Tag Archives: mud

by

Wheels and gears

Ah, wheels! These photographs are from the Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Sculpture Festival, from October 2023. All of the machines are human powered and have to go on land, up a big hill, be able to brake, go through water (the Port Townsend Bay is COLD) and through a mud bog at the fair grounds! They have to have a theme, bribes for the judges, support teams (usually on bikes), a teddy bear on board and I think duct tape is required too.

It is three days of costumes, physical work pedaling the human powered machines, a parade, a dance, a Kinetic Kween, a brake test and the challenging trip through the water, the race itself (most mediocre wins) and the mud bog. There are many wheels involved and quite a lot of fabric and glitter. Some machines are thoroughly engineered and others involve more duct tape and improvised floatation attachments.

It is the Pacific Northwest, so there might be giant slugs too. Are there wheels involved in this tail or not?

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: wheel.

by

Seeing rain

I like it when you can see the rain coming, the cloud in the distance with the rain coming down in lines and strands. I can smell the ozone and everything waking up in the rain, as if all the plants are talking to each other. “Oh, here it comes and I am so thirsty!”

“Wait, that’s a bit too much!” “Eeeee, hail!”

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: rain.

by

Not snappy

Day 2 of the Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Sculpture Race. The race starts at “low noon” and winds up up up hill and then some downhill to the fairgrounds: and there is the Mud Bog. Each sculpture has to pick one of three courses. They are deep and muddy and rutted. The sculptures can be moved sideways but not forward or back. There is a time limit. It looks like very hard work!

There is a lot of standing around. In costume. Observing and commenting. Kinetic Kop presence.

I love this sculpture. Headed for the mud.

Others waiting.

He is fairly snappy.

Uh-oh!

He makes it and the buns are next!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: snappy.

by

Will you dance?

For the Daily Prompt: filthy.

I am with my EX. He has that wicked trickster expression, which can mean fun or trouble or both.

“Let’s go.” he says, “Dancing. I have something new to show you.”

I go, warily, choosing boots rather than high heels. I love to dance, but I know that expression. There is a twist here. He is messing with me and I need to be careful.

He leads me into a park. We go through various sections and into a part with a rectangular green. The rectangle is broken by a hole in the corner, shaped like a billiard pocket. It is not very big and about 15 feet deep.

“Wait,” he says and goes down the steep muddy slope covered with leaves… and right into the mud covered wall, completely in. The earth struggles and then he pulls back out, covered with dirt and filth, frankly. It stinks. He taps a grayish structure beside him, and it lights up with soft light and starts playing a Charleston. It also moves a little, parts moving against each other, more awkward blobs than humanoid. And around me, three other statues also light up and move.

And my EX is climbing back up the muddy wall towards me and sinking in up to his waist with each step. He will be at the top soon. The Charleston is a cheap tinny version.

I am trying to decide: Will I dance?

I wake up.

Will you dance?

I took the photograph in 2014. My daughter was on the Killer Whale Mountain Bike Team. This is her coach, annoyed because he had to drop out of the race. He was riding with a belt chain, but the mud was so deep that it packed the chain and he couldn’t ride. My daughter finished the race but said that there were many sections that they just picked up their bikes and tried to run through thick sticky mud six or more inches deep.