Coyote & India Festival

We went walking in a cemetary which is right beside our house. This has to be the largest cemetary I have ever seen and quite beautiful too. Yesterday was the second time going in. The first time I was walking alone and looked up to see this small coyote running away from me. After we got about 40 yards between us he turned around and we had a staring contest for about 5 minutes. This was my first time seeing a coyote up close so I just wanted to see where it would go. He eventually got scared and retreated into the woods. Fast forward to yesterday, I brought my camera with me hoping to get a shot of the guy, but didn't think to bring my zoom lens. Well, he was there, just sitting in the grass when I spotted him. Lisa and the dogs stayed back and I tried to get closer by using a large tree as cover. Coyote was too smart for me and got up and went into the woods again. When we passed by on our way out he was gone.






Later, we decided at the last minute to go to the India Festival and I'm glad we did. It has been crazy hot here this weekend and since the NW doesn't believe in air conditioning we've had to rely on 1 oscillating fan to keep us cool. It was pretty tough, but yesterday it cooled down and we went downtown to check things out. It is so neat living 5 minutes from downtown Portland, yet we get to come home to a more quiet setting. Anyways, there was some good eats and neat dancing. At the very end it was fun to watch some younger kids in traditional clothing dance. The music had a building energy to it and what I believe to be older relatives or just supervisors jumped in and threw money around. I don't know if that is a custom of theirs, but it was fun. Then, some kids from the audience jumped in and danced with the guys and it was just a fun experience. Lisa and I got some local grub (goat, rice, and some white sauce) and watch the whole thing. After the young kids went they had a community dance and it was so much fun to see all these people enjoying their culture. We really were a minority there and it was such a great feeling to be a part of something that you're not accustomed to and have a warm welcome. Everyone there was so nice.