The Buzz at the Feeder

I stopped by Mom and Dad's last week and found them hanging out on the back porch. Along with enjoying the sunset they were a part of the buzz. I think at one time I counted 4 hummingbirds zipping here and there. They would spend a lot of time sitting on the leftover stem of the lilies. Some even buzzed my head two or three time within a foot. So close it sounded like a helicopter landing. I even heard one chirp and tweet. I had never heard that out of a hummingbird. These are all Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.

Pennsylvania State Memorial, Gettysburg, Pa. 2011

PENNSYLVANIA STATE MEMORIAL

GETTYSBURG, PA.

This imposing memorial erected by the State of Pennsylvania is one of the most beautiful on the field and is a fitting tribute to her 35,000 enlisted officers and men who participated in the great conflict. All of these names are recorded on the bronze tablets placed around the parapet and on the inner walls of the arches.

Marken & Bielfeld, Frederick, Md.

4A-H752

The Pennsylvania Memorial, like some of these other postcards, I see what may be (like Bradley said) that the original photographer used a wide angle lens or a lens with a different curvature than mine. Often I can get the center to line up fairly well but the extremities are off a bunch. Also, with a popular monument, like the Pennsylvania, there is a lot more tourists hanging around. I was able to photoshop some of them out but I had to leave some on because of where they were.

SFD Child's Dream Weekend

On the last weekend of June the Shippensburg Fire Department held the 14th annual Child's Dream Weekend. This weekend brought out 20 to 30 kids, boys and girls, to learn what it is like to be a firefighter. The cadets were broken up into different Battalions with a rotating Chief. Each battalion moves through different stations. There were engine company operations, truck company operations, fire extinguishers and vehicle rescue to name a few. The two really great thing about the weekend was the number of children who show up to participate and the fact that there were nearly as many volunteer instructors as there were students.

Colorado in the Fall

Here at the High Guides pack station is about as high as the color goes this late in October. As we rode up and out of the drainage and into the hills the colors went quickly to browns followed the next day by whites. I'm just excited that today, here and now, it didn't get over 90. I hate 90.

The Angela

Beside my Grandmothers cooking some of my best memories as a kid visiting Coaldale was the movie theatre just up the street, the Angela. I can remember the King Kong remake with Jessica Lange, Superman and watching Grease here twice. maybe three times. The modern megaplexes just don't have the character of any old downtown movie theatre. If you didn't want to see the movie playing you would wait until next week. Well, the Angela fell on hard times somewhere along the line, but there seems to be a new life in it's future. A sign hung outside marks it as a Panther Valley Historical Renaissance Site. The sign reads, "Originally opened October 11, 1949 by Peter Magazzo, the Angela Theatre brightens Phillips Street and the lives of Coaldale residents. It's classic 1940's marquee, terrazzo tile entrance and box office signal the past prominence of the 'state of the art' motion picture theatre. Th Angela is once again active - the last operating movie theatre in the Panther Valley."

Surface of the Bloom

Some flowers just don't get old when I'm taking pictures of them. the Queen Anne's Lace is one of them. While it looks like one big flower it is actually made up of hundreds of little tiny flowers. Too cool. I think I took these with a $20 plastic Holga lens, I picked up not too long ago. This was the first time I really used it. It's manual focus so I had to toss a bunch of blurry pictures before I found a decent one. Check out the first picture, see how focused it is in the center and how it gets blurrier as you get to the edges? That's what this Holga does.

Inside Coca-Cola Park

Here are some pictures of the Coca-Cola Park playing field. Coca-Cola Park is home of the International League Lehigh Valley Ironpigs. Triple A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. This stadium was built in 2008 and the Phillies moved their AAA team, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Red Barons down. Walkways allow you a 360 degree view of the game. Seats around the infield bowl, a picnic area in left field, a grass slope in left center field and standing/ leaning rows in right field. Two mascots, both grey pigs, Ferrous and FeFe.