Memorial Day flag with Beacon Hill as a backdrop.
Polsen Museum, center, the former home of one of Hoquiam's early timber barons.
The view from Simpson Avenue Bridge. Karr Hill serves as a backdrop.
The evening of Memorial Day found me hanging out beneath Simpson Avenue Bridge in my hometown of Hoquiam, Wash.
I was sitting on a branch of driftwood, waiting to see what wildlife might wander by, when the flags along the Riverside Walkway (part of the Johnny Green Riverside Dike Park and the Hoquiam River Loop) caught my eye much like they were catching the evening light.
After shooting across the river to capture the flags in front of the Polsen Museum, I walked over the bridge to get a better vantage point. Photo number 4 shows the view from the bridge, along with two geese in the river, who seem to be checking out the strange flapping things atop the bank.
I left the walkway for the riverbank as soon as I reached the other side of the river. While photographing the flags there, volunteers with the Boy Scouts, who take care of the flags, arrived to take them down. Upon request, one lady gave me a nice smile and even struck a pose with the rolled up flag she carried. I shied away from asking her name, as, sadly, I too often do with pretty ladies.
I cleared out of there soon after the volunteers arrived, heading home on the walkway past the museum and toward Riverside Bridge. I thought my photo session was over, but when I arrived at the bridge I had to stop for a final shot of nature's flags sprouting along the guardrail.