It is interesting to note that the “Little Ponies” are larger then the Star Wars “Chicken Walker” or “Battle Tank”…
Revenge of the Equine?
In the background, BBC America in having a “Dr. Who” marathon…
The joys of “Space” travel without leaving your seat!
Barbie just crushed a “Chicken Walker”…
I need more coffee w/Egg-Nog… Hey it works!
My Green Comment for the Day
Please remember to Recycle!
There is a TON of plastic that can be separated from cardboard…
On my way to get some sausage, I thought I crushed Clone Trooper helmet…
It was a grape…
From the Fruit basket from “Poppy”
I sit here at my laptop, with tabs of Facebook, Flickr, CNN and my blog, monitoring my world.
On FB, I am Reading, Like-ing and Posting as I watch my friends and family wake to their Christmas and “hear” their new discoveries.
It is amazing to witness photos of friends in Australia posted late Christmas Eve, are now being commented on as we awake the new day.
Yesterday, I was in a Facebook conversation with a group about the Apollo 8 “Earthrise” photo, and how taken back we were then, looking at that small blue marble in a black ocean of space.
We also talked about the Apollo 8 – Christmas Eve Broadcast that those astronauts read, and how perfect it was.
But today, 40 plus years later, the world is even smaller with computers and the internet.
Yesterday was the Annual Downingtown Good Neighbor Christmas Parade, and once again, it appeared to be a big success!
The weather was definitely warmer than last year, with the temperatures in the low 40s, and mostly overcast. (Several members from the Flickr groups I belong to, also expressed delight with the warm weather!)
Madison and I were the only ones from our family that were able to go. Logan was coughing way too much for Mom to allow him to stand around outside. (Our whole family, plus many other folks I know, have been fighting this dreadful lingering cold…)
We headed downtown around 2:15pm, with the thought of trying to avoid the hassle of trying to find parking, and to get a good viewing spot.
As we got closer, there did not appear to be much of a crowd, which made parking a breeze.
We walked from our spot at the Downing Center lot, and headed over to the center of town.
As we arrived, there were some people already there, with unfolded chairs and blankets, but not as many as I would have expected with the parade starting so soon.
We decided to walk around, and ended by stopping into the Minquas Fire House, where the Christmas Committee was hosting an Open House with Cookies and Hot Drinks.
After a few minutes of warming up inside, and some cookies, we talked back down town, and eventually staked our claim in a little spot near the Rt. 322 intersection, almost the same spot as last year.
As we waited and watched, we noticed a group of parents and kids gathering to the right of us, in front of the Coffee Cup, getting ready to perform.
As the instructors started to move the littlest members onto the street and into position, things started to get a little strange.
To the left of us, you could see that the police had already stopped the Rt. 322 traffic from turning on to the main parade route, but several Township vehicles and Police cars were still driving up and down Rt. 30.
At one point, a fast moving township pickup truck seemed as if it was going to run right into the little performers sitting in the street!
Needless to say, the spectators were getting a little agitated with what they were seeing, causing one parent from across to street to yell out: “Guess they did not get the memo!”.
Leaping over the Streets (007)
The little dancers were easily cleared from the street without problems, and one of the adults from the Studio, did walk down the street, and confront an Official to confirm that it was okay to continue, and she was assured that is was.
Several minutes later, another unmarked gray police car drove back down the street, causing the kids to once again to scamper of the street, sparking an even more satirical comment “One more time!” from the same parent as earlier.
Getting a better view (047)
Finally, the Studio was able to continue without incident, and thrilled the crowd with their various dance routines.
On several occasions, with the music playing and the dancers jumping and spinning, children from the crowd entered the street and joined the performing Dancers.
As the performances continued, proud parents and children moved to the street to get a better view of the action, including one child, who seemed to just want to take a nap!
After about 30 minutes, the whole Troop gathered on the street to finish their performance.
The Finally – All hands on Deck! (053)
Now it was time for the Main Event!
The Start of the 2010 Parade! (058)
The celebration of the Holidays, is to look back to the past…
Old Fashion Steam Fire truck (142)
as well as what we have today…
Some of Downingtown’s Fire Trucks (119)
as well as trying to remember the innocent’s of youth…
“Hi There!” (072)
§ § § § §
“Look at that!!” (100)
and good food! (Think these pretzels are big enough??)
“I know I can finish this…” (039)
and our animal friends…
Apologies to the Commissioner! (065)
as well as the music of the season…
One of Santa’s musicians (080)
and the array of colors!
The Season of Colors (077)
or the First Family of the Holiday’s, that help to bring it all together!
Santa and Mrs. Claus (155)
Happy Holidays to all!
Additional Images of this Event can be found on Flickr
Another “trick”, when coming from the Outside in, put the camera in a plastic bag while still outside, and then slowly introduce the camera to the indoors!
Also, there does seem to be a debate about keeping the camera in your coat… Personally, I am against this, because 1) You body heat is going to make for a larger extreme when you take it out; 2) Your body still sweats, adding moisture to the situation…
Also, your battery life may NOT be as long, so have extras, just in case!
Today was the Brownie Hay Ride at Yeager’s Farm Market on Route 113 North, just south of Phoenixville.
As soon as Madison got off the bus at 3:30pm, she was asking if it was time to go yet.
I tried my best to make her understand, that she still needed to wait for another two hours!
Yeager's Farm Market 069
She wasn’t buying it.
We did leave a little early, and were one of the first to arrive.
By 6pm, it seemed that everyone had arrived.
About 45 five to seven year old girls, 20 women parents, and myself. Talk about feeling like the odd “man” out…
Eventually, the group was herded on to a large Hay carrier, and toured the farm in country luxury.
All the girls were having a blast, which was easy enough to tell with all the screaming! (At one point, I did hear one of the mother’s say she wished she had brought aspirin because of the noise level!)
During the tour, I did manage to take a bunch of pictures, and those images will be posted on another site for all the Brownies and Parents to see.
Included here, are a few of the other images that I captured…
I was very lucky to get this capture. It was taken while standing up, as the tractor pulled the trailer over the dirt roads, as the sun faded.
Thankfully, I did capture it in raw/cr2, and was able to use Photoshop to bring out some of the lost details.
