Hodaka Days

On Friday I went to the annual Hodaka Days motorcycle reunion.
These motorcycles, assembled in Athena in the 1960s and '70s, still have life and character to spare, and so do a few of the riders. Everyone there clearly loved the sport and the machines. They gleamed in the morning sun, growled like angry old men and spewed smoke like revved-up dragons.
Tough the Hodaka's home is in Athena, Friday everyone rallied to Weston. Sixty or so riders clogged the streets to take off on the Bad Rock reunion ride -- a smaller version of the qualifying trials for the Internation Six Day trials. In the early '70s, purveyors of the sport came to the rough and tumble Blue Mountians to test their skills. While Friday's ride was quite a bit tamer, it was still great to see these tiny titans scramble up the mountainsides to a beautiful visa atop Ryan's Grade.

Summertime sunsets

One of the fun parts of summer is the chance to take lots of pictures of pretty sunsets.
This one is from Frog Haven Meadows, about 30 miles east of Ukiah. Though most of the weekend was cloudy, Friday evening the clouds cleared off for a nice peaceful end to the week.










I also spent some time chasing this little Sandpiper around the field.

Winds of change

I took this photo some weeks back, when the NACo group was in town and I got to take an energy tour. To be honest, this was my first up close and personal look at a wind farm, though this is an older one and I'm sure new wind turbines would stunt this one by comparison.
Wind is a big issue in Eastern Oregon, especially Umatilla and Morrow Counties. It seems a week scarcely goes by when I don't hear about a new project, a group opposing wind farms, a group supporting them, people who just want more control over what's happening or people who want to wind energy generation flourish over the countryside.
It's an exciting time. I look forward to where ever the wind blows us next.

A day in Athena and Weston

I worked on Saturday and had the pleasure of spending the morning in Athena and Weston. I was headed that way to cover Pioneer Days, but stopped by at the Lads and Lassies Cancer Walk on the way.

I caught up to the "walkers" (though many were running) as they ascended and descended the hill to the cemetery and I was amazed at the number of people strung along the road. Officials said it was 75, but I'd say it looked like more.

Here runneres Colleen Baydon and Anne Countryman of Athena led the charge back downhill toward town.

Pioneer days is one of those fun, small-town festivities full of cute kids and puppies - yes I did see puppies. This little girl won first prize in her division, though I wasn't able to suss out her name from the list of entries. She's pretty in pink anyway.