Rock, Ride, and Rooster

Rooster? We'll get to the rooster. Strange story, I promise.

We have our spring pattern weather settling in as April gives way to May. I like this time of year. I love the overcast mornings, and long hazy afternoons. 

Last Friday I got the stones submitted for the Art Fest. This Thursday we'll have the reception, and  Friday the show. Last year, I took first place, and an honorable mention for three dimensional work. Quite an honor!

It's odd, but this year I don't seem to have any of that mix of anticipation, and apprehension that usually comes with entering a show. I'm grateful for the opportunity to display. I'm strangely indifferent as to whether my work takes a prize, or sells. Truth to tell, I hope I didn't make a mistake by putting a price on the Aerodyne carving. I'd hate to part with the thing so soon after finishing it. That's a problem with sculpture. It's really easy to get Dragon Sickness over your own work. 

"I put all that effort into this. It's too precious to share with anyone else. MINE, ALL MINE bwahahaha..."

 

Or maybe it's a problem with me. Hard to tell.

Work on the new stone is underway. The first round of sit-and-stare, points the way to what needs to be done. At first I wanted to do something with a lot of open work and detail, but there are several large cracks in the stone that could make that a risky proposition. I know I want a curve in that straight vertical edge. I know I want every  surface machine smooth, nothing rough, or "natural", except for the overall shape of the rock I started with.

Time to break out the angle grinder. This is my least favorite part of the job. The grinder is fast, but it's messy, noisy, and always trickier than it seems like it ought to be. So here we are:

Before:

 

After:

Tune in next post for more of this stuff.

Anyway.

Sunday the bike gang got together to do the Foothills Ciclavia ride in Pomona, La Verne, and San Dimas. These are some darn cool events. The cities involved sponsor an all-day street party for the public. They shut down about twelve miles of surface streets for bikes and pedestrians. There are food trucks, entertainment, booths for all kinds of organizations and causes, some vendors, bike repair, and even a farmer's market.  

Takin' a break in San Dimas. (ht Penny)
 

We broke out the stretch bikes, and wore the club shirts, but not our vests. Not so long ago we'd have brought the club vests, and we'd have joined up with riders from several different clubs for the cruise. But not today. We saw no other clubs, only a couple of other guys on stretch bikes, and maybe one or two riders on classics. Things change. Me, too. The foothills route was (take a guess) hilly. 

 

Not very long ago I'd have pulled the long incline easily. Now it's uh- less fun than once it was.

needin' a break. (pics ht Troy)
 

OK. Now the rooster.

First, my good camera broke, so I had to use the cheapie. Here's our kitchen rooster:

I'll note here, that the kitchen rooster is actually painted green. The picture had all kinds of glare, so I P/shopped it black. 

Before I was born (1952), my grandfather cut this out with a jigsaw, from of a piece of 1/4" plywood, as a gift for my grandmother. It was on the wall up behind the stove in my grandmother's kitchen back in Dearborn Michigan. She brought it with her when she moved out here after my grandfather died, in '66. When she and my mother bought this house in '72 the rooster went up on the wall behind the stove here, where it is today.

Last Sunday at the bike ride I spotted this on the chimney of a house in San Dimas:

Compare:

I looked in Google images for "rooster silhouette."

There are zillions, but I found no perfect match for this one. Note missing toes on the hind foot on the black one. It fell and broke long ago. So where did the pattern come from?

'Tis a mystery.