Dallas World Aquarium

Dianna and I are die-hard aquarium people. When the suggestion came to meet with friends at the  Dallas World Aquarium we jumped at the offer. With friends Doug, his wife Betty, son Billy and grandson Owen we slogged our way through lanes choked with baby strollers, phone camera armed giggling girls and throngs of Asian tourists that moved like schools of fish suddenly turning as one on the silent commands of their leaders. Most fun I've had with my clothes on in quite some time.

Baby Owen

The Dallas World Aquarium (not to be confused with the  Dallas Children's Aquarium....well you can't have too many aquariums in one town) started life as a rubber warehouse, a steel manufacturer, a Venetian blind company to the old Tejano Rodeo Bar until renovated in the late 90's into the aquarium. A second building was built next door. The Aquarium exhibits are laid out into regions of the world and the main building houses the freshwater exhibits and the new building has the saltwater stuff. A third building was erected to house the Munda Maya Exhibit of the highlighting the species of the Mexico and Central America.

Now this is no Scripps Birch Aquarium or Monterey Bay Aquarium this baby is a straight up and down winding path of color and surprises around every bend covered from end to end by a huge skylight. It was a North Texas summer and although the interior was air conditioned, there was still a lot of humidity built up inside which was exacerbated by all the flora and fauna which, after all, was supposed to be a rain-forest. Engineering aside, the building and its exhibits are well done and engaging.

Dodging spectators blocking the path and mother's with twin baby carriages was daunting but worth the effort. A word about today's baby carriages, when did they become little Hummers on wheels. We came across a couple that looked like they had been designed by NASA with balloon tires, all kinds of little storage containers and even lights. I think one had built-in GPS and a raft for forging rivers.

As we wound our way down the rim of the open rain forest, we came upon all kinds of brightly colored varmints and birds. There were the Tanagers, Pale-Faced Saki Monkey (obviously not a flavored Vodka guy), the Three-Toed Sloth (not to be confused with the Two-Toed variety we found downstream) and Giant Otters swimming around their tank (really hard to photograph when they are darting about). Apparently the Three-Toed Sloth has an aversion to flash photography but would rather be photographed in natural light. I wonder if he made the sign too. Probably not...no opposing thumbs, bummer.

I got thrown briefly when I caught the "Double Yellow-Headed Amazon Parrot". My Dyslexia kicked in and I swore it said "Double Headed Parrot". My mistake but pretty none-the-less. There were Hawkheaded Parrots and Turtles galore.

In the fish and aquatic department were several species of Penguins. In one of the outdoor exhibits stood a pair of Black Footed Penquins. Hey...does anybody check with the Penguins when they name them? These guys didn't seem very happy with their monikers besides....maybe they have a better name they call themselves. I mean those Empire and Tuxedo guys got cool names. I just think these guys need to be re-evaluated.

Then there were the "fish tanks on the wall" segment. Lots of cool colorful fish whizzing around tanks of poly-carbonate bliss with no predators to be had. The most interesting were the Flashlight Fish.

These folks are deep sea fish who travel primarily in dark spaces or in water so deep there is little sunlight that makes it there. They are known for their large bio-luminescent organs. These are located beneath the eyes and contain luminous bacteria. They turn them on and off by two methods, either a shutter-like lid is raised over the organ or the organ is turned downward into a pouch. The light is used for predator avoidance, to attract prey, and for communication. I think its where GM got the side marker light idea from.

The other cool thing is that the females are the larger and stronger of the species. In fact, when predators are around, they circle the wagons (that would be the males and kids)to protect them. I know all you feminists are out there slapping each other on the backs and high-fiving but anybody that's been in a relationship or married for any amount of time knows this to be true.

Cool Underwater Tunnel

On the way out we got to go by the Jaguar. He just laid there, I'm sure contemplating each of us as a potential lunch ("That one..no that one....oh yeah that one....)

