This week's Photo Challenge is Uniforms.

The recent 4th of July parade provided a number of opportunities for photographing military men & women in their uniforms.

Marine Corps (you can't see it at this size, but the soldier is glancing sideways at me -- I was the only photographer within blocks that had an SLR, so some 50% of my shots have people staring at me like I'm a member of the paparazzi or something)

Since our little town is celebrating its bicentennial this year, some 'period dress' was included in the parade -- here, a  Civil War uniform and bayonet:

Haven't posted in awhile, it seems!  Well, I've got a few things in mind to write about, but for now, just a couple more photos.  I plan to offer links to larger versions here, when I get around to it.

The first is good for anyone who is fond of mold, fungus, and decay in dark places:

And this next one is for the romantics:

FYI, the gobbledegook in the lower rt corner is my copyright notice.  The originals look alright, but when I squeeze them into the Xanga window things go awry.  But like I say, I'll link them to the larger versions when I get around to it, later.

And, BTW, we did not get out to the Scottish Games.  We decided to leave early for our weekend trip to see family, which was good, but yes, there will be no photos of log throwing, etc.  Perhaps later in the year, we'll get out to a "Renaissance Faire," or something.

I'm not clear on all the details -- my wife found out about this -- but, we might be able to go to this event, the Ohio Scottish Games in Wellington, OH.  It would be about an hour drive for us, which wouldn't be too bad, even with the 7-month-old in tow.  According to the posters that have appeared in our hometown, Friday, June 27, entrance to the Games will be free.  That, you see, is the main attraction.

I hope to be there, that Friday, with my wife, son, and camera(s).  Well, probably just the one camera.  I'm not sure what all will be going on, Friday, but I think my wife said they'd be doing some of the 'highland games' (log throwing, that sort of thing).

I doubt any of the Ohio Xanga people who read my blog are close enough to meet in Wellington, but, just in case, I thought I'd post it here.  Send me a message if you think you can make it & maybe we'll arrange to meet over, well, haggis I guess.

[Adding this to my collection of "fun with words" posts]

Interesting story out of Vermont, today:  "From Bad to Verse:  Vandals Get Classroom Penance."

The link will expire, so here are a few excerpts:

Call it poetic justice: More than two dozen young people who broke into Robert Frost's former home for a beer party and trashed the place are being required to take classes in his poetry as part of their punishment.

...

The vandalism occurred at the Homer Noble Farm in Ripton, where Frost spent more than 20 summers before his death in 1963. Now owned by Middlebury College, the unheated farmhouse on a dead-end road is used occasionally by the college and is open in the warmer months.

On Dec. 28, a 17-year-old former Middlebury College employee decided to hold a party and gave a friend $100 to buy beer. Word spread. Up to 50 people descended on the farm, the revelry turning destructive after a chair broke and someone threw it into the fireplace.

When it was over, windows, antique furniture and china had been broken, fire extinguishers discharged, and carpeting soiled with vomit and urine. Empty beer cans and drug paraphernalia were left behind. The damage was put at $10,600.

...

"It's a lesson learned, that's for sure," said one of [the vandals], 22-year-old Ryan Kenyon, whose grandmother worked as hairdresser in the 1960s and knew Frost. "It did bring some insight. People do many things that they don't realize the consequences of. It shined a light, at least to me."

That damage estimate seems pretty low, for destruction to an historical site -- then again, Frost was a poet, and how many poets have Ming vases lying around?

Gives new meaning to "throw the book at 'em," I guess.  Though, judging from the kids attitudes, I'm not altogether sure they've learned their lesson.

Saturday we were going to an outlet mall (not a proper mall, perhaps), so, bearing in mind the topic for this week's Weekly Photo Challenge as suggested by PhotoGraphics -- namely, "At the Mall," -- I took my camera with me.

Well, somehow, probably because I had a 6 month old baby to keep track of, I had time for just the one shot.

I thought at the time the photo wouldn't be completely uninteresting, just because the older lady in the foreground stopped at the Jockey store, while the hip, young couple passed it by.  But it took me too long to set up the shot, so the people had already begun to move on, by the time I took the shot.  And yes, the young woman has the word "PINK" stamped on the butt of her sweatpants.

I'm not sure what's up with the columns.  This lens doesn't usually produce much distortion, at least, not that much.