Postcards from the Edge - of Salem

by Pa Rock

Tourist

When I travel I’m always on the lookout for unusual things.  Yesterday I came upon a couple of sights that would make perfect postcards of street life here in Salem, the capital city of Oregon.  As an overview, the city is a actually a sprawling small town with no skyline or public transportation system.   The downtown area is home to a variety of small businesses that thrive off of the proximity of state government offices, and there are many homeless individuals on the streets.

One of the sights that I encountered yesterday that was worthy of note in this blog was a biker riding his noisy motorcycle through the center of town.  He slid his machine in front of my rental car and I followed him for several blocks.   The guy was obviously a “professional” biker, a fact that would have been evident even without the insignia on the back of his dirty sleeveless shirt.  The shirt pictured the head of what appeared to be an Egyptian god, along with the words “Anubis Ridans.”  Last night I looked it up and learned that Anubis Ridans is a motorcycle club that originated in Eugene, Oregon – a group that, although fearsome in appearance, apparently is known for stepping forward and working for the public good.

But for a few blocks I felt that I was heading toward a rally (or rumble) with the Sons of Anarchy!

Later, pulling onto my hotel parking lot, I encountered a young fireman, in uniform, standing out by his pickup truck and enjoying a beer.  I'm old enough to remember hotels that had their own doctors - and even detectives - but for one to have a resident fireman - well that was different.  Notice to guests: In case of fire, yell very loudly because the fireman has had a few!

Another interesting sight presented itself when my grandson, Sebastian, and I were riding through a McDonald’sparking lot.  “Hey,” he said suddenly, “there is a hotdog on top of that car!” And sure enough there was a large plastic hotdog strapped to the top of a vehicle – so big that it covered the entire top of the car.  When we got closer, I realized that the big hotdog was riding atop a classic older hearse!

Then, of course, Sebastian had a bunch of questions about hearses.

One never knows where the day will take them, especially if grandkids are along for the ride!