This week, Egidio’s challenge is Destination: Fun. He writes, “What is your fun destination? What are some fun things you do? Some prefer seeing action and crowds, such as sporting events or concerts. Others prefer quiet moments with a book in hand.” You can read his entire challenge post here. Since my retirement, Lynn and I have traveled extensively around the United States and even branched out to three continents, soon to be four. I immediately thought about photos from our travels and how easily I could find examples.

Then, in reviewing challenge responses, I came across Ritva’s post here. She made me think about fun events closer to home. My examples are of people having fun in my home state of North Dakota. They are focused on the people having fun in the photo, whatever they may be doing. For example, my opening photo features a blacksmith demonstration team. The people in the photo discussed a project as they prepared for a public demonstration.

At a PowWow in Bismarck, North Dakota, I spotted a young Native American enjoying the celebration of his heritage. I’m sure he had fun in his preparation for attending the ceremonies with a visit to a stylist. I asked his permission to photograph the artwork on his head, and he gladly gave assent.

Before the days of drones and radio-controlled model planes, people enjoyed the hobby known as control-wire model plane flying. I attended a meet and happened upon an acquaintance and her son. The joy on their faces was infectious as they manipulated the two wires that made the model airplane maneuver.

On one of our many trips to Orchard Glen Park, we saw a young man and his dad fishing on the bank of the Red River. The young man, not yet in his teens, was outgoing and excited about his dad’s recent catch. He insisted his dad show us a photo of the fish they caught and released. The father, proud of his catch, readily complied with his son’s request.

On a day when several neighborhood streets in Fargo were blocked off for activities, several neighbors started organizing a soccer game. Streets Alive is an annual event in cities nationwide that promotes people getting outdoors and active. Though it was shut down during COVID, the programs are slowly returning.

The I80 Go! Kite Team

The Kite Festivals are annual events hosted by several cities in North Dakota. I visited the Jamestown Kite Festival in 2019. There, I met a kite-flying exhibition team. Each member of the team has their hands full. The kites require two hands to operate, with a two-wire controller in each hand. Each team member wears a headset, and Mike, the team captain, has a microphone on his headset. Mike calls maneuver signals to the team members, who then assume the appropriate positions to complete the formation maneuver.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to enjoy the fun that was had by people on this steam train ride out of Davenport, North Dakota. I’d found out about it when the tickets were already sold out. I’m sure the retired railroad volunteers had fun as train crews for this one-of-a-kind visit of an antique steam engine to the small town in North Dakota. I consoled myself by touring the antique engine’s cab and visiting at some length with the fireman as he prepared the engine for departure.

Thousands of baseball fans take at least one trip to a RedHawks game at Newman Field in Fargo every year. I admit to not attending a game in 2024, but bringing up this photo for the challenge reminded me of the fun I missed in this season’s schedule. I shall not make this mistake next year.

Pixel peepers and metadata munchers can find these images’ photographic details on my Flickr site here.

Thanks to Egidio for a fun challenge topic and to Ritva for pointing me in a different direction from my original thoughts with her response. Next week, it’s Tina’s turn to host the challenge. Follow her here so you don’t miss next week’s challenge topic. You can find the information here if you’d like to respond to a challenge but aren’t sure how to get started.

John Steiner