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First things being first...
 First, I have
arrived back in Prescott, Arizona to attend the "World's Oldest Rodeo"
. It's good to be back "home" and I will actually get to see the rodeo
for the first time. Yahoo!
Next up, I took typos and incomplete sentences and thoughts to the
point where it became gibberish in the last RoadNotes...my
apologies....
Also, I meant to add this to the last RoadNotes, but was too busy
spelling words incorrectly, adding words where they didn't belong and
basically making a mess of things...instead, I should have provided the
link to the folowing page which just so happens to find another person
who asked the question, "Why
do ticks exist?"
I mean I was taught in grade school science (and church for that
matter) that "every creature plays its role". Sadly this is not the
case with ticks, or at least making a case for their exstance is a
stretch at best.
June 20th - I received what I consider to be my most satisfying
compliment today at the show in South Bend, Indiana. Not because of
what was said, but because of who and the circumstances around it...
The show had been off and on most of the day but started to pick up to
the point that there were several customers waiting... as I explained
the stories behind some prints to one of those in line, a young girl of
about ten, approached and stood by patiently.
As she neared the front and the last customer moved on, I expected her
to ask for a business card as I could see her parents and sister
waiting outside the tent and they often put their children up to such
things. But when I asked if she had a question, she replied, "No, I
just want to tell you that I think your pictures are wonderful."
I thanked her and she added, "I thought you should know". She then ran
off. As she did I waved to her family, but wow, I was floored...
What would possess a girl of this age to ask her family to stand by and
wait for her while she stood in a long line because she thought it was
important that she tell a photographer she liked his work?
I still haven't figured it out, but it's all the proof that I need that
mankind is comprised of but many species.
Ok, now were are going to get to the meat of this RoadNotes as it's
been quite a month or two?
Midwest weather was something else these past few weeks and I must
admit I had dodged some bullets along the way. I seemed to be a day
behind or a weekend before the worst that mother nature had to unlesh
on most of the towns I visited but that was not to last.
I had already done one show in Omaha, Nebraska and I felt that booking
two was pushing it but I did anyway (listen to inner voice, it has
served you well)...
June 7th - The second show I decided to do in my feeble attempt to
conserve diesel, was "A Taste of Omaha"...and a TASTE OF OMAHA is what
I got.
The first day's set-up was difficult at best as my and my Equadorian
neighbor's tent next to me semed to be in the vortex of wind conditions
in the area. His blew over and into the Missouri River while mine was
threatening to go airborne at any moment.
This should have made an impact on me but in my quest to share art with
the world... ah, nonsense, I needed the money, I continued the set up
and waitied for my new friend to return from Sam's Club with his new
tent and some nails with which we could pound our tents into the
boardwalk. He did and so we did.
All seemed to go well that first night and things calmed down
considerably on Saturday both weather wise (which was good) and with
sales (which was bad), I did become a bit alarmed on Saturday morning
as the tornado sirens began to sound, but several locals quickly
surmised and said aloud... "first Saturday". They calmed, so I did too,
as I was told that's when they test and clear the dust out of those
things.
Well this is another time I should have taken note, but again I
digress...I became soft and comfortable as the weather calmed (which is
good) as did the sales (which is bad)...anyway, the show ran till the
ungodly hour of 11 o'clock, but at 10pm the promoters must have thought
that since America loves fireworks on the 4th of July, Omaha would
surely love them a month earlier.
I didn't stick around to find out, because I know the dogs hate them at
any time so I closed up my tent an hour early and raced back to my
truck as the din from the explosions became overwhelming.
 I greeted the hounds with my usual
superlatives as I knew they must be suffering , but there was an eerie
void when my k-9 protector Willow was not part of the greeting party. I
thought perhaps she was cowering in the back, but it was worse...my
85lb baby had somehow managed to squeeze through the half open window
and was gone.
I'd trade any of my limbs for any of my dogs and now
the one least equipped for being lost, was... I started my search with
lots of whistles and calls down by the railroad tracks, but with the
"rocket's red glare" "bursting in air" all around me, I could barely
hear them myself muchless expect her to...I also knew she was putting
as much distance between herself and this noise as possible...but which
direction?
Since the fireworks were to the South, the tracks to the West and the
Missouri river to the East, I decided to head North, along the river
hoping that the smell of the water would get her attention... as I
moved up the Missouri I ran into a small group of people and blindly
asked them if they had seen a dog that looked like a chocolate lab,
only "fuzzy"?
That they weren't sure about, but unbelievably, one of the boys said
they had seen a dog that looked like a lab... when I asked if she
seemed really nervous, they all agreed she did...I then knew it had to
be her.
