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.

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.

Mine is seeing something interesting outside.

While they don't celebrate Christmas in Thailand, they do like to decorate for the holiday. I think they do it mainly for the western tourists who descend on the area during the winter months.