One Last Time

I just wanted to show you the winning photo from my city's photowalk in Yorktown, Virginia. You can click the picture to go to the photowalk site to see the rest of the entries from our city.

photo by Kristina Johnson

And here is the excellent entry of my photowalk mate, Miss Poo:

Another friend of mine, 3,000 miles away, participated in the walk at Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, California. Here's his lovely shot:

As of this posting, his walk leader hadn't chosen a winner yet, so he's still got a chance! Sorry, strike that. I just went back and saw that his leader has now picked someone else as winner. boo.

See ya'll next year!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, my (losing) entry was the cyclist. Ah well, better luck next year.

Summer Time Blues... and Greens, and Reds, and Yellows

What's been happening...here and there and everywhere.

July 3rd: Yorktown has a market every Saturday morning...

Mom shopping for preserves...

I think this boy was intrigued by the sunflower. He was staring at it for quite a while.

Yorktown is part of the Historic Triangle here on the Peninsula, which also includes Jamestown and Williamsburg.  All three being places you should add to your "to do" list.

July 4th: hmmm. It seems I don't have those pictures on my computer or on my camera. I must have left them dumped on my parents's computer. We'll get those at a later date. Trust me,though, we had fun.

July 11th:  STING!!! Mom and I saw Sting play with members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Northern Virginia and it was amazing.

It's no secret that I've been mad at that man for many years now. He first broke my heart when The Police broke up. I knew at the tender age of 15 that he would never be alone what The Police were together. I still followed him, though. I did love him, you know. Really, I did. Have you ever seen "Lost in Translation"? In a nutshell, "The film centers on an aging actor (Bill Murray) and a recent college-graduate (Scarlett Johansson) who develop a unique closeness after a chance meeting in a grand Tokyo hotel."  That movie was like Sofia Coppola pulled it from my fantasy world. With me and Sting in the lead, of course. Hey. Don't knock it. It could still happen.

Anyway, the show was fantastic and I had my second semi-sort of run with the man himself. I'll fill you in on the first one at a later date. (I know. I often say I will fill you in at a later date, but I really mean it this time.)

Mom and I got to the (I really hate these corporate venues) Jiffy Lube Amphitheatre, in Bristow, Virginia, around 5pm and did a drive through the place to see where we could park. The nice attendant was going to let us park in the closest spot and he told us to be sure to be back by 6pm. After a required stop at WAWA, we made our way back and got a tasty parking spot. We're sitting there finishing up our WAWA hoagies and are just hanging out when this guy rides by on a bike and I say to myself, "Hey, that guy looks like....

....HEY! THAT'S STING!"

I thought I put my camera on video mode after I shot this picture, only to find out after he was out of view that I had actually turned the camera off. See what you do to me, Sting? It's just not right. Ah well. It was certainly a memorable moment for Mom and I.

Then, this young kid road by and I told mom, "I bet he's in the orchestra".


So, now we're in our seats and raring to go after our Sting viewing.

Nothing like the sun...

We sat for an hour holding sheets of paper up to block out that sun.

Then, it was time...

Highlights for me? Sting playing the Theremin on Moon Over Bourboun Street! The theremin is the instrument you hear in all those old spooky movies and it was a perfect addition here.

Then, there is this young lady, Jo Lawry. She was Sting's amazing back-up singer. Though, I'd give her more credit than that. She has a beautiful voice. Look her up.

Remember that kid on the bike I said was probably in the orchestra? I'm pretty sure that's him playing the french horn here. Top row, middle. What do you think?

Bad jumbrotron picture. You probably had to be there.

It was a great night and Sting has partially redeemed himself to me. Though, now that I see him solo again, I get the feeling that he was not giving his all on the Police reunion tour. What a brat.

It's Swing Time

I had to post about my evening with Mom & Dad. Great weather and great music (Mom & Dad's era).

Yes, I was sans camera but did have my cell phone.

Riverwalk at Yorktown, Virginia

Glen Boswick Sounds of Swing Orchestra were fantastic.

Mom & Dad gettin' their groove on. (Center couple, white shirt & coral shirt)

Um. Is it bad that I really love this last cell phone picture? I don't think I could have done much better with a real camera. I love the moody water color effect.

While I was watching my parents and all the other "golden" couples dancing their jitter bugs and cha cha's to the music of their era, I just had to wonder about something...

What kind of dances are couples of my generation (80's child) going to do when we are in our golden years? Bump and grind? Head banging? Moshing? Well, that would all look pretty silly, wouldn't it? Plus, we'd put our backs out at the first pelvic thrust, get dizzy and fall over trying to head bang, and think of the broken hips from moshing!

We sure didn't learn any dances that we could carry over with us into our twilight years. It really seems that true partner dancing flew out the window in the late 80's/early 90's. You either gyrated (I would say "hump" but my parents read my blog. Hi Mom & Dad!) all up and down your partner, thrashed about in your own little bubble or tried your best to knock everyone else to the ground and make them bleed.

The couple was nevermore.

Where are the steps you have to learn? Where is the (RIP Patrick Swayze) "Lock your frame"? Makes me wish I grew up back in the days of swing dancing. Shoot, I'd even take disco!

Ah well, I'll just have to find myself a man who is willing to put on his dancing shoes and cut a rug with me.