Furlough Weekend (2)

So here we are for part two of the incredibly depressing and financially devastating July 4th Furlough weekend. Won't you come join for a moment of the cool refreshing detachment known as "the unreality check"?

This picture was taken on the way back from the credit union. I had walked all the way to Burger King (about 3 1/4 miles or so) in about an hour and a half and took a brief pit stop to scarf down a soda and make a call to the wife for something. After refreshing my palate, I tripped over to the credit union where I joined about a dozen other fellow co-workers who were doing the same thing as I was (bitchin', moanin', groanin' and commiserating) that day. After I'd gotten my money and spent about five minutes playing hopscotch across eight lanes of highway, I continued on my journey back home, this time taking a ton of side roads. This picture was the only one I took walking down the side road because I was carrying to much crap that day and it would've been to much a problem to drop my stuff, take out my camera, take a shot, put my camera away and pick up my schtuff. The main focus of this shot (such as it was) was the floral arrangement around the mailbox.

Again, one of my favorite subjects to shoot: Keeny Manufacturing. This time it was that old standby, the water sculptures. Some twenty minutes after I took this shot, I stopped at Subway for lunch, which I ate in the center of town on the local green. That particular stop was last of two occasions (Burger King was the first) of the first half of my day that I actually sat. So basically from about 8:30a through 1:30p I was on my feet doing foot patrol. Don't worry, it doesn't get any better.

About twice a month I frequently walk all the way down Main Street before turning down a side road to go home. This shot of my finger with the nifty landscaping in the background was taken on one of the many side streets that dot my neighborhood. The landscaping on this street is quite interesting and this was the best of the bunch. Unfortunately, my thumb/finger thought otherwise.

Remember I said it doesn't get any better? Well, it don't. Shortly after I got home (like 15 minutes) I had to drive to Litchfield and drop off my wife at the campsite. So here I am, driving in a car after spending about 4 1/2 very hard and very tiring hours walking (keep in mind that yours truly has muscle weakness in his legs and walks in order to maintain the status quo). Anyways, this shot was taken by the wife as I was driving up route 118 in Litchfield. This section of roadway is located about three minutes from route 8 and about a half hour from that ever popular Lourdes In Litchfield.

This shot was again taken by the wife as I was driving through the mountains of Litchfield. In all honesty, the picture really doesn't do the view justice, especially that day, because even though I was dog tired that day, the view driving up this particular section of 118 was incredible. And yes, this was the view that inspired me to write a short story based on the 23rd Psalms.

This monument is on the town green (or at least for this section of town) that is found at the intersection of US 202 and CT 63 in historic Litchfield CT. This particular green was (and still is to a degree) known for anti-war protests that were held protesting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will admit that for the most part, even though I didn't agree with the protests, they were very orderly and didn't disrupt the flow of traffic. For those of you who are music aficionados, Litchfield is the home of the prestigious Jazz Festival.