After much waiting and wringing of hands and twiddling of thumbs … my new Leica VLux-1 is finally here! And what a perfect day to test it out!

Today was the annual Hampton Beach Children’s Festival Parade, led off by the fire department:

and followed by masses of kids and families in costume:

The band wagon supplies music:

The announcer introduces the new Miss Hampton Beach 2008:

followed by the winners of the costume/float contest. This one was the judges’ favorite (it being the 100th anniversary of the Hampton Beach Village District, and all!):

all the while, as will be the case with such events, some find it tremendously exciting, others become utterly bored:

This old saying of pilots held true for my trip back to New Hampshire, after a week of visiting family in Utah. Got there in plenty of time, sat around and waited for the11:45 departure time, then lo and behold, this shows up, complete with a grumpy desk attendant:

Reading material exhausted by a 2 hour delay, this fellow finds a place to kip a nap:

There still is, however, the occasional spectacular view from the airplane, once things get airborne.