As I said,a little known but great tourist spot in downtown Dallas. Worth a second look when its a little cooler. I'm still trying to wring out my tee-shirt and undies.

Back to Tecumseh, Oklahoma

I know it's cumbersome to report about a place we've been to before but the trip really was more a mop-up of our previous sojourn to this product of the Oklahoma Land Run of 1891.

At the confluence of the US 177, US 270, and SH 9, Tecumseh, named for the great Shawnee Chief, was settled as part of the 1891 Land Run, one of only two rushes conducted to establish cities. Everyone's heard of the Land "Rushes" conducted in the late 1880s and was the US Government's answer to filling in the big gap created by acquiring the lands once held by the French and Spanish in the Louisiana Purchase and the seceding of land from Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889 was the most prominent of the land runs.

The Great Land Run of September 22, 1891 sought to settle Iowa, Sac and Fox, Potawatomi, and Shawnee lands. Ok...a little point of order. Hey....the land wasn't ours to hand out. It was, after all, land ceded to the Native American Tribes (by treaty) as re-numeration for having to give up (well...forced out of by the Great White Father) their native lands so America could satisfy it's Manifest Destiny and our greater desire to become the awesome bi-coastal society we've become.

What Congress had decided was "worthless" land became invaluable overnight with the discovery of precious metals, oil and the need to connect it all by a coast to coast railroad. So the decision was made to allow everyday folks into the once restricted lands in the hopes their sheer numbers would push out the Native Americans, for them to see the futility of it all and just let it happen. Well...except for a couple of hiccups, (The Great Sioux War 1876 ending Custer's career and the Crazy Snake Rebellion 1909 not to mention the Texas-Indian Wars of the 1870s) that's exactly what happened.

Well, I've been secretly cheering on the Native Americans as they expand their financial empires from Casinos, water rights battles and securing oil and gas holdings as they buy up surrounding lands with their glut of cash happily provided them by their former landlords who, in many ways, are becoming ever more dependent on their jobs and financial power which has translated into political power they could never have imagined or anticipated back in the bad old days. Two wrongs don't make a right but here we are. Ok....I'm off my soapbox.

Tecumseh, Oklahoma  was originally established to be the County Seat of Potawatomi County but in the shenanigans that usually occurred in these types of political sideshows, Tecumseh lost out in what most people today would agree was a rigged election and the City of Shawnee won out making Tecumseh's brand new Courthouse obsolete overnight. After years of non-use, it was torn down and was subsequently replaced by Tecumseh's City Hall. An early promise of big oil revenues evaporated in the Depression and never came about leaving Tecumseh a sleepy little town that never realized its potential. Although there are several Native American Nations in the area, the primary mover is the Potawatomi Nation, the 9th largest Native American Tribe in America which has the most significant footprint and Casino presence.

Our connection to Tecumseh is one Geraldine DeWeber Fortson. A Tecumseh area native, 84 year old Gerry (Tecumseh High school class of 1946 Go Savages) married Vaughn Fortson.  Both the Fortsons and DeWebers have deep roots in the area's history. They are both honored at the Tecumseh War Memorial at W. Washington and Broadway.

Gerry had been renting a home from Vaughn's mom and he was living in San Diego and working for Convair (later General Dynamics). When he came home for a visit, the two met and the rest is history. They moved back to San Diego to raise their family and became neighbors to Dianna's family in Linda Vista, a bedroom community of San Diego. The Fortsons had a daughter the same age as Dianna. They grew up together and attended the same high school (Stephen Watts Kearny Go Komets). I entered the picture as the new boyfriend and when we got married, had our reception at Gerry's house.

As the years passed, we lost contact when Gerry and Vaughn retired and moved back to Tecumseh as we raised our family in California. We rekindled the relationship only recently when, in 2009, we were invited to Gerry's 80th birthday . Turned out Tecumseh was only a three hour drive from our then new Frisco homestead across the Red River which borders our two states. We surprised her at the Tecumseh Housing Authority community room. We've been back a couple of times since.

