da Vinci Days

Lots has happened since the last posting. Aaron returned home from a week at Sun Camp in the Rocky Mountains. Maya started back to work three days a week. Courtney and I started taking care of Ben while Maya works. So we are continuing to be in various stages of transition.

Interspersed with that is the beauty and wonder of summer in the Pacific Northwest. We tried twice unsuccessfully to go blueberry picking (first time the farm was closed for ripening; second time we got rained out), but third time was a charm. Between the four of us (Maya with Ben in the baby pack), Aaron and his friend Jen, and me) we picked 20 lbs of blueberries. It was truly amazing to see how many blueberries can grow on just one bush, let alone a whole farm.

Part of summertime in Corvallis is a three-day festival of art, science and technology called da Vinci Days (www.davinci-days.org). It's a fabulous blend of extreme creativity, important new technologies, great politics and family fun. And so much good humor and cleverness.

Our friends Meigra and Boye (formerly of Seaside, now in Portland) were here for the Friday evening and Saturday of da Vinci Days. It was great timing. Boye and Aaron had a blast test-riding vehicles that I don't even know the names of. The highlight of the festival, though, is the Kinetic Sculpture Races. Teams come from California, Washington and all over Oregon to compete in their human-powered vehicles that have to survive a road race, then a dune climb, then the mud bog and finally the river race.

Courtney took the photos below at the Kinetic Parade Saturday morning and will give you a flavor of what the festival is about. (Though it's hard to capture in photos the energy and fun of it all.)

While the crowd is waiting for the Kinetic Parade to start they were entertained by this daring young street performer from Portland. That's Boye in the the red tshirt and Aaron in the red cap in the foreground.


Wheely Wonka (from Chico) powered by a team of Oompalas.

This was Courtney's favorite, named Extreme Makeover.

This was my favorite, the Magic Bus, pedaled by a team of hippies in tie-dye.

So this is summer in Corvallis--or at least a piece of it.

Thanks for reading our blog. More next week,

Valori