Things from the Montgomery County Fair

Kissing on the Ferris wheel. Playing carnival games and losing, and knowing you'll lose due to the imperceptible yet unyielding mistress of the universe, Physics. Admiring epic vegetables. Eagerly anticipating the 4H queen. Spinning mobiles in the sun and wind. Bunnies, chickens, poo and hay. Behemoths made of living beef. Allergies. Equestrian ballet, the Star Spangled Banner, and polo to August glare. Summer evening and the smell of roasting cinnamon nuts and the rhythm of a blacksmith's hammer.

Pershing's Own

Watched the Army Band play at the greensward by the Washington Monument.

-joggers in the park accompanied absurdly by the Olympic theme at full brass blast. It's not every day you get your own heroic anthem!

-the silhouette of uniformed men in swinging strides, black shadow with white glowsticks

-cannons firing in time to the 1812 Overture

-a brief surge of joy

-billowing clouds of gunsmoke on the wind, soft and pale against the dark sky.