Tecumseh has kept it's country charm and has become an up and coming bedroom community to it's "big sister" Shawnee. Gerry is a member of the oldest High School Alumni  in the state of Oklahoma. Classes began in 1895. Current and surviving members gather every Memorial Day to celebrate their connection to Tecumseh history.

Tecumseh took center stage when it was in the path of the 2010 Tornado which swept through that area and just dodged the bullet of Moore, Oklahoma's record breaking tornado as it passed from Moore to south of Oklahoma City and a second tornado the following day which swept the west side of Shawnee devastating those areas. Gerry has a storm cellar in the backyard but was precluded from doing so because all the neighbors she had offered shelter to filled it up before she could get in. Luckily it wasn't needed.

On the weekend we were there, Toby Keith was conducting his OK Twister Relief Concert at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

Toby Keith Covel was born in Clinton, Oklahoma but grew up in Moore and brought a bunch of headliners to make money for the United Way of Central Oklahoma for victim relief.

Tecumseh just also happens to be the home of Oklahoma's Governor Mary Fallin. Fallin's dad and mom were both  Mayors of Tecumseh. Mary followed in their political careers as a State and Congressional representative and became Oklahoma's 27th and first female Governor in 2011.


Little Tecumseh lies in the shadow of it's nemesis, Shawnee, Oklahoma to the northeast. As you recall, Shawnee beat out Tecumseh for the County Seat but more importantly, up to that point, it was being considered as a contender for state capitol for the young state cobbled from the old "Indian Territories".

Although Shawnee's founding fathers were riding a wave of success with the County Seat designation, it too landed on hard times during the Depression and an unrealized potential when the promises as a major railroad hub vanished with the prairie dust and exodus of residents during the Dust Bowl years. Old Shawnee is being replaced with the new developments springing up on it's periphery but downtown has been ignored or forgotten as the modern shopping malls, housing and eateries increase along the I-40 corridor on it's northern end.

But there are still some gems to be found in the downtown area. There is the Ritz Theater, Oklahoma's oldest operating theater up to 1989 when it was donated to the City and is now used as a community theater. Along Main Street can be found several antique stores like Kathy's Past and Present.
Located in the former Shoshone's Jewelry Store, Kathy said the store has seen several iterations in its time on Main Street but it wasn't until she bought the building and discovered her mom had actually worked in Shoshone's back in the day. The original safe is still utilized and Kathy said they recently used it as a safe room when the Moore tornadoes came through.

More importantly, Gerry had promised us to take us to one of the best hamburger joints in Oklahoma...maybe the world. Hamburger King  has been filling the tummies of Sooners since it opened in 1927. None of those prefab hamburger patties here. Each patty is hand formed and tossed onto the flattop to sizzle 'til done. People come from miles around just to have a slice of their pie and a cup of coffee.

To order, you pick up your table phone and call your order in. How cool is that?

We rolled in and Gerry had the Hamburger Basket, Dianna ordered the Cheeseburger basket and I had the "Kicker" a bacon-cheeseburger with grilled jalapeno sliding around in pepper jack cheese.

For dessert, Dianna pleaded for a slice of strawberry but had to settle for a slice of Key Lime. I had the "Monkeytail" chocolate swimming in a banana creme (sorry Tonia..it was delicious)and no pictures..we ate them too fast. All the while Gerry regaling us with tales of "dragging" Main Street with friends in their gas rationed cars and eating at Hamburger King after ball games in her high school years.

Main Street Shawnee

Shawnee has a couple of famous people connected to it as well. Gordon Cooper, one of the original seven Mercury Astronauts was born here. Some of you may recall the Thunderbirds puppet cartoon series . Little known factoid is that all the characters were named after the original seven astronauts. Gordon Cooper was depicted as Gordon Tracy the aquanaut call-sign Thunderbird 5.

