Happy No Labor Day on Labor Day

It always seems to me that Labor Day is an awkward holiday. Some see it only as the "end of summer" or back to school - except for many that was days or even weeks ago, others for the start of fall sports, i.e. football and only a few for the celebration of the work ethic that helped make this an amazing country - and we celebrate it with a day off! Whatever your day is like, mine is just a work day - I hope you enjoy it and appreciate the contributions of those who allowed our economy to reach a point where this kind of day is celebrated. 

From a concert in Frederick, MD at the fairgrounds. 

Same Moose -

Here he is even a bit closer. 

"O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures."  Psalm 104:24 NLT

Near

Our next large mammal was way too close. He emerged from the lake and instead of going away from us headed toward us on a narrow trail where left was in the water and right a steep bank of rip-rap. We just got across and up the hill a wee bit (and behind a tree) when he went past on the trail at arms length. Magnificent animal and my favorite to see. 

Piebald Deer

I photographed this fellow in Acadia National Park near Witch Hole Pond. The local newspaper ran an article about him and my photo on the front page. Height of my photojournalism experience! It was a treat to see this deer and we watched him for about 10 minutes. 

Bison (two photos)

Bison and not Buffalo. Why? American Bison are distinct from the Asian and African cousins, true buffalo. The two varieties in North America are Woods and Plains, they have curved horns, prominent humps and coats vary with the weather, all different from the buffalo of other regions. 

2500 pounds of opinion in T. Roosevelt National Park. The opinion was for me to leave, I did. 

Herd of Bison headed toward us at Yellowstone NP. 

High

In the aerial sense! These are a few more of the Mountain Goats at Glacier National Park. Picking up on a theme for this last week of summer? 

Grizzly at Yellowstone

It was so cool to see this mother and her new cub at Yellowstone. We were more than a safe distance and I did not have at the time a long telephoto lens so he is not as crisply focused as I would have liked. But he is there. The only Grizzly bear I have ever seen but we hope for more when we head to Alaska. 

Wild

These are resident wild horses in the T. Roosevelt National Park. Perhaps they were in a conference meeting. They were quite striking animals and a bit skittish. I thought they would have been more used to people but they did not want you too close. I was in perfect agreement as i did not want them too close either. We got along very well. 

Amazing Foresight

These men were simply amazing. Well-read, careful students of history and passionate about things that really matter, they produced - amidst much argument and discussion our Bill of Rights. This is outside Independence Hall with the Liberty Bell to the right in the glass and brick building. 

See you in church this week? After all only you can keep you from doing so. 

"And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." Hebrews 10:25 NLT

"The More Things Change...."

"the more they seem to be the same." In Boston a statue of King George was toppled and much of it melted to make musket balls. By careful analysis it was determined that this ball recovered at Monmouth NJ was one of those balls. This is at the newly opened Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. More about that collection later. 

Independence Hall...

...in the rain. Lots of rain. 

Still

And, yes, it was also quiet. This "replica" whiskey still is on the short Blue Blazes Trail - great name, at Catoctin Mountain Park. This park just a bit north of Frederick, MD began in the Roosevelt era when the Federal government bought up "used" land that was no longer good for farming and converted it to second growth forest and parks. This section has Camp David (with large don't even think about pausing near the gate signs) on one edge and a state parks on other sides. It is a nice but certainly not spectacular park. 

Alien Invasion

Clearly they snuck in while the sun was dark! 

Or it may be a jelly fish at the Monterey Aquariam 

Artillery

This area is where the Confederate's set up artillery to force the Union to abandon the railroad wye and fall back across the bridge. This is the Best farm house on Monocacy Battlefield. 

Best Farm (two photos)

Monocacy National Battlefield is only a couple of miles from Frederick, MD, where Cindy went to college. The battlefield today is comprised primarily of three farms that were the scene of most of the battle, Best, Thomas, Worthington, a mill, Gambrill and the river and railroad bridges. This photo is of the huge barn on the Best farm. It was built in 1790 and is about 3 or 4 stories high. The barn got fire during the battle but the walls and much of the structure survived. 

View of the house from inside the barn.

Fiery Bush

I cannot recall the name of this plant - and I guess I am too lazy to find it on the web. Most of the year it looks like a dead stick or a clump of dead sticks. If the rains are sufficient it will bloom briefly in the spring. Most of the stick will grow these bright red flowers and the rest of the plant will get a green covering similar to the red, close to the branch and temporary. It was a bit past the peak when we saw these are the Saguaro National Park. 

Reminds me of the passage in Exodus three: "There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up." NLT

Dedicated

These men are Civil War re-enactors and were demonstrating the firing orders. Quite complex and in the chaos of battle would be difficult to keep everything straight. Would be one reason they would train so much. This was at Monocacy National Battlefield just north of DC where the south tried one last attempt to take the capitol in July of 1864.

Symmetry

At the downtown City Plaza farmer's market in Raleigh. I don't think they had sushi when the buildings were constructed a few generations ago. 

Perchance to Dream...

So, there is a large mural on a wall by the downtown farmers market. I had driven by it before but stopped on a Sunday night to take a photo. Then, my grandson discovered this little sculpture - about 8 inches high, that apparently is the "source" of the mural as his little thought bubbles go on and on. 

Fun...

...on the Ocean City, NJ, Boardwalk. 

Did you catch it?