The Tour de Dung bicycle race is an annual opportunity to try stuff with my camera that I haven’t done much since last year’s race. Sort of a very pressured, condensed tutorial. I call this collage “It’s All a Blur to Me.” Really, it’s intentional.
Category: Local Events
Tour de Dung 2014
Yesterday was the annual Tour de Dung bicycle races. That’s “Dung” as in “Dungeness,” the region in Sequim where the races are held. This race is held annually to prove how ridiculously slow I am at photographing speeding bicycles. (Sorry to the many bicyclists who have shown up on my editing screen cut in half. I’m glad you haven’t seen yourselves.) Yeah, and there’s something about bikes and races and stuff.
This is the first of two weekend races. There will be more next Saturday as well.
Local drivers, please have a care – and patience, if necessary. The race is well organized and cars accompany racers. But there are a lot of bicyclists on the road, singles and in groups. Bicyclists appreciate your sharing the road. And, for my part, I didn’t like avoiding a head-on collision with a truck that was hell bent on passing a bicyclist on the shoulder.
2013 Encore: The Rodeo
This was one of my favorite action shots of 2013, filled with the horror of seeing an airborne horse over a rider who’d hoped to stay in the saddle, and amazement that the rider was able to dust himself off and walk away.
More Than Frybread
Last month as part of Native American Heritage Month, the local Elwha Klallam Tribe hosted a screening of a film called “More Than Frybread.” We’d not been to the Tribal Center, a beautiful building in Port Angeles, and the movie sounded like fun. It was – fun and very funny. A mockumentary on the first ever state frybread championship in Arizona, it profiled and followed contestants before and through the competition. The characters were all well drawn and well acted and the film was full of wry humor.
We love frybread and have great memories of finding a couple of frybread stands in very remote areas of the Southwest. There is nothing like fresh, hot frybread when you’ve been out camping for days and driving for hours in the high desert. That was some years ago and the thought of seeing it on film filled us with nostalgia. I can’t tell you how thrilled we were when our Elwha hosts announced before the film that a batch of frybread was out and ready to eat. Heaven! A great movie and frybread, too. Life is good.
Festival of Trees
The annual Festival of Trees was held last weekend in Port Angeles. It is the biggest fundraiser for our Olympic Medical Center and monies raised are used to purchase equipment and provide continuing education for staff.
The Festival of Trees is a big event supported by many local businesses. There are a number of events over the three day festival including a Teddy Bear tea for children and parents, a family breakfast, and family day viewings of festival trees. The centerpiece is the Festival of Trees Gala where decorated trees, many with bonus “premiums,” are auctioned at a formal gourmet buffet dinner. Details from some of the trees are shown above, lovely creations that are themed by local designers and sponsored by businesses and community members. This year roughly 50 trees were auctioned for well over $90,000. Premiums accompanying the trees included travel packages, wine, local services, sports and cultural events.
Mushroom season
We’ve had enough rain this fall that conditions are perfect for mushrooms. They seem to be everywhere: fairy circles on damp lawns, popping up in the garden, and everywhere in the forest duff. Here are some of the many different varieties I found on a recent walk.
The local mushroom society had an educational show last Saturday. They’re always well attended. Displays show common mushrooms from this area and poisonous varieties are shown alongside non-poisonous ones. An expert can tell the difference. There were enough examples to convince me I’m a long way from knowing enough to choose.
The Farmer’s Market
Summer months bring out the Sequim Farmer’s Market, an event held on Saturday’s downtown.
I was truly spoiled by farmer’s markets in California. Bigger metropolitan areas create a worthwhile demand for producers to truck their goods to these markets and California’s long growing season favors production. It’s not so bountiful and diverse in Sequim’s little corner of the world. Our local organic producer, Nash Huber, is the market’s “anchor” producer. There doesn’t seem to be too much other fresh produce at the market. Which isn’t to say it’s not available around here. It simply doesn’t make it to the Farmer’s Market.
I’ve read that the market is working to broaden their offerings and I know it’s not an easy proposition for a producer to spend a day sitting as a vendor at the market. In the meantime, there are plenty of tempting crafts and goodies to keep people coming back.