Paranoia in Pennsylvania - First the Swans, then the Blues

I will be leaving Moyers tomorrow morning to head off to the Mason-Dixon Star Party, always a good time. Moyers has been a wonderful place to spend some time. The stream and the setting is beautiful, with waterfowl aplenty. The swans don't care much for the Canada Geese, however -- they chase them out of the pond, and they mean business! One swan will literally chase an entire flock of geese out of the water and then stand guard so they can't sneek back in. You can see my RV (marked with the red arrow) in this picture. The ducks, Mom, Dad,
and several chicks march through my campsite daily.

Sometimes you just get lucky -- I discovered that this weekend the two-day Briggs Farm Blues Festival was being held less than five miles from here! The headliners were mostly imported from Mississippi and included The Cornlickers, Terry "Harmonica" Bean, Paul Mark and the Van Dorens, Terry "Big T" Williams, and Big Jack Johnson. There were crafts, BBQ, roasted corn, Turtle Lattes, and really, really, cool blues all day long. What a fabulous find!

The only problem was one member of the staff at Briggs. I had been wandering around taking photos, and was in the midst of talking to a guy who was a glass blower. A woman approached me, identified herself as a staff member, and asked if I was taking pictures for myself or if I was working for someone. I told her I was taking pictures for myself. Thinking perhaps I needed a permit of some sort, I asked her why she was asking. She said that because I was in the crafts area, I might be taking pictures of the crafts that are for sale so I could replicate them on my own! She then asked me who I was working for. I told her (again) that I was not working for anyone, and asked her if she was asking everyone with a camera these questions. She said, no, only people with "professional cameras." She then asked, and not pleasantly, "Who are you working for?" Paranoia seems to have struck Pennsylvania! I finally said that I had already answered that question twice, and did not see the point in answering a third time, and walked away.

So I'm left with the impression that she can tell a "professional" camera from an "amateur camera" (my P4 point-and-shoot has more megapixels than my D70 -- but I bet that would have slipped right under this camera expert's radar!), and also thinks that I'm the type who will run home and fire up my acetylene torch (no, I don't have one or have idea how to actually use one) to create an exact copy of a small blob of glowing glass that I then won't know what to do with because I never saw the finished item because of HER.

On my way back from the festival, I was driving on a ridge overlooking a valley. This was Saturday night, and as I looked down the valley I could see two different fireworks displays going on. The bursts were just a bit higher than I was on the ridge. There were no cars so I was able to stop for a few minutes and watch. Lovely.