I agree about percussion. My son enjoyed his drum set many years after HS, and I never minded listening to the practice as it really was "music to my ears." Band is a wonderful experience for these kids, I know you agree and I commend you for whatever your involvement is. My son's school traveled outside the country a couple times to be in competitions, once to the Calgary Stampede where it rained on them and their new uniforms. He sure had a lot of wonderful experiences and is still close friends with one of his fellow drummers.

Thanks, Alisande! I'm happy the people are in it to give it perspective. That glacier is massive and that is only a very small portion of it!!

Eclipse of the Moon Beginning of the eclipse: Earth's shadow has started its transit across the moon. Note that the edge of the shadow is not sharp, but diffused. One may speculate why this is. I'm no astronomer, but my guess is that earth's atmosphere is not sharp or consistent with height. Its full of clouds and thermal currents. Also, it is most dense at earth's surface and thins with altitude. This photo was made without a telescope. It was a digital camera alone mounted on a tripod and the effective speed set at 800 ASA. I had a problem with tripping the shutter without moving the camera. Most of my shots suffered camera movement. A release cable would have been very helpful.

Stopped by Pymatuning Lake and the famed spillway where people toss bread into the water. Carp gather in the bowl of the spillway so thick that it is said that ducks walk on their backs competing for the bread. The walkways and surroundings have been added to make it a very attractive area since I was there 10 years or so ago. The fish were thick in the bowl of the spillway yesterday, but the water was so dark and choppy, I didn't get any decent pics of them. Here the ducks gather and slide down the rim of the bowl to get the bread.