Redneck riding lawnmower with emissions control system.
We pulled out of Sunset Bay State Park south of Coos Bay, OR just ahead of Josh and Aubri and the grandkids. They're headed home to Phoenix just in time for high temps forecasted to be 120. They're going home anyway.
It was great to camp with them, in a spot right across from theirs. We ate meals and had our evening campfire at their place, probably because old people turn in early and it would look rude to kick them out of our site.
There are two kinds of people: those who think to document events with pics and...me. So I don't have any of our time at the bay that gives the park its name. We were down there at low tide yesterday afternoon, the lowest tide we've seen on any of the three or four times we've camped there in the past. Exploring tide pools rewarded us with several varieties of crabs, anemones, little fish, and snails. The fun is staring at the tide pool until, one by one, you begin to spot all the life that was invisible at first glance. And when you stand up the 50' cliffs topped by evergreen forest that create this bay plus the rock formations just outside the bay....
Yeah, I should have taken pics.
I started this post Friday night but ran into problems getting these next pics from my phone to my laptop thanks to internet via satellite. So what follows was written this morning (Sat.).
We also went to a chain saw carving contest up in Reedsport. Fascinating! And loud. The festival runs Thurs. to Sun., and each carver completes one major piece to be judged Sunday afternoon. They're all given a piece of a Sitka Spruce tree about 7' tall and 10' in circumference and work on it for a the weekend for specified periods of time - horn blast to horn blast with breaks for lunch and...
Each day they also compete in a 90-minute challenge using that time to work on a piece of cedar they chose to make whatever they want. That runs from 10:30 to noon, at which time each carver's piece is taken to the big tent where they're auctioned off at 5:30 p.m. The winner is the one whose piece sells for the most money, and they get 25% of that amount with the rest going to the prize money for that major piece they're working on.
The contest has two divisions, semi- and pro carvers, with about half of the 32 in each. To move from semi to pro you have to win the former bracket in a sanctioned event (yes, there's a national organization). Two of the pros at this event were members of the sponsored Echo Chain Saw team, and it showed.
Each carver (three women incl.) has 6 or more saws of various sizes and types, and most had an assistant. That person is allowed to do anything except use a chain saw. All of the carving has to be done by the entrant. The assistant will blacken using a propane torch, or grind, or sand, or stain....
It was fascinating to see what these carvers could turn out in 90 minutes and the results showed the differences in their skills and talents. We each chose our favorite and each had a different selection.
I talked to the guy who runs the festival and he said the 90-minute pieces can be had for crazy low money compared to normal prices. He didn't explain why but he said the normal range for the auction is about $200 per vertical foot (assuming it's a vertical piece) and many would bring well over $1,000 in a shop.
My favorite was the cougar, which was far more life-like than appears in this pic. But these three were really impressive too. Most amazing - the two on the right were done by the same pro in that one 90-minute session. He was one of the Echo sponsored carvers.
I talked to some of the carvers, too, while they were on a break between the 90-minute session and beginning the next session on their major piece. One of the semi-pros was a 20-year old kid out from Vermont with his dad, their first trip away from New England. He'd never carved on anything but pine before. Nice kid who was appreciative of the collegiality of the other carvers, many of whom had given him tips and advice.
That's one of the things I like about living on the OR coast. Lots of interesting things to see and do that are out of the ordinary. You can only go to so many strawberry festivals before they all look alike. But how often do you get to watch chain saw carvers?
Now it's time to get to work on Saturday's chores. First up: hauling rounds of that tree out from the woods back to this side of the creek so I can start splitting them. Then some more drywall mudding in Fred. It's gonna be a bright sunny day with temps in the mid-60's, perfect for some physical work!
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