Autumn is on it's way

Not a campaign promise, this is a sign of change that you can absolutely count on happening.

A Break in the Shade

Letting my tired ole' lawn mower cool off. (And me, too.) Actually it's never seen a real lawn, nary a level surface, just rough, rutted, uneven former pastureland. For me mowing is an 'extreme sport'.

Country Roads take me home

Along Olney Road, a lovely pastoral scene east of town, near Aumsville.

Hotel de Paris

A long way from 'home' this mat was for sale at the French Unicorn, corner of Liberty and Court Sts. See Eric's Paris Daily Photo for candid photos and interesting commentary every day.

Corn Festival

The 40th annual Corn Festival took place in nearby Aumsville. It's just for one day. The best part--buttered sweet corn-on-the-cob--is free. This year over 20 tons were distributed! Another favorite feature of the corn festival is the old-fashioned games for families including the keg toss (though they don't wear kilts), a raw-egg toss, and a corn-eating contest. These kids were ready to go at it for 4 minutes. The event is sponsored by the Corn Festival Committee, the City of Aumsville and many contributors. See a few more photos below.

Oregon State Fair #8

Lots of purple and red at the fair as ladies of the Red Hat Society had their special day. The Red Hat Society celebrated its 10th Birthday this year. This world-wide sisterhood has nearly 40,000 chapters across the U.S. in all 50 states and in more than 25 foreign countries.

What do they do? According to their website -- "Nothing"!

Theme Day - Sister City

Gimhae, Korea is one of two sister cities to Salem. Gimhae is located at the southeastern tip of Korean peninsula. It borders Gangseo-gu, and Changwon on the southwest, and the Nakdonggang River divides Gimhae and Milyang on the north. As I haven't attended any city council meetings, I do not know just what having a sister city entails. The only reference I could find concerned the minutes from the April 2007 meeting:

Support for the Sister City programs will continue; approved the
transfer of $3,200 from General Fund contingencies for the Mayor and
one Council Member to travel to Gimhae, South Korea; and join Sister
Cities International in the next fiscal year at a cost of $877.

From photos on the Gimhae website, it looks like a beautiful city with similar weather and seasons to our area. I hope to learn more about Gimhae and it's relation to Salem.