Bucky reports

Bucky Merino, your roving ramporter here posing with the fruit of the Oregon state flower - Oregon Grape. Suitable for rather a nice jelly, but a bit tart to eat fresh. And the leaves, being quite prickly, tend to irritate the gums and tongue. I hate getting scratched up while I'm eating.

Roxie took me to work with her today. She administered GED tests at the county jail. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed, and since I didn't have the proper clearance, i wasn't allowed into the jail itself. But the jail is in a semi-rural area, and Roxie left the window cracked, so I could listen to the birds and feel the fresh air. It has been quite pleasant around here, weather-wise, but I understand that a great deal of the nation is suffering. I will soon be on my way to Tennessee, so I am enjoying our cool damp weather while I can.

When she had finished the tests, we took a walk around campus where there is quite a lot of art scattered about. Here is a sculpture of - well, it looks like a rock wearing a polished belt. I'm not sure what makes this art, but it certainly is nicely done.

Here we see a metal pteradactyle hanging in the trees. Interesting, amusing, but is it art?

In the formal gallery is an exhibit of paintings inspired by aerial views of landscapes, trying to portray how mankind tries to establish order and pattern, and entropy breaks it down. OK, if this is art, and commands a big price tag . . .

Is this art, too? It portrays - oh, let's say it portrays the sheep's hatred of fences and restraints, and the ever-powerful way nature overcomes artificial boundaries and superceedes the will of mankind to control and compartmentalize. What'll you pay for this?

(Yes, Roxie has finished a third comforter. The woman is driven!!)

Today, Roxie will be taking me downtown to show me some of the city's fountains, then I'm on my way to visit the Tennessee Weavers. Film at eleven. This is Bucky Merino, signing off for the day.