Forty Years or so of Whiskey Papa's Casual Photography: Birthday Party: Part II

I've got a few more pics from the birthday party. It occurred to me, and not for the first time, that as we get older and slower the photographer at one of these shindigs has to work a lot harder for photo ops. When there were a dozen or so pre-teens racing around and the adults were more or less obstacles in the family room obstacle course, the photographer had it really EASY. Ah, well. The energy level may have plummeted but the participants still enjoy themselves and everyone leaves happy.

Of course, it doesn't make it any easier to get the "great shot" when the photographer spends his time at anchor in a recliner; maybe I ought to wander around a little. Perhaps next time. In the meanwhile, maybe we'll just content ourselves with snapshots of the family relaxing and visiting. David (above) is at the calm center of what, in the old days, would have been a maelstrom. Mary (below) is catching up on family news and no doubt marveling that her Horned Frog, Paul, is ready to graduate when he was seemingly a high school freshman at Anderson just a few days ago.

Allison is explaining to Aunt Mary the meaning of "Mercury is in Retrograde". I thought I knew; hell, I once had a course in Celestial Navigation. It was taught by Dr Broucke, who worked at JPL before he started teaching at Texas, so he covered the meaning from a Physics/Astronomical point of view. Allison's tee shirt, on the other hand, makes reference to the statement's supposed astrological implications. Mercury rules communications, transportation, and technology. If any of those things are temporarily chaotic and disrupting your life, you can lay it off on Mercury, which is probably in retrograde.

I think Stephen, in these two pics, was engaged in a fairly lively discussion of basketball. Golden State was playing New Orleans, but the subject here was the Spurs outstanding performance the night before. Now half the fun of watching (and discussing) a game is being able to Google something to refresh your memory or prove a point. Then, you can resume the discussion with panache and the appropriate level of enthusiasm.