A more contemporary celebrity is Brad Pitt who was born in Shawnee but grew up in Springfield, Missouri. He got his start as "Randy" a boyfriend of Charlie Wade (actress Shalane McCall) in the 1987-88 season.

Having spent most of our time eating our way through southern Oklahoma, we packed our bags and headed out of town. But not before making a stop at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in  Konawa, Oklahoma which was the very first Catholic Church in Oklahoma.

It began as a simple log cabin in 1877 when the Potawatomi offered a section of land to be used by French Benedictine priest, Father Dom Isidore Robot with the proviso the church would build a mission and a school. Nuns soon came along and a second school for native girls was begun in 1880 (probably brought those nasty rulers with them too). In 1901 fire destroyed the original mission and schools but were quickly rebuilt. The current church on Bald Hill was completed in 1915 and has a really beautiful interior. All the walls and ceilings are covered in period tin panels.

Dianna and I love old cemeteries (yeah...I know...kind of creepy) and this one is no exception. The 1909 Cemetery has burial stones of pioneers of the area some birth dates back to late 1800's. Some were particularly interesting and rather humorous.

After a quick stop to pick up some fried pies at Arbuckle Mountain Pies we then made our way passed the "Welcome to Texas" visitor center at the Red River on I-35 our travels and trip down memory lane ended as we returned to Frisco.

Aubrey, Texas 2

The night before Father's Day found us in 90 degree/90% humidity as we made preparations for another concert in the park at  Aubrey, Texas. My new best friend Doug (as American Sound Productions) was again doing sound and lighting for the 2013 Concert Series and invited us along. This time he brought along my former co-worker Brandon from the Berean Blast Fest and Doug's grandson Brandon. Yes, it can be confusing in that Brandon seems to be a favorite name in the family.

The show wasn't scheduled to start until 7 so I wanted to get there early so we could indulge in some of Aubrey's restaurant faire. After all...one has to have the energy to partake in any decent Country Music event. There are several to choose from but last month we got to the concert too late to try Lucy's Moms On Main.


At 204 South Main Street, in the historic district, finds your old family style cooking you can really sink your teeth into. Mom's has a huge menu of Southern comfort food to satisfy any size hunger you might have.

Dianna had the Chicken Fried Chicken and I had the Pot Roast. Giant portions and a huge selection of sides (Mashed potatoes, French Fries, corn, green beans, fried okra, pinto beans or baby Lucy salad, and a fresh yeast roll) that you get to choose two from. Dianna had the corn and a house salad (Lucy salad). I had the green beans and a salad as well.

Well...I have to make note of my beans. Freshly cooked and swimming in a pool of sautéed onions and slices of mushrooms. And somehow we ended up with the yeast roll too. Oh yeah....because we were first timers, we each got a slice of their chocolate cake to boot. Wow....buckets of sweet tea for everybody and a really great value. We boxed the cakes for later in the show and, with spanking new Rocks in my Sandals canvas chairs, cotton candy from the Girl Scouts and bottle of red "Barefoot" Moscato wine, made our way to center stage.

The headliner was Tommy Alverson and his band but a little bit about the opening act. Roo Arcus  is a native of Australia and somewhat of a Country icon in his home country. Nobody (well...me) really thinks of Australia as this land teaming with Country artists and music but then again, Keith Urban is, after all, Australian.

Turns out Arcus is a working cattleman who took time out to enter into the Country Music world back in 2000 garnering him three top ten singles, two golden guitar nominations and winning the independent male rising star award. But things got complicated when his mom passed away and he was forced to return to the family ranch to rescue it from severe drought affecting the family's southern tablelands cattle property. He returned to the farm and walked away from his singing career. It took him eight years but he was able to re-enter the Australian Country music scene. Roo didn't waste any time and quickly was rediscovered by the music crowd.

