October 08

Here's a photo to warm the hearts of patriots.

Today was an absolutely breathtaking autumn day -- the sun shone, it was cool but not too cold, and the skies were blue with white fluffy clouds. It was also quite windy, which worked to my advantage as I turned left onto Main Street in Watertown near the public library. The bank building across the street has two flagpoles -- one was directly in front of me -- and while I waited for the light to change, I stuck my head out the window and got this shot of the flag, waving proudly, unfurled in the wind.

Pretty nifty.

281/365 -

August 26

I just realized that this is my second flag photo in six days. Considering the reason this scene caught my attention, I'd just as soon have missed it.

This was another "driving to work" shot. I was proceeding down South Huntington Ave. in Jamaica Plain, listening to NPR eulogize Senator Kennedy, when I noticed the flag at the VA Medical Center was at half staff. It struck me as being pretty -- a hell of a thing to think, on the face of it. Still, I stopped to take the photo.

Flags on U.S. Government buildings will remain at half staff until sunset on August 30, per Presidential proclamation.

238/365 -

August 20

Today's photo of the day will be posted late because of technical difficulties.

The weather today was positively schizophrenic, perhaps even worthy of Florida, minus the impressive lightning displays. It started off sunny and hot -- no change -- before clouds rolled in and the heavens opened up and we had a gully washer, followed by clear skies and muggy, if not quite so hot, weather.

My photography was limited to the times when the rain wasn't coming down in buckets, so this shot of the United States Flag atop the Landmark Center is the best of a tepid bunch. It caught my eye because the steady wind (bringing the rain in, no doubt) had the flag waving so perfectly -- almost like a postcard.

Every other shot I captured today either has stormclouds darkening the skies, and none of them is particularly good. Thus, today's patriotic entry.

232/365

May 23

The City of Boston is holding a small Memorial Day observance tomorrow at the Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan. Boston purchased this cemetery 140 years ago, and offers veterans and dependents free plots here. It is also the site of a memorial dedicated to all veterans.

I drove by this afternoon and was struck at the sight of all the freshly-planted flags. Each flag marks the gravesite of a veteran. It is a moving sight.

Getting this photo of the day was very difficult. I couldn't -- and wouldn't -- cheapen such a moving sight by merely viewing at it as camera fodder. I tried many angles, including close-ups of individual stones and shooting the memorial without the gravesites, before deciding on this shot of some of the graves, with the memorial standing guard in the back.

143/365 -