At the breakfast counter, the ladies were all-a-flutter. "You're the man from Scotland, aren't you", they asked. One man asked if we were still killing each other for religious reasons. I had to confess that we were, but I did point out that that is not a Glasgow speciality: everybody, everywhere does that. But we seem to have got the reputation in his mind.
Two nice ladies, a mother and daughter, asked me if I was finding enough to do. I told them I was going to the theatre down at Coquille tomorrow night. So were they: they had tickets to prove it. It's a small world. They lived just a block away from the theatre, so that's the pre-performance drinks organised.
Coquille is twenty miles south of here. Why were they having breakfast in North Bend? Well, they were on their way to Reedsport, about twenty miles north. People think nothing of travelling long distances here.
Their father/ husband was taking part in a carving festival.
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As you might expect, in a state made of Pine trees, they do there carving here with chain saws. They invite me along. "We've got earplugs", they said. I wonder, idly, if the carvers have to stand on little platforms up in the air to do it.
It turns out to be competitive. I arrive just to late to see the speed carving, but everybody seems to be replete with extremities, although almost everybody is covered in a thin layer of sawdust. I can readily detect the actual carvers, since they are covered in a much thicker layer. I am introduced to father/ husband: I can hardly see him. On the odd occasion when I get some sawdust in my clothes, it irritates me for weeks till I find it all. He seems blithely unaware of the stuff.
The competitors have a main piece to finish before an auction at teatime. It is a delight to watch. Starting with a more-or-less standard piece of spruce [5996]
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VvQ0duDMzYNaYgEFnKOADA?authkey=Gv1sRgCLWC0a7XxvTfNw&feat=directlink , the carvers rapidly buzz their way to quite astonishingly detailed pieces.
They're pretty good, aren't they?
There were competitors from many states, and many countries [5998]
There was even one from England [6003] 
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9YxmbEuHQVEQmcqUzlnOXA?authkey=Gv1sRgCLWC0a7XxvTfNw&feat=directlink
Having seen quite how refined logging has become, I began to wonder if the other half of Oregon, the beach, did likewise. Do the have seriously competitive Sandcastle-building contests? Are there hybrid derivatives? Are there Chainsaw Sandcastle contests?
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1 comment:
Yes Mike, There is a Sand & Sawdust contest.
Next weekend in Ocean Shores WA.
Chainsaw carving at the Convention Center,
And Sand Sculpture on the beach.
Many Sand Sculptors do Chainsaw art, as yet, no Chainsaw carver has ever tried sand sculpture.
See you in Ocean Shores, June 27.
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