On this day in history...

On July 31, 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon's surface.

On July 31, 1919, Primo Levi, the Italian writer and chemist whose work was influenced by his captivity at Auschwitz, was born. Following his death on April 11, 1987, his obituary appeared in The Times.

1914 The New York Stock Exchange closed due to the outbreak of World War I. (Trading didn't resume until December.)

On July 31, 1880, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential election of 1880.

(The above are from The New York Times) 

...and I was born. If memory serves sometime around 7:30ish pm..I think..maybe not but that's not important.

Festivities started Thursday (I actually took a few days off) with a hike through one of the gorges in the Finger Lakes area of New York  - I'll put up more in another post.  It's amazing what 12,000 years of erosion can do.

I wonder what it looked like 6000 years ago when the native americans were living there?

Friday was a run around/relax/do-next-to-nothing day...that evening we went to the track.  Harness racing's not far away.

Always a good time. It happen to be fan appreciation night - that means $1 hot dogs and draft beer. 

Saturday we kind of slept in, not on purpose but you know - sometimes it happens.  We actually intended to get up a little early, go to our regular Saturday diner for breakfast (don't you love it when they know your name) and get on the road to our entertainment of choice because it was a few hours away.  Well - it just didn't happen and we ended up leaving a few hours later than we wanted.  But it was Saturday and my birthday - so who cares.  We ended up going to Sterling NY to the Renaissance Festival.

It was Highlander weekend.  JLPTG and I rented costumes and had a great time Mrs G decided not to go the costume route - still not sure why.

She was selling some kind of head thing - I don't know ask Mrs G and JLPTG.

The "Pirate Show".  They make young women walk the plank and a few other things that make them get in the water - oh, they did get the big muscle guy wet too.  Equal opportunity!

The highland game - men in kilts throwing big sticks!

This kid just couldn't get control of his big stick.  He was only 14 but he tried very hard.

I know - don't get all over me - it's not a big stick it's a caber.

Puppet show - I never got to see the show but the person that did them was in several of the processionals with the Queen.

Here's the puppet guy - I didn't get a shot of the other side.  There are legs hanging down so he looks like he's riding side saddle.

OK - so see the guy on the left with the red kilt and white shirt - take about 25lbs off him, put him in a long sleeve Jacobean style shirt and you would have me. I also had a fly cloth (the piece of cloth that goes over your shoulder and matches the kilt - like a sash)

The front of my kilt. We were sitting on the grass for the highland games.  It's not my actual tartan - it was a rental.

And for those that wonder "it's a kilt, if I was wearing anything under it, it would be a skirt."

...more later

DAG