The Annual Dragon Boat and Kite Festival kicked off this morning on the canals of Las Colinas and Lake Carolyn. This was my fourth year to attend. The first year, the Irving Fire Department had just gotten their fire boat and were having fun shooting streams of water in the water with a few mis-directed that sprayed a few on-lookers. It reminds me of a mis-fired seltzer bottle in the hands of a circus clown. It brightened the day of many people. Then, for the past two years, I've ask," where is the fire boat?" and with grim looks, a fireman would say, "it's not here this year."
Today, walking along the vendors and food vendors row of tents I ran into a group of water rescue firemen. The first thing I ask was: "Is the fire boat here this year?" Laughing , the reply came. "Yes".
So, I set off to find the boat. Nothing else was in focus. There it was. That little boat with a canon that can shoot a powerful stream of water 75 to 80 feet. Wow! She was beautiful resting there in the water along the brick and concrete wharf. There was only one fireman sitting at the wheel. He said he was working overtime today and didn't know that the boat had not been at the festival the past two years. In fact, there were a lot of people who didn't know that the boat had been missed by a few more than just myself.
Then, out of the blue came this young Asian girl and her tag along "friend". Before the fireman and I had completed our conversation,she butted in telling the fireman she had been "hired" by one of the event planners to take pictures and informed the fireman that she had also been told that they would take her and her "friend" out on the water. They exchanged cell phone numbers and were still talking as I walked away toward the Marshal's tent to find the team I had photographed a couple of weeks ago practicing at White Rock Lake, the Dallas De lite Team.
I found the team, shook hands with one of the members that I had meet at White Rock and like a bad penny, there is this rude little girl and her "friend" and that whinny little voice. With that, I headed toward the wharf on the other side of the even ropes where the teams came down to board their boats and run their scheduled heats. Finding some amazing kites being flown, I walked the entire wharf around the kite field and headed toward the car stopping here and there to photograph as I made my way closer to the car. The last look I had of the festival was of the fire boat heading out for their water-shooting playtime. I took a quick shot only for the honor of the boat and the crew of Irving Firemen who are a class act.
Today, walking along the vendors and food vendors row of tents I ran into a group of water rescue firemen. The first thing I ask was: "Is the fire boat here this year?" Laughing , the reply came. "Yes".
So, I set off to find the boat. Nothing else was in focus. There it was. That little boat with a canon that can shoot a powerful stream of water 75 to 80 feet. Wow! She was beautiful resting there in the water along the brick and concrete wharf. There was only one fireman sitting at the wheel. He said he was working overtime today and didn't know that the boat had not been at the festival the past two years. In fact, there were a lot of people who didn't know that the boat had been missed by a few more than just myself.
Then, out of the blue came this young Asian girl and her tag along "friend". Before the fireman and I had completed our conversation,she butted in telling the fireman she had been "hired" by one of the event planners to take pictures and informed the fireman that she had also been told that they would take her and her "friend" out on the water. They exchanged cell phone numbers and were still talking as I walked away toward the Marshal's tent to find the team I had photographed a couple of weeks ago practicing at White Rock Lake, the Dallas De lite Team.
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| The Crew of Irving Firemen |
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| Welcome Home little fireboat |
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