7 Hamburgers

Another flash-back from my journals - Back in 2007, when I was at the Cathedral in Baker City, Oregon, I took 2 days off to drive down in the south-east part of Oregon, a forest with plenty of wild-life animals. As I drove through the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, lots of water fowls were visible having a jolly good time in the early morning sun, and my marathon of photo-snapping started. I was constantly on the lookout for all kinds of birds standing in water ponds and standing on fence-poles, which has become my favorite way to spot birds, especially if they let me sneak up on them as I roll down the car window and zoom quickly on them with my camera.

The area between Frenchglen and Fields in SE Oregon

Driving through the small town of Frenchglen, I encountered an abundance of sage-brush and juniper trees, and continued down towards the hamlet of Fields, which consisted of maybe a dozen houses, mostly trailers, a 4 room motel and a small western restaurant which I stopped to visit, both to use the rest-room and to get something to eat. This was a combination restaurant and country store with an incredible collection of photos of hunters posing with their treasured catch, from cougars to elk, from eagles to bears, from mountain lions to all kinds of deer with 4, 5, 6 or more antlers. Asking the waitress to fix me a sandwich, I noticed on the wall a curious wooden poster with this notice, “As of January 1, 2007, we served 875 hamburgers.” The numbers were removable, so that they can change the numbers every time another hamburger is sold. When I asked her if they make good business there, in the middle of nowhere, she beamed a huge smile and pointed to the poster, as she said “Of course, didn’t you see that sign up there, we sold 875 hamburgers so far this year!” Since this was early May, I smiled and congratulated her on her booming business. My quick mathematical calculation figured out that in the first 4 months they sold an average of 7 hamburgers a day! I remember being in New York or even in Malta where a busy restaurant like McDonalds would sell 7 hamburgers in a minute, and would go over 875 burgers in a day! But in Fields, Oregon selling 7 hamburgers a day is a major business accomplishment.