In the Swing

Ginger and I popped into town to attend a free concert in the grounds of St Luke's yesterday.

Photo courtesy of The Chronicle

The US Navy's Seventh Fleet Band was in town to lift spirits in the wake of January's floods, and to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea.  The echo of my history teacher's voice is in my ear with that moment "turning the tide of the war".

The rain threatened the whole time, but thankfully held off until the end of the set.  Literally the heaven's opened and it poured and hailed just as the last piece was played.  Ginger and I had to wait for it to pass to drive home, as we couldn't even see the road markings.

Ginger enjoyed herself.  She found another little playmate and they shared their toys and food, and generally followed each other around.

I was a little bit wierded out by the homeless man (I do cast aspersions here but he was unkept and had a bag of newspapers) who took my plastic seat (kindly delivered by one of the parishners) right next to the pram and sat down, while I was chasing Ginger, and then continued to hover around the pram even when I moved it and then kept going into Ginger's personal space.  Suppose we were safe enough, there was a whole collection of veterans right near us proudly displaying their medals, enjoying the music and laughing at Ginger's dancing.  I am sure someone would have intervened had I needed help.  I suspect some of the band members also realised I was rather uncomfortable as they seemed to be keeping a close eye on the gentleman.  It was a pity because it was a lovely event.