A trip to the pumpkin patch

A family trip to Waterman's Farm Market on the Eastside of Indianapolis, better known to our clan as Waterman's Pumpkin Patch, paved the way for some fall/harvest images on Saturday.

The images include a shot of the Circle City Bluegrass Band of Indianapolis, which entertained folks seeking refuge from the heat under a tent-covered table-and-chairs area. Other images show a Tyrannosaurus Rex creature that chews up a huge pumpkin several times a day to the delight of the people in attendance; some artsy shots of remnants of the autumn crop harvest; and a shot through the backside opening of one of those life-sized animated things where you stick your head through the opening to make your head/face look like it belongs on the body of a caricature drawn on the front side.

The featured image, the sepia silhouette at the top, is a backside view of an amusement attraction for kids in which the youths are strapped into a suspended safety harness to enable them to jump up and down off a trampoline-like device for some thrills -- and probably a bird's-eye view of the grounds. The shot I captured was hurried; I had a window of about four seconds to grab it because it presented itself at the terminus of a hayride I was on. Unfortunately, I was at the back of the hayride wagon, and I could get off only one shot before everyone in the wagon in front of me (and in my range of the amusement) stood up from their seated position to disembark. Still, I think it turned out pretty well.

Appreciating Native American heritage

These are images from activities and crafts found Saturday at the second annual Native American Heritage Days observance at Garfield Park in Indianapolis. The photographs depict several shots from the dance and circle drum activity just outside the Art Center at the park.

The woman with the uplifted head (two photos below) stood out to me this day; she seemed very devoted to the heritage and wore an elegant, proud expression throughout the day. Her eyes were closed in meditative fashion quite often, so this wasn't an "oops, he caught her blinking" mistake.

In the third photo below, a woman assists a child who's confused (as was I) about the dollar bills someone or some people were tossing her way (you can see one of the greenbacks near the woman's right foot; the girl is looking right at it). I think they meant it as a gesture of gratitude, but I couldn't help but scratch my head wondering how that ever entered the Native American tradition.

The observance runs one more day -- Sunday, Aug. 29 -- from noon to 5 p.m.