 Great! "Where?" The father then pointed
way off into the distance along the waterfront. "See those lights way
up there? By that barge"...Arrghhh! Not so great....if it was Willow,
she was at least a half a mile away and heading into Iowa.
By now I had retrieved an excited Chief and Diesel from
the truck and was making half-hearted pleas for them to find Willow.
And since they have absolutely no training in this area, I was certain
they were just happy to be out and about, or worse yet, that she was
gone. In any event, we plodded on.
An hour had passed by now and I couldn't help but think that if she
were a turtle, Chief would have sniffed her out long ago, but so far we
were flushing only the local rabbit population in all directions. I
also found it ironic that Willow was now lost in Nebraska, the state of
her birth...I know, I know...irony and interesting are two different
things...anyway, up the river a bit more, I met a woman who was walking
through the parking lot of a river front restaraunt.
Again I asked if she had seen a chocolate lab type of dog? "Is she
curly?, she asked..."Yes! And nervous!"... I said. "Yeah" she
replied..."She was walking alongside of me for a while on my way here.
She kept looking at me but when I tried to pet her she ran off"
Part of me was proud of my girl for not being an easy catch, which
would buy me some time, but at the same time I was worried she might do
something stupid to avoid being caught. Regardless, we continued.
It was now 2:30 in the morning...I had walked for miles and driven
more, but other than the possible sightings, Willow was gone.
Chief and Diesel seemed to be bored of the entire affair and I was
getting more than a little attention from the local police who wondered
why I was driving slowly through parking lots and behind buildings in
the early morning..
I hated to think of the night Willow was about to have but decided I
would take my left-over dogs back to the trailer and return at sunrise.
It was now 2:36, but before I called it a night though, I decided to
take one more look back in the area where she first jumped ship.
I drove around the parking lot which was now near empty but for a man
sweeping the lot and a few vendor's trailers. It was clear that Willow
was nowhere to be found, so I pulled back out onto the street...but
wait... as I did, a quick movement behind a trailer caught my eye.
I stopped the truck and waited to see what it might be and after a
moment longer, I saw a fat, curly tail protrude from behind the
trailer. I jumped from the truck and yelled, "Willow!"
It took but a second and from behind it, Willow poked her head. As she
stared at me wondering, how someone knew her nam, I yelled it again and
it was at this point she did the stupid thing I feared. She gave me a
long look determined that whoever I was, I was not to be trusted and
and took off down toward the railroad tracks.
Well isn't this just great I thought, but rather than chase her and
risk scaring her more, I gave her that "only good things happen when
you hear this whistle" I've mentioned before here and she turned back
on a dime.
She gave me another long look then raced into the truck... covered in
Missouri river mud and whimpering like a puppy, she greeted me, Chief
and Diesel liked never before. I was exstatic while they on the other
hand looked like someone had popped their ballon, resigned that they
would again have to share their treats and my attention three ways.
It was a short night that lead to a long day...and I
kept thinkiing that I was long over due in the weather department...for
almost all of the last year's shows throughout the midwest and Texas,
none of the shows had been effected...that was about to change.
Showers had been predicted overnight and I took precautions, but as I
arrived the next morning it was clear that something was off...and I
mean that litterally because it was the roof of my tent...it seems that
during the middle of the night (the middle part where I wasn't looking
for Willow), a tornado had whipped through the area and...well, it was
probably best summed up by the promoter as I handed him a check for my
tent space even though my tent was no longer occuppying that space.
"When those sirens went off last night it got real windy and we thought
about breaking down your tent, but we weren't sure you'd want us to."
I have no comment about his comment given that people in the are who
took a direct hit faired far worse, but I have learneed that high winds
+ torrential down pours x framed photography = "A Taste of Omaha" that
I'd have rather done without.
June 14th - I almost was not going to re-tell my next tale of woe out
of shear horror and the fear of flashbacks, but it will no doubt bring
joy to at least one of you out there and now is no time to flinch, so
here goes ...
You see the next leg of my journey took me to Indiana which long time
RoadNotes readers know always = disaster and this time was no
different...I guess having seen first-hand the destruction a tornado
can bring to an art show and not being satisfied, I decided to see what
havoc hurricane Jim (how come they don't name tornados?) could wreak on
one.
Like any show, the booths are in close quarters to one another, so
there is always a desire to take advantage of the limited space
available. And this is precisely what I and the artist next to me had
in mind when we decided to leave our adjoining tent walls open.
She was an incredibly lovely woman from Kenya who was joined by her
equally nice son...together they sold stone sculptures that she and
here husband created. Well the show started normally enough as
customers moved freely between both booths and the "open tent" feel
really seemed to be working, not to mention that it helped to cut down
somewhat on the stifling Indiana heat and humidity.
