MARION, OH--
A President's tomb, a mysterious tombstone globe and a popcorn museum

The Harding tomb is the burial site of our country's 29th president (1921-1923), Warren G. Harding (Nov 2,1865-Aug 2, 1923) and first lady Florence K, Harding.  The memorial is built of white marble, is 103 feet in diameter and 53 feet tall.

That's lady friend Sue in the red top approaching the steps to the outdoor sarcophagus.

The memorial also is important in American history because it is the last of the elaborate presidential tombs, a trend that began with the burial of President Abraham Lincoln in his tomb in Springfield, IL.  Since President Calvin Coolidge, Harding's successor, presidents have chosen burial plot designs that are simpler, or combined with their library sites.

Thursday, Fogeyisms will take a peek at a 5,200 pound, black granite globe that rotates slowly on its monument in a cemetery just north of the Harding tomb and Saturday we will bring you the story of Marion's delightful Popcorn Museum.

We hope you will tune in.

2012 LEXINGTON INVITATIONAL--

Junior High School Girls Cross Country Race

Mackenna Curtis-Collins (my adopted grand daughter) is blazing her way through the leaders of the pack early in this annual event on the Lexington High School cross-country track Saturday.

In sight of the finish line she found yet another passing gear, rocketed by her last competitor and breezed to a first place finish with a time of 13 minutes and 13 seconds topping the second place runner by 3 seconds.

There were 39 finishers from five schools in this competition.  Mackenna topped the last place finisher by nearly 14 minutes in this 2 1/2 mile race.

Surely you can imagine my BIG smile hidden behind the camera as she paced through the mid-point (above) and slammed across the finish line (right).

Now, ponder this!  This 71+ year old photographer was with her near the start of the event (top), at the mid-way point (middle) and was waiting for her at the finish line (right).

Pretty amazing, dontcha' think.**

Photography comments:

To enhance the illusion of speed I reduced the ISO (sensitivity) of my camera to its lowest setting of 100 then used a slow shutter speed of 1/15th of a second.

I also used the camera's continuous shooting mode and panned (moved) the camera, trying to precisely match Mackenna's speed.  The streaks of light in the top photo are evident against the dark, wooded background and were created by the distance the camera moved during the exposure.

Anything that moved in precise synchronization with the camera appears sharp in the photos.  Since Mackenna's body is moving slightly up and down with her pace and her arms and legs are moving in a somewhat circular motion, they are a bit blurred in all the images.

At that slow shutter speed lots of light enters the lens so the size of the aperture must be reduced to prevent overexposure.  The top photo was done in the shade of the woods at f/10.  The two smaller photos were done in sunlight at f/22.

**Confession time:  While Mackenna was dealing with the circumference of the race course, I had to deal only with its diameter. < Smile >

OBAMA'S AMERICA 2016--

This powerful movie reveals the background in Obama's life that drives his agenda which already has America on the brink of bankruptcy and which seeks to pummel our country to the despair of a third-world also-ran.

For those of you still mimicking an Ostrich, take a peek at a picture of your grandchildren, then go see this movie.

Better yet, take them and their parents with you.

BUCKEYE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL--

An ole farm field up there somewhere between Greenwich and Ruggles came alive that evening as the Whitaker Brothers, Idle Tyme, the Bluegrass Mountaineers, James King and finally, the headliner, Rhonda Vincent sent their toe-tapping music bouncing through the rolling valleys.

The weather tried to cooperate but mostly high winds, misty rain and temps flirting with the upper 50s kept the crowd finding relief any way it could including coats, hooded sweatshirts and colorful tarps with occasional trips to the concessions for a steaming beverage.

The stage area looked like something concocted from the debris of an old barn demolition but it was functional and gaily decorated in a patriotic theme and that is good.

The grounds included free camping facilities "in the rough" which were filled to the brim for this event.  Electric was available for 5 bucks a day.  When Bluegrass music isn't the main item on the agenda, the site serves as the Greenwhich Road Coon Hunter's Club.  Seemed like a good match to me.

Bluegrass music traces its history to the incredibly wide variety of folks migrating to America in the early 1600s; an amalgamation of dance music and ballads from Ireland and Scotland, for examples, as well as African American gospel music and blues.

African slaves brought the design idea for the banjo; an instrument now integral to the Bluegrass sound.

As early settlers began to spread westward in their new land they composed new songs about day-to-day life in their mostly rural, mountainous experience.  Their music began to be known as "mountain" or "country" music.

The invention of radio in the early 1900s brought this music from the southern mountains to people all over the US.

In the late 30s Bill Monroe, a native of Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, formed a band he called "Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys" and this band's sound gave birth to this new form of country (Bluegrass) music.

One youngster joined the adults in his group on the night of our visit and played partially secluded in the background.  I was proud of his polite and unobtrusive presence--then amazed when he was brought to the foreground microphone and dazzled the crowd with his very own, rollicking solo.  His great grandpa in the same group beamed as he announced the lad as the fourth generation on that stage.

Finally, dusk morphed into darkness as the beat rolled on.

______________________________________
In the upper photos are Mark and Nancy Meinzer, Don and Roberta Karger and my pal Sue settling in for the nearly 4 hour show on that blustery evening.

SAYIN' IT LIKE IT IS--



This is a custom made sign hanging on the fence of Blue Stream Oil and Gas Rental and Supply Co., Highway 90, New Iberia, LA.

The photo and information were provided by a good friend who likewise has built a business, made payroll for lots of years and, I believe, shares Mr. Hebert's thought about Mr. Obama being affectionate.

A PICKIN' AND A FISHIN'--

Saturday, Sue and I with square dancing friends the Kargers and the Meinzers meander north to very rural, southern Huron County for the Buckeye Bluegrass Festival where we found bass instruments, bass vocals and bass of the aquatic variety in abundance.  Well, maybe not the latter according to the friendly fisherlady pictured.  That's the back of the main stage just above and to the right of her.  We hope you enjoy our story as much as we enjoyed the show. 

A FAILED PRESIDENCY--

What would you do if the president of a company you owned ran it into debt so deep it would be unlikely your children and their children could ever pay it off?

You would fire him.

Of course.