Note how the simple addition of the panel in front (of a gable-roofed structure) makes it look like an old ghost town building.

I went to the 65th (!) reunion of my class of 1952, Lowell High School, San Francisco, on Friday. About 80 people out of a class of 250 attended. Even though I’ve taken a different direction (wealth, politics) than most of them, I still love seeing these friends of 70+ years.

It was held at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco, and this wagon was parked out in front. The curved roof, with bed at one end is, I believe, an excellent configuration for a tiny home, far better than the poster boy for tiny homes, the steep gable roof with ladder to loft for sleeping — a bad design, in my opinion, for many reasons. Here you can have drawers under the bed, and the curved roof gives you a feeling of spaciousness, as opposed to the claustrophobia of many tiny home designs.

This is also the basic design for the vardo of the Roma people in Europe.

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Colliding Rivers near Glide, Oregon, where Little River and the North Umpqua River meet head-on. There’s a photo on the bridge where I was standing showing the confluence looking like a maelstrom in the winter, with water up over the bridge (covering all the rocks you see here!). I went swimming a little downriver, it was co-o-ld, but refreshing on a hot day.

Birdhouse at Bellknap Hot Springs, on the Mckenzie River in central Oregon.

Cost $8 for an hour to use the facilities, mainly a large pool with temperature of 95-100F. A lovely place. The temp. of water coming from the springs is about 190F.

I’m trying to contact the guy who makes these, to get a few for our collection of mini houses.

Lew’s super catspaw tool, available online. This one is stainless, about $35. Amazon has a titanium one, about $80, for he who must have everything.

Ricky B, who does antique and vintage car restorations in Prineville, Oregon, has created a miniature ghost town. as shown in these 3 photos.

It’s a uniquely delightful place. Everything Ricky does, both autos and vintage building, is remarkable.

Norman’s Mom “…wouldn’t even harm a fly.”

Ricky has at least 30 cars, all immaculately detailed. Most are standard models, but this is a wicked hot rod, I believe a 1951 Mercury, chopped and channelled to perfection.

On the road southeast, from Burns to Jordan Valley, Oregon

I’m frustrated by having such a dorky layout, due  to Blogger.com parameters. I don’t have the skills (coding) or time to make these posts look other than awkward. So, for a while (until I can get my layouts together), it’ll have to be the singer, not the song…

This was in the Mallaig Heritage Center, a charming small museum in Mallaig, on the west coast of Scotland.