With a combination of his own stuff and a few well chosen songs from some Nashville regulars, he quickly climbed the charts and the title song of his premiere album "This Here Cowboy" was chosen as the #1 song on the Australian Country Music Radio (CMR) Country Tracks Top 50 for 2012. Listening to Roo is like hearing a young George Strait, or a fledgling Alan Jackson. He's that good.

Back story is that Arcus just happened to be friends with one of the concert organizers. Roo is on his first vacation to the United States and was passing through Aubrey on his visit. Roo was particularly happy to be here in that it's winter in southern Australia where he calls home and on this day it was below freezing there.

For this particular concert, they hadn't scheduled a warm-up act for Alverson so friends asked him if he would open for the band. Thankfully he agreed and treated us to a great show. I couldn't help but wonder....how is it that a hard-core Australian can lose his accent as soon as he starts singing...somebody has to study this. Take a listen for yourself.

Arlington, Texas  based Tommy Alverson is an independent singer-songwriter with a decidedly Texas blend of country, swing, Tex-Mex, Southern rock, folk and blues. I believe Tommy would agree with me that he has a real Willie Nelson bent which is more evident as he even went as far as producing one of his albums calling it "Pickin on Willie" which worked off the roots of the traditional Country music that both Tommy and Willie play.

No Country-Pop here folks, lots of traditional numbers from Willie and Roger Miller and Tommy. Typical of that genre was a neat little piece Tommy played that his son Justin wrote called "My Hometown" where he reflects on the simple life and slower pace of Itasca, Texas where Tommy was raised. Here's "Tear Joint" from his album Hero's and Friends.

All-in-all a great show interspersed with railroad trains passing every hour and threatening rain passing overhead. We hope to make it out to Aubrey next month and try the new Upper Park Cafe that just opened down from Moms.

Sunnyvale, Texas

After taking in the concert at Aubrey, Texas and watching my friend Doug work his sound magic, while at work, Doug asked me if I had an interest in getting a firsthand look at the world of sound production by helping him on his next gig, the Berean Baptist Church Blast in a town called Sunnyvale, just east of Mesquite, Texas. I agreed (turning 59 next week..my judgment hasn't been the greastest) and on May 26th found myself as a roadie for Doug humping equipment and laying cable for what proved to be a somewhat grueling day at the park.

Now I say grueling because...well, I'm getting old. With all due deference to Doug, who is my senior, this is a young man's game. The work involves a lot of physicality that, in hindsight, was a little more than I anticipated. I had seen all the rocker movies where it was all sex, drugs and rock and roll and had this now-silly concept of moving in a few speakers, hooking up some wire to power the thing like a big stereo system with a Karaoke mike and awaiting the adulation and kudos of the crowd we served. My only real concern was how I was going to ward off all the groupies that were sure to be gathering to hear me name-drop the band members and tell a war story or two about dangling from high above the stage to rewire a bad monitor in the middle of the act without the crowd being the wiser. Turns out I was wrong (Dianna...write this date down).

I didn't know where or if Sunnyvale existed but it has an interesting history none-the-less. In 1821, the town became a possession of Mexico when Mexico received its independence from Spain. After the Texas Revolution, the area once again changed hands, under the Republic of Texas. During this time, settlers migrated to present-day Sunnyvale, naming the hamlet they founded Long Creek appropriately named for the creek that runs through it and the Town Center Park we found ourselves in for the Berean Blast 2013.

In 1845 Texas entered the Union and more settlers migrated to the area. In the 1860s, the town was briefly part of the Confederate States of America (TWONA). As more people arrived, eventually three new towns sprang up in the area: New Hope, Tripp, and Hatterville. New Hope was the most prosperous of these. It had many shops and stores, a fair called Gala Days, and a newspaper, the New Hope News. It was neighboring Mesquite's biggest rival.

