The Three Graces, Framed in Red, White, and Blue

Often, when I visit Boalsburg, I stop by and say hi to the three graces. Or that's how I think of them. Officially, the name of the statue is Honor to the Fallen, and it is a memorial to the three women who, according to local legend, celebrated the very first Memorial Day.

I had plans to meet old friends at Duffy's in Boalsburg on this day for another lovely lunch. I would have the French onion soup and a small house salad with ranch dressing, as I often do. And we would visit and talk-talk-talk and try to catch up. Oh, such good times we have!

But before that, I set aside five minutes to stop by and visit the statue. Last week, when I was in Boalsburg for the People's Choice Festival, I parked near one of the big churches and walked over to the fest, taking a few moments to visit the ladies.

I had the inspiration to kneel down and frame the statue through a wreath that sits by the tree near their monument. I snapped some shots, but I quickly realized two things: 1) it hurts like the very dickens to kneel on bare knees in fresh mulching, and 2) it was tough to get any shots without traffic in the background, as Arts Fest time tends to get very busy around here.

At the time, I schemed to go back. And so on this day, I went back for my second attempt at the shot. This time, I did not kneel, but hunkered. And traffic was much more reasonable; I took a bunch of shots, leaning this way and that, hoping I'd get a clean one. I tried the shot in color accent red too, which also turned out pretty cool.

So this is the shot that I came up with. The red, white, and blue framing is provided by a ribbon on the wreath. I used my hands to rearrange the ribbon so that it gave me a straight line on the right and a curved on on the left, that covered the wreath's metal frame and provided nice colors all around.

If you are interested in seeing just the ladies, without the framing, you may see them here (in rain) and here (amid autumn colors - you can see the wreath sitting by the tree). Hmm, I think I just may have to try this shot again in winter time.

The song to go with this image: Richie Valens, with Framed.