Red, White and Jackson - July 1, 2010

I gathered the stuff I planned to take with me - my camera, my sunglasses and an umbrella - and packed them in that National Wildlife Federation "field" bag.  I was ready - and finishing up taking my PM meds when my housemate got home.  We were of the understanding that there would be food vendors there - notice I said vendors, not vendor.  So, we didn't stop anywhere en route to Downtown and pick up anything for supper, instead, planning to get something from one of the vendors.  


We got Downtown and made our way to one of the FBCJ parking lots, which still had plenty of space available.  We parked in there and gathered our gear and headed out.  My housemate and I walked down to the Old Capitol Green and found spaces where we would have a good view of the stage and staked claim to them with the chairs we had brought.  Then she took off - she was going to go find a food vendor and get something while I held our places, then she would come back and hold our places while I went and got something.  She was gone awhile - when she finally returned, she didn't have any food with her.


She said that she had been unable to find the food vendors, but she had gone in the Old Capitol Museum and had a look around.  I went and looked for the food vendors and finally learned that there was only one - the Country Fisherman.  Well, they just didn't have their act together - I waited some 15-20 minutes for my food order - I wanted chicken strips.  I finally got my order of chicken strips and fries plus they gave me a few hushpuppies for having had to wait so long.  I was getting a bit cranky because I was afraid I was going to be sick due to having taken my PM meds on an empty stomach!  


I made my way back to where she was sitting and I shared my chicken strip basket with her.  She was hesitant to get up and go get in line to get something because she figured that sure as she did, the FBCJ Orchestra would start playing.  Walt Grayson, who preceded Barbie Bassett at Channel 3, was the Emcee.  He introduced the Capital City Stage Band and they played to open the event.  


Well, they finished playing and then the skies were getting dark - like rain was imminent.  I kept asking my housemate about us getting out of there before the rain hit.  She didn't want to budge.  I didn't want to get soaked like I did yesterday.  Well, suddenly Lavon [our FBCJ Minister of Music] announced that the radar showed that rain was on the way, so they were going to take a break for the rain, and they hoped everyone would come back for the fireworks afterward.  The crowd all made their way to try to find shelter.  


We were among them - we went over by the Old Capitol Museum and found a spot where we could avoid getting wet and we finished the food.  After a few minutes the rain quit, so we made our way back to the Old Capitol Green.  We got in the same area as before and settled down.  Lavon and Edd [the Assistant Minister of Music] decided that the orchestra and vocalists would put on their planned show after all; those festivities got started.  The first item on the agenda was the presentation of the colors by the color guard.  I got pictures of that, then there was the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem. There were a few remaining sprinkles, so I used my umbrella to dodge them while taking pictures.  Eventually they moved on out and the skies cleared. 


Our orchestra and vocalists put on a show - a patriotic show.  One of the songs that a quartet of male vocalists sang may be familiar to you....it's called Born Country and yep, it was that same song from ALABAMA!  Of course it sounded a little weird to me to hear someone other than Randy Yuell Owen singing it!  The orchestra and vocalists performed the military service theme songs and as they did, members of the branch whose song was being sung came out and stood at attention.  I was able to get pictures of those uniformed personnel.  That was followed up by a message from the retired Adjutant General of the Mississippi Air National Guard.  My housemate knows him.  When they finished the musical presentation, there was a huge fireworks display.  


I had been moving about getting pictures of the show.  By that time I was sitting in my chair near my housemate.  I went on a "shooting spree" attempting to get some good shots of the fireworks.  I did get a few good ones.  Finally I retired my camera for the remainder of the fireworks display - I packed it up, so I would be ready to get up and go when it was over.  It was around 9:20 PM when the event ended and we started heading back towards the car.


Amazingly we didn't have any traffic hassles whatsoever.  She opted to make a stop at Wendy's as she hadn't eaten much - just a little of the order I had placed.  Then we came on home.  We found that it had rained here as well, but not to the point that there was additional water in the garage.  It had apparently been only a shower and not a gullywasher.  After watching the 10:00 PM news, we closed down the house and my housemate has called it a night; I'm about to myself.