This all ended in 1921, when a storm blew the town away. The town and surrounding community was a total loss and the prosperous days were over. All the way into the 1950s, the four towns had no new developments, remaining stagnant. In 1953, the hamlets of Hatterville, New Hope, Long Creek, and Tripp merged under the name Sunnyvale.

In the late 1990's, Sunnyvale, like most small communities just outside the Dallas area, became a bedroom community and attracted new development. The Sunnyvale area is now considered "upscale" with new planned development communities cropping up within its city limits. They are too small to afford their own Police Department and services are provided by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department until they do.

The Berean Baptist Church in Sunnyvale is one of the many flavors of Baptist ministries. They are a diverse flock but they practice a "Historically accurate Baptist doctrine" according to their Statement of Faith. They apparently are a major mover and resource within the City of Sunnyvale and had enough influence to get the Mayor to appear and praise the Berean's support for the community at the Blast.

Doug, another friend Brandon and I arrived at the park around 10 and immediately got to work spreading equipment throughout the central pavilion and green belt in front of the pavilion where all the activities were to be.

We were going to wire up a series of speakers and a bunch of microphones to handle the Dallas Praise Orchestra, a fifty-some piece group conducted by John Vanhook. The Praise is a musical Christian ministry that performs free instrumental concerts/worship services in churches, concert halls, parks and other venues. We also had a trio group called the FourTwelves an up-and-coming band in the Contemporary Christian music industry. Their name comes from the message from key Scriptures (Ecclesiastes 4:12, Acts 4:12, and Hebrews 4:12) and defines their musical artistry.

Ok..a word about Christian Music. CM lyrically is not very challenging or provocative as it tends to mirror scripture or a story based on scripture. It is uplifting and I confess I found myself toe-tapping to the beat and humming along on the reprises. It is more about ideology than sinning if you know what I mean.

After the music, there would be a presentation of the American flag leading up to a fireworks show by Extreme Pyrotechnics combined with a light show presented by Christie Lites of Dallas. Christie brought their own generator to run some really high-performance stage lighting to enhance the fireworks going off above the lake. There were eight of these lights which looked like cannons costing about $50,000 a piece.

We all watched the weather carefully as it had been raining on and off for the past three days. When we got there, as we initially got all the expensive hardware situated, it began to rain. I jumped into weatherman mode and got my weather apps churning on my iPhone and assured Doug and Brandon it was a passing shower and the forecast would turn to sunny and warm by noon. I was right and as we unsheathed the very expensive tower speakers and sub-woofers I was dubbed the units official weather advisor.

Back to my being old. I was tasked to help Brandon erect 100 lb JBL tower speakers on top of 140 lb sub-woofers on top of three foot platforms. This is not light work and if I failed, I could topple a major investment, incurring the wrath of Doug and, more importantly, Dianna's as I lay in the local ER explaining why we were now the proud owners of some really big speakers.

When  you immerse yourself into the world of sound production you will ultimately encounter new terms for stuff you thought you knew. This isn't your Dad's high-fi system. There is nomenclature for cabling, connectors and processes that need explaining to the unsuspecting novice. There were "Speakon" connectors, 1/4 inch plugs,
banana plugs, pig-tails, XLR cables, adapters of all sorts, applying "socks" (wind covers for mic heads) and the mighty "snakehead" which is a central bridge to connect all the various microphone inputs to the back of our PreSonus 24 digital sound controller. Watching Doug insert each input into its rightful place was like watching Perseus subdue Medusa .This is the puppy Doug works with his iPad wirelessly to control the sound while he walks around. There is, as it turns out, a lot of important pointing and gesturing of all kinds to get the job done as well.

I should point out this all requires copious amounts of electricity and we were fortunate enough to have a 55 KW diesel generator donated to the church to help run it all. This required Doug to tie his 200 amp service panel to the generator with a very thick three wire (120 volt per side) cable. This wasn't a household extension cord, each wire had to be threaded and clamped down to terminals with a really big Allen wrench. It was hot, humid and threatened rain but we got distributed and made it happen.

