm Store where a beautiful display of pumpkins catches your eye.

Nor could I believe the size of some of the produce in this store. The sweet potato would feed a family of five. David was tempted to “baby” it enough to last until Thanksgiving.

And, if you are looking for fresh earrings, why…mini Italian squash could fill the bill. I think David and the Arts Commission have something in common. He is uncommonly witty and funny. And the farm store had prices I haven’t seen in a long time. Wow! I loaded up. Organic fuji apples, 79 cents a lb and one apple four times the size of a normal fuji. Or you could get new crop fujis for the same price. Great tomatoes for 89 cents a pound. I won’t go on and on. Just check it out.

He gave me a brief glimpse into a past history of the city, where once this modern Billy’s Bar & Grill was owned and run by a gansta type who actually had a trapdoor on the floor of the bar and tripped it and dumped people he didn’t like into the river. Hmmm!  I wish we’d had time to stop there to seek out the ghosts of the past. Can you hear the music, Na,na,na,nah, na, na, nah na, wreeek. (That is a weak attempt to imitate Rod Serling’s program.) And, in the picture, I missed any “ladies of persuasive affections” that might be hanging around. Hey, we managed to fit in a lot in two hours, including doubling back to the restaurant because I thought I’d lost my phone.

We ate Thai food in Hoquiam, but I didn’t take a picture of the restaurant so I’ve forgotten the place. Blue collar cities are known to have many ethnic variety restaurants, similar to Stockton, CA. Such great choices here. It is nice to know I have a fun cousin on the West Coast, within range of our continual wanderings in the Motor Home.

 

LEAVING MT. BAKER-NOOKSACK FALLS-

With a parting shot at Mount Baker, we headed down the mountain for home.

Jim pulled over at the gates to some sort of development to let a speedier car behind him pass. I like sculpture and this one was well done. But, somehow, in the middle of this vast tract of natural beauty it seemed out of place. So metallic.

On the way up, we made note of a turnoff to see Nooksack Falls. We drove a gravel road of hairpin turns, about a mile in to find a tumultuous mountain stream raging under a bridge.

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It was rushing and tumbling to the other side of the road, and pooling there for its great fall, but you couldn’t see the falls.

We climbed down the other side where the park system or forest service has erected a chain link fence because it is really a dangerous spot to be. It is a triple falls. You cannot see the portion to the far left where it spills another stream of crystal clear water.

The thinner stream to the right, seems to define its longest fall, at 80 feet according to the sign above the bridge.

The widest portion hits a rock shelf and then joins the main stream. You can see the split where the third and smallest fall spills water over the embankment on the left. This is summer. I expect this falls is one huge gusher in winter.

Then, off it goes, meandering on into the canyon.  It looks as though it may fall again just a short distance away to another level as it makes its way to the ocean. Falls  leave me feeling refreshed.

The first town you come to when leaving the mountain is Glacier. Grahams is the only place to get that other kind of refreshment, which for me was a Black Butte Porter, my favorite beer. I hardly ever find it away from home. A good sign.

It is an old place, with a casual hippy look to it. And, indeed, we noted a few head bands and dreads. The walls are loaded with old historic photos, but we sat in the garden. The food choices were all healthy, reasonably priced, with intriguing selections. I had a hard time choosing between the roasted beet salad with goat cheese and the grilled polenta with kale, seasonal vegetables and poblano sauce with balsamic and parmesan cheese. It was really good.

I also ordered their bean soup which is better than what I make at home.

Jim chose the chicken quesadilla.

It was a long day and a lovely drive. Nice that it ended with good food.

 

 

PEACE ARCH PARK GARDENS.

The Peace Arch is a meaning filled place, the gardens expansive and of great beauty. Both the Canadian and U.S. side have a flag in flowers. The maple leaf flag is very showy.

The gardens are spectacular and expansive.  Our little cameras, without the height to get the beauty and drama cannot do them justice.

Jim is hiding on the bridge. You have to enlarge the photo to see him.

 

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Giant rhubarb, a plant new to me. So tropical looking and not edible. One stalk could make ten pies.

You have to be good to get a piece of your sculpture in the garden. Entrants came from all over the world, and locally,too, of course.  Oakland California, Washington, Hong Kong to name a few.

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Looking like origami birds, the artist put them together in a similar way as an M.C. Escher drawing.

It was hard to pick a favorite, but this overhead arch entrance to a garden was high on my list.

I really loved this form, but you couldn’t take a picture without getting reflections. Jim enjoyed trying to get certain reflections from it.

I love benches and this one, though partly made from plants, fascinates me. It is a permanent part of the garden and was here when we visited in 2009,

Washington has rainforest type moisture and grows what I might consider indoor plants- outside. None of these can take a hard freeze.

