Saturday night downtown ...

It was Festival of the Arts 2008 weekend here in Grand Rapids, and wouldn't you know it? After weeks and weeks of almost perfectly beautiful weather, a front came through town sometime Wednesday or Thursday and with it came hot, sticky and rather severe weather! Friday's opening of Festival was so crazy, that people said the weather changed every 10 minutes! Torrential rain, high winds ... then the sun would come out and it would feel like a sauna, etc. Isn't it always that way around here the weekend of Festival?

I love being downtown with thousands of other people ~ you meet such interesting folk! There was a threat of rain and severe weather throughout the day yesterday, but nothing materialized to spoil the festivities ~ whew!

Mr. Jones sings bass in the Kentwood Senior Chorale. They were invited to perform on the Circle Stage (Rosa Parks Circle) at 5:00 last night.
Their concert was very enjoyable. They sing a lot of old broadway tunes, songs from musicals, and a lot of patriotic stuff. Everyone in the choir is over 50 (and most are in the 70's and 80's). What an amazingly talented bunch of folk!
It was SO hot downtown yesterday. I know those outfits they were required to wear made it especially uncomfortable. But they really did a wonderful job.

Here they are doing all of the songs for each branch of service: Army, Navy, Coast Guard, AirForce, Marines ~ with the color guard.

And there is Mr. Jones! We didn't drive downtown together yesterday. He had to be there really early, and I was in the middle of a bunch of projects here at home. So I arrived just in time to hear them sing.

After their concert was over, with my camera in hand, I took a great walk around our beautiful little city.
Outside the new Marriot Hotel, there are rows and rows of these gorgeous roses ...
And don't you love the bridges downtown? This blue one is practically my favorite. I spent a lot of time down by the river, enjoying the warmth and the solitude ...
If I lived downtown, I would take this walk everyday! It was about 6:30 in the evening, and these gulls were everywhere! They would hover over the water, and then take the plunge ... I think they were fishing! I was hoping to get some really good shots of them in flight, but my vantage point wasn't very desirable, and I kept missing the perfect moment ...

By the time I returned home last night, more storms were moving in. We lost power briefly several times. And over in Holland there were sink holes that suddenly appeared and streets were washed out from all the rain. And today, Festival was all but rained out ... again!