Fourth of July weekend

Jack and mom drove up for the week of the Fourth and just in time for the “Cornerstone Baptist Fly-in”. Stan, the pastor, hosted a fly-in and Russell O’Quinn was the guest. Russell is an active experimental test pilot for the US Military and is 78 years old, yes, he still is testing top-secret experimental air-craft for the Military. Mr. O’Quinn started his speech off from the beginning of his life-life aviation adventure which promptly started at the age of five when his father needed to watch him and shingle the roof of their house, so his father nailed him by the seat of his pants to the roof. While nailed to the roof, Russell would watch the air-plains fly over head and from there on he secretly learned how to fly since his parent’s were afraid of aviation. His family was not Christian, but one of his aunts was and she paid for his college education (Christian college) where not only did he get an education but also purchased an old military fighter plane and learned how to continue his love of aviation. I won’t go into anymore details other then with the help of aunt and a caring professor he was led to Christ and was enabled to fulfill his dream and whiteness to others at the same time.

After the speech, the entire church and guests (~500) ate at the BBQ which hosted an “All-you-can-eat” buffet.

After work on Monday I ate dinner with Jack, mom and two members of Jack’s family at Angeler’s in Newport. I took I-95 from Bangor to Newport and the view was beautiful, the sky was filled full of large Cumulonimbus clouds as they are associated with thunder storms. When I had reached the restaurant it started to rain heavily and as we were leaving the rain had ceased in the distance stood a rainbow, unfortunately power lines and buildings were in the way so I did not take a photograph. We headed to the camp Jack & mom stayed at and when I say camp, I use the term loosely as it was built in the 1930’s and had very little up-keeping, very rustic. After the tour of the cabin we sat around the fire and watched a beautiful sunset over Sebasticook lake.

Tuesday evening right after work I headed to Dexter to watch their fireworks show at the local high school. As I was driving through Corinth a light shower let up and two rainbows appeared over a potatoe field and another just down the road. The latter photo was so close to me I could have walked through its amazing light spectrum of vibrant colors illuminating the surrounding trees.

I arrived shortly after the rain shower and was able to photograph another image that I find to be interesting due to the row of corn and different cloud formations. The fireworks were about the same as they always are, sporadic and quick to end but enjoyable none-the-less. The evening sky was fairly clear but not clear enough to see the Milky Way; I wanted to take advantage of the un-polluted skies of Dexter to attempt my first astrophotograph.

Mom stopped by in the evening of the Fourth; we decided to watch Bangor’s fireworks show which is usually a decent showing. We drove to a local store, parked and walked about a mile to reach the waterfront. We found a nice hill with a flat surface that overlooked the Penobscot River and was above most other people. I set up my tripod and had everything positioned and configured just right to photograph the fireworks but as I was shooting, the camera battery ran out which was a little upsetting. The next day I purchased a second battery.