Knotty Owls

A magic owl works its stuff...

This is Brian of Ladysmith with one of his carved wood creations. We ran into each other on a somewhat remote stretch of a local river. I was going to try a paddleboard experiment which had the potential for major failure.

Brian offered me one of his handmade good luck charms which I gratefully took. He carves them from assorted beach wood that he gathers and hands them out to strangers that he encounters during his travels.

My experiment was a complete disaster. It ended with me nearly getting swept downstream and losing all my gear.

Brian's carving must have worked its voodoo since things didn't turn out as bad as they could have.

Elkhorn Johnny

The mayor is in session...

While meandering the dusty streets of the ghost town of Elkhorn Montana we had the pleasure to meet Elkhorn Johnny as he referred to himself, the unofficial 'mayor'.

Originally living the surfer lifestyle in southern California, he moved back to a long-held family property in Elkhorn following the 911 attacks. He has lived there ever since eking out a living selling curios,crafts, rocks and collected herbs.

Living life off the grid in Montana...

Doubtful

Uhm... I'm gonna say no...

In Deadwood we saw this t-shirt in a lot of the local tourist shops. We weren't sure if it was meant to be ironic or not. We've learned to keep our political opinions to ourselves when south of the border.

Idiot on display

Presenting history from the other side...

While visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota, my wife and I took in an entertaining and informative show about the history of the Lakota Indians. The show was a combination of dance, music, narrative and even comedy put on by a Lakota family. (Unfortunately, I didn't catch their name.)

We were sitting at the very back of the venue. Whenever I take photos I try to be mindful of blocking the view of other visitors. Not this douchebag idiot, who saw fit to video record most of the event with his camera up in the air blocking the view of the people immediately behind him.

A complete jerk films the show for himself and blocks others...

Rich Rico

All that remains of Fan-Ta-Sea Isle after a big blow...

Following on from my last post, by coincidence, my wife and I walked the West Bay walkway from Esquimalt to Victoria a few days after I composed that post.

It was a fine and sunny warm day when we came across the remains of Fan-Ta-Sea Isle, the name of the driftwood sculpture featured several times on this blog.

And, in another bit of serendipity we came across Rich Rico, the artist who first put together the sculpture way back when, and that has amused and entertained pedestrians over the years.

Artist Rich Rico... soon to embark on a new mission

At 77, he exudes energy and charisma. He has ambitious plans to re-build the art installation and make it part of a larger children's park. I'm looking forward to seeing it take shape...

Death of a gunslinger

Photos of Wild Bill Hickok on the walls of the No 10 Saloon...

James Butler Hickok a.k.a. Wild Bill Hickok was only thirty-nine when he was shot and killed in Deadwood while playing cards in a local saloon.

His reputation as a gunslinger was embellished by penny novels of the time. They described him as having killed over 150 men when the reality is that he probably only killed about six or seven men.

The hand of cards that he supposedly was holding when he was killed has come to be known as a Dead Man's Hand... a pair of aces and a pair of eights.

He is buried in the cemetery above Deadwood.

Visitors to Deadwood can see entertaining re-enactments of the shooting at the Legendary Old Style Saloon No. 10 on Deadwood's main street.

Wild Bill's headstone above his grave overlooking Deadwood...

Getting anxious

A senior surfer rides the line...

As another dry, hot summer draws to a close, I'm getting anxious for the waves of winter to arrive so I can get back out there on my board...

Catching water...