Poke Free Bikes

as we drive, the temperature drops with every beam of warmth and light that folds itself behind some nearby hill, you can almost say cold. we pull off the old, brick and neon mainstreet, and drive a few blocks deeper into a small residential area. the streets are narrow and packed with cars; we slow and fill the only open spots by the side and back of a big white building. the duo we're following jump out into the cold air and we follow with some of our camera equipment. they're smart enough to be wearing knit hats-- an article that we, coming from the mid-fall southern desert, lack. we follow them down a lawn that funnels from three directions down to a basement door on the side of the old building. out of those doors pours bright light, a few metal clangs, and many voices high and low.

nate's preparing the houka; someone's getting a jug of cider from the welder who lives next door; two girls avidly discuss something-- what i cannot hear. my attention jumps to the tall circus bike they've built, to the t-shirts that say poke-free-bikes, to the thrift-store masterpieces worn by one of our guides, to the space earrings, to the history of the 95 year old former hydro-electric plant we're in, to the flower-garlands and black muskrat cat she's painted on the old stone walls. the couches are old and comfortable and someone sitting there is playing a long copper tube with a plastic-leather mouthpiece making long deep vibration sounds. now the houka is running and the couches are full of people and conversations. you can hear some hard metal music playing pretty low: people here are around college age in or out of idaho state university and they talk of a opening music venue elsewhere in the building and the history of the opened and quickly failed venues. when we bring the circus bike out into the street, the welder comes out to his doorway and calls out, "hey you never know what kind of activities you hippies will be up to next." nate sparks back, "we're not hippies." again: "what are you then?" ... "i dunno," he says more calmly as he rides the circus bike down the street under the sodium lights and we chased after with a camera and boom mike.