All seemed to be as it should be, the crowd was large, sales were good,
and there was no rain in sight, things were good...until it happened. I
had a customer, who if any of you were ever viewers of the "Seinfeld"
show know they referred to as a "close talker"...that person who gets
so close to you when they talk, that you are forced to back away.
And retreat I did, but not just a step or two, far enough that the heel
of my foot (the one that usually goes in my mouth) stepped on to a
"shim" that my very nice artist neigbor had put under on of her
displays to keep it level on the uneven street.
 It is at this point like in any bad car
crash, that things began to unfold in slow motion...I seem to remember
the word, "No!!!!" coming out of my mouth, but I definitely remember
unsuccessfully trying to grab at the first large sculpture as it
dominoed into the next one, and it into the next and...well, you all
know how dominoes work and work they did.
At least six pieces I could count hit Talbot street in
Indiana resulting in at least a hundred pieces not to mention a
collective, "Ohhhhh!" from the gathered art patrons.
As a photojournalist for many years, I have seen many things that will
make most people turn their heads in horror, but I was never the
cause... today I was...
To add insult to injury, this very nice lady only added
to the horror when she hugged me and said, "It's okay Jim, we sell the
little pieces this weekend." Arrrggghh! At least tell me I'm a piece
of.... okay, to many bad memories...suffice to say that at shows end I
made an offering to cover her costs which she grudgingly accepted and I
slitherd off with my tail between my legs.
Random thought....
The portrait of the horse from the last RoadNotes has sold at EVERY
show since it was introduced making it, one of only two images to do
so...SWEET!
Further Evidence We're a Nation in Decline -
Last RoadNotes I said I was discontinuing this section because no
further evidence was necessary. Well, a valued reader informed me that
it was his favorite part and that I should continue it. With that in
mind, be careful of what you ask.
While in Omaha for two weeks, I took the dogs to an area state park
twice a day for their walks.
It was a fantastic park with just about every variety of
wildlife Nebraska has to offer...fox, raccoon, skunk, raptors...none of
which was afraid to show itself.
As you drive to the park, the roads are typically Nebraskan in that you
can see for miles with no obstructions which makes taking in the
wildlife all the more easy and one such regular feature was a flock of
wild turkey that never wandered far from the park's entrance.
Given the size of a a turkey, the dogs are still not convinced they are
birds (which they largely ignore) so they bark at them like they do any
other game they would like to chase.
Well on our last day at the park, the flock was nohwere to be seen, but
the big Tom turkey was standing on the corner strutting. I stopped for
a moment so they could get an upclose look and few good barks in, then
we moved on...
Our hike through the park was even more to the dog's liking as the deer
made a point to show themselves, so the dogs were once again more than
satisfied as we headed out... as we did, I thought the dogs might get
one last look at the turkey and that we did, only this time he was
laying in the middle of the road...dead, in heap.
 Now mind you, I'm never shy around a
thanksgiving spread, but this was nothing other than maliciousness. A
bird of this size can be seen for a mile on those typically Nebraskan
roads I told you about which makes them easy to avoid, but even easier
to hit if you happen to be so inclined and the person who did this is
just ONE MORE reason America is in decline.
Random Thought_ For the first time since I was a child,
I layed down in some tall grass (in Indiana) and dreamed big dreams...I
think I won't let so much time pass till the next time.
Things I've Learned:
Oklahoma is still a place where a couple of grown men
will break out the baseball mitts and have a game of catch just for
fun....first I've seen it in my time on the road... didn't know such a
place existed anymore.
 Man or beast, everything wants to live.
These days I now get more excited over discovering a good dog run than
I do a good show.
There is a crazy person among you who sends me phony print orders about
three times a week.
There is a certain amount of genius to the orders however; because
every one of them comes with a contact number that can't be reached or
has been disconnected. You'd think just by chance one of them would
work even if it were a wrong number...oh well, at least someone is
thinking about me.
Diesel fuel at 5 bucks a gallon was not in my first year projections
when I decided to go on the road full-time.
Almost none of what has gone on was in my projection.
 Half the fun is definitely NOT in getting
there..
Sometimes the courts do the right thing right
thing.... am I the only one that feels this way?
The price of feeder hogs is up... hmm...good thing I've backed off the
pork.
Iowa truly was underwater...at least what parts I passed through.
Roller Derby is alive and well...at least in Indiana...(Note to all you
Hoosiers... I've camped at your fairgrounds 2X now and first it was a
monster truck show and now Roller Derby... the pieces are beginning to
make a picture)
Until next time....be well and as always, please excuse
any typos (and you know who you are) and most importantly, "Save a
Horse, Ride a Mustang."
Jim
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