Flock of seagulls

It's a bit hard to see unless you enlarge the photo by clicking on it, but there were many, many seagulls flying above the waters of the San Juan beaches last weekend. This is likely a regular occurrence, but I found it surprising how many flapped together across the skies.

San Juan sparkles

I visited my grandmother in the San Juan Islands last weekend. I tried to get some neat shots of the water, without much success. But I did like the way the sunshine sparkled on the stones in this photo. We were fortunate to have a wonderfully sunny afternoon before the usual cloudy, rainy weather set in for the rest of the weekend.

Let 'er Buck

So here are my photos from Round-Up. I was so busy writing all week, I didn't have time to take any photos until Friday and Saturday. But here they are, the few images I was able to capture from the centennial rodeo.

This is one of the snub saddle bronc competition on Saturday. He was the only cowboy who held on for more than a few seconds, long enough for me to get a good photo. It was still a fun event, at least from my seat in the stands.

Tiny Dancer

This little guy was absolutely fixated on the dancers during the competition. He was amazingly decked out in his own regalia. And rather than playing with his feathers, he watched, entranced, at something he will likely get to do himself one day.

Move to the beat

Before I went to the rodeo Saturday I watched the American Indian dance competition in Roy Raley Park. I never cease to be impressed by the colors, the beadwork, the intricacy of the regalia. It's also exciting to hear the singing, drumming and dancing.

Generations of pride

These are photos from the Westward Ho! Parade on Friday. While many of the kids in the parade looked a bit tuckered out (I wouldn't blame them, having to walk miles in moccasins in the rain) but many of the adults looked exceptionally proud to represent their people in the parade.

Here are a few of those proud adults, and one baby, from the parade.

Whoo-whoo!

We stood near this little fella during most of the Westward Ho! Parade on Friday. He was so excited, he kept shouting "whoo-whoo!" at every one who passed. This got on some other parade watcher's nerves, but thought it was cute.

Getting ready for the show

Though Round-Up week has officially started, things seem to be just getting underway. Vendors are popping up by the rodeo grounds, RVs are rolling into any open space available, and the Main Street Cowboys are closing off Main Street for the "greatest free show in the west."

This is a photo from a Round-Up Monday a few years ago. I spent the day with the Main Street Cowboys as they worked tirelessly from the break of dawn, getting their show on the road.

Bringing back Frenchtown

Yesterday I attended the groundbreaking for the Frenchtown historic site. It's being built at one of the only parts of Frenchtown still standing: a cemetery marker for the St. Rose of Lima Church.

This photo is of the waiting grader, sitting in the field of bunchgrass that was once a cemetery. In the background, the cemetery's white maker stands tall.

When the development is finished, an overlook and interpretive signs will sit along with that lone monument.

A story about the groundbreaking appears in today's East Oregonian.

Bzzzzz

I caught several bees in action during my Sunflower photo shoot Saturday. I like the mix of focuses on this one. I apologize for the power lines in the background, they were hard to avoid.

Sun and sunflowers

Working on Saturday, I went in search of wild art — that's newspaper speak for any photos that appear without a story.

I was hoping to find people cleaning or decorating for Round-Up, but because it was a breezy (some may have said "windy") afternoon, not many people were out.

Instead I found this patch of sunflowers. A photo of a bee on one flower ran in Sunday's paper.

This was another shot I liked. It was harder to get than it may appear. Power lines ran above the flowers, so nine out of ten shots had big black lines strewn across the top.

I sharpened this one a bit, and saturated the colors a bit more. I wanted to bring out the contrasting yellow, blue and green.

EJ vs. the crop duster

I was out on assignment with the EO's photographer, EJ, when we saw a crop duster making passes on a nearby field. EJ drove to the best location and hopped out of the car. I snapped this shot through the windshield, while EJ got much better photos where he stood under a circle pivot sprinkler. One of those great shots is in Friday's edition.

Beadwork

This is a close-up shot of some amazing beadwork done by a woman at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. Her husband brought it to the museum's Measure, Mend, Repair class as an example for others to see. He said his wife completed the beadwork in about five months. This is only a small portion of a large garment, nearly covered in beads.

Amenities

This was another additional photo from my visit with the fire lookout. I was proud of my ability to capture Mr. Weir in his little mirror.

However, as with most of that day, I had to battle low light. Despite it being the middle of August, fog rolled in on the lookout. You can see it out the window in the background. When I later tried to take a photo outside, I could hardly walk far enough to get the entire building in the photo before whiffs of fog rolled between myself and the lookout.