I haven’t seen a fuchsia in thirty years.  In my neck of the woods you won’t even see them in the nurseries.  The parks complex covers about 40 acres. It was really fun for me to spend a couple of hours enjoying a grand garden.

TIME OUT.

I didn’t do anything yesterday but swim, read, paint and eat. I wanted to go to a polo game in Indio, but Jim wasn’t up to driving anywhere so we just stayed home. The above sculpture I thought of naming Back Pain, or  Writers Block, and then decided on Constipated as in our activities were constipated yesterday. (This sculpture is in a Reno arts gallery.)

This unusual bench came from the same gallery. The first word of the bench spells Inhale.

And, again from that gallery, this is a water “dish”. Rain collects in a circular trough near the center and holds water for birds or other small critters. Their “rock” collection is unusual.

Since my bike was stolen, I’ve been think a lot about bikes and this painting is one I liked really well but I’ve forgotten where this painting hangs.

I’m a fan of Rene Wiley and she recently did a series of paintings on bikes that I liked so I’ll post a few of them. Her gallery is in Galveston, Texas on Post Office Street.

Her paintings are for sale on-line, as well.  This is Green Cruiser.

Colorful Cruiser.

Blue Cruiser.

I think I’ll try to paint bikes, though yesterday I started with palm trees. The only problem is, I have yet to get another brush. Maybe today.

I’m hoping to do the Walking Off Pounds program again today at 9:00. The snacks I ate yesterday should disappear today, right?

LOOKING BACK

We like it here in Port Arthur at the American Legion so much, we stayed an extra day and just lazed around. I’m reading a Mary Higgins Clark mystery and played with picture files most of the day. I have to qualify my book. I enjoyed her early books and then at some point she got sloppy and so formulaic you could guess the ending in the first five chapters. I quit reading her books.Recently,  I picked up another, Night Time Is My Time and hey, she has redeemed herself. I get in the mood for mystery and true crime books. But, so far, Ann Rule is the best true crime writer. My recent favorite books? None are genre books. Night Whispers by Judith McNaught, Before Women Had Wings, by Connie May Fowler, Fortune’s Rocks, by Anita Shreve.

Looking back at pictures over the past few weeks, I’ll just post them willy- nilly. But first, let me warn you :

I KNOW YOU wouldn’t.

A beautiful sculpture of a local hero at Rockport.

Jim taking pictures on the streets of Galveston.

Remember the Naked Mermaid store?  Well, they weren’t ALL naked.

I think this mermaid is drunk. I call her the floozie mermaid.

Getting ready for Mardi Gras in Galveston.

Quite a catch. These were caught with a rod and reel, when sport fishing was really a sport. It isn’t against the law here in Texas to pull your pick-up truck next to the river, turn on a big spotlight and shine it into the water, and net the fish up that are attracted to the light. Night fishing or frogging in every state I’ve lived in is not allowed, it puts the critter at such a disadvantage. Can’t call it sportsman-like. It is slaughter.

Another photo of the great Miss Joplin from The Gulf Coast Museum.

And exquisite glass pieces too.

Beautiful, aren’t they?

The way I look at it is this:   I can’t afford beautiful glass like this. But, I can collect pictures of beautiful objects and keep them forever to look at and enjoy again and again.

I have a hard time to fathom the skill and technique it must take to create these pieces. There is a need for those of us who can only appreciate such beauty.

These tiny birds are not magnificent long-billed water birds, but cute little common street birds. I think I must like all birds, even the pesty jays, woodpeckers and crows.

Indelible impressions of the Texas Gulf Coast are the many boats at many marinas. The shimmering shadows in water, the blue, white, and gray colors.  Lovely.

The black gold that put Texas on forefront of the economy.

This is a common practice to honor an artist who has died. Her paint brushes in the back of a turtle sculpture.

So, this is Texas. This morning, the Commander of the American Legion Post we are about to leave, invited us in for omelets with he and his wife and dog. Bar none. The friendliest post we’ve ever been to. What a way to end our stay here. Unforgettable. We will unload in Louisiana by the end of the day. Goodbye Texas, for now.

WAITING FOR A TOW

I’m driving for the second time since my surgery and decided to have lunch with a friend  9 miles away in Angels Camp. The Prius battery pack, way over warranty, protested by not shifting gears when I went up a steep hill. Stuck!  I waited in a rain drenched spot on the side of the road for one hour. Luckily I had a magazine to read. When the tow truck appeared, they didn’t have the proper equipment to tow a Prius. I had to abandon my vehicle and return home. The tow company has it in their yard and will deliver it this morning to Modesto Toyota. I guess it wasn’t a wasted day.  I played with pictures all afternoon. I was able to load one picture only this morning because the post editor has changed something fundamental about uploading pictures. And, nothing else will load.  I guess it is like waiting for the tow. It will eventually get fixed.

Anyway, this is a clever sculpture as part of a building in downtown Portland, OR.