The show was slated to begin at 6 pm and end at 10 pm so once we got set up there was a little down time to relax and people watch as folks drifted in after church. There were even some food vendors in the parking lot and although I tried my best to hold back the demons....the Funnel Cake's siren call (and smell) won out and I had to partake. It was worth the wait.

Doug surprised me with a question. He asked me if I ever worked a follow-spotlight. Little did he know I was an accomplished spotlight guy. I proudly informed him I had done a little stagecraft work in high school (Kearney High School class of 1972 "Go Komets" ) and often was tasked with lighting our stage for the Drama Department. Doug said he needed me to work one of the two spot lights we had set up at the corners of the greenbelt in front of the stage to light up the orchestra, the trio and the presentation of colors just before the fireworks. It was the first time all day I felt I was qualified to do something I was familiar with (thanks Drama and Stagecraft instructor Jack Winans).

After all the musical acts finished, the Flag ceremony was conducted by the Sunnyvale Fire Department. A member of the Fire Department's Honor Guard walked in the flag as another member played taps. I don't know about you, but Taps has always given me pause and I can always depend on a tear forming whenever I hear that somber piece of music. It makes me recall its origins as a memorial to a fallen soldier during the Civil War.

There are several legends concerning the origin of "Taps" (from the Dutch term "taptoe", meaning "close the (beer) taps (and send the troops back to camp"). The most widely circulated one states that a Union Army infantry officer, whose name is often given as Captain Robert Ellicombe, first ordered "Taps" performed at the funeral of his son, a Confederate soldier killed during the Peninsula Campaign. The story goes that Ellicombe found the tune in the pocket of his son's clothing and performed it to honor his memory. But there is no record of any man named Robert Ellicombe holding a commission as captain in the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign.

The tune is actually a variation of an earlier bugle call known as the "Scott Tattoo" which was used in the U.S. from 1835 until 1860, and was arranged in its present form by the Union Army Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield, an American Civil War general and Medal of Honor recipient, in July 1862 to replace a previous French bugle call used to signal "lights out". Butterfield's bugler, Oliver Wilcox Norton, of Angelica, New York, was the first to sound the new call. Daniel Butterfield, then a Union Captain, composed "Taps" and during a break in fighting, ordered the tune sounded for a deceased soldier in lieu of the more traditional—and much less discreet—three volley tribute. While scholars continue to debate whether or not the tune was original or based on an earlier melody hearing it is always a very moving experience for me.

As the Firefighter walked across the open space, as if on cue, a gust of wind unfurled the flag draped against the staff and it stretched out along its entire length as though a hidden hand had pulled it up and away as we all sang the National Anthem. As the last mournful notes of Taps drew out, the flag holder did an about face as the wind released it to fall to back to the upright staff as he returned the flag to east end of the park.

All the park lights went out as Doug kicked in the prearranged sound tracks to begin the show. The mix of lights and fireworks was impressive. I had a pretty good seat on my platform and don't recall being so close to a fireworks display. I literally had to crane my neck straight up to see some of the higher explosions as they seemed to occur right overhead. Here is the finale:

Once the fireworks ended, everybody made a quick exit leaving us to begin undoing our work, rolling cable, packing up lights and disassembling speakers and platforms to return to Doug’s trailer. It was now close to midnight and I was really feeling spent but the tear down went quickly and Doug and Brandon, with practiced efficiency, got what seemed like an impossible task of stuffing all that equipment back into the confines of that trailer. I, on the other hand, marveled how I was able to work almost continuously for about 14 hours on a protein bar, a really bad Burger King double Whopper with cheese, a Funnel Cake (yes..the whole Funnel Cake), several bottles of water and one Dr. Pepper without dropping anything of value or falling off something. It definitely was an eye-opening experience and I think I rate  "roadie"  status for it.