The annual outing...

Nope, it's not ecologically "sensitive", green in even the tiniest way, "sustainable", or a celebration of any type of homegrown goodness, but it is our livelihood... the military aircraft!  This weekend was the annual air show here at the base, and we go every year, rain or shine.  This year it rained the whole time, and although we were a bit wet it was still fun.  For one day we enjoy eardrum splitting noise, sonic booms, flames, the smell of jet fuel and hydraulic fluid, and fuel consumption numbers that would make you cringe - that's our life and we're sticking to it, for another 8 years, anyway!

Finn taking a break from the rain...

How often does a kid get to stand here?

Finn loves helos, much to hubby's dismay :)

 Finnegan again...

In the evening the kids hooked up with their friends easily, since most of the crowd willing to attend in the rain involved the Navy families.  They are enjoying the fireworks...

After the air show out on the tarmac, we were treated to our own private one courtesy of hubby.  We walked down to his hangar where incidentally he had to actually work on real squadron stuff all weekend, and he was able to give the grand tour to my parents.  My brother flies C-130's so being in a hangar isn't new to them, but F/A-18 SuperHornets are.  It was nice to be out of the rain, although hubby is currently working on a few jets in there and the lovely chemical/fuel/hydraulic scent in there was a bit overpowering with the hangar doors closed.

The "non-air show" real deal - hubby's hangar! -

He got to work in here all by himself all weekend, instead of being out in the rain with us!

Kids love bombs.  You know it, even kids who say they don't like bombs, love bombs :)

You mean you don't let your kids play with bombs?  Hubby never gets the memo on these things.

  

Finn making his fist of fury... not sure if it was hydraulic fluid, jet fuel or testosterone I was smelling in there! 

All right, I won't subject you to any more of this, I'll return to my normally scheduled posts on the finer points of homesteading and family managing next time, I promise.  But if you are ever out our way and want to admit that you want to touch a bomb, I'm your girl and we'll hook you up! :)

American Loss

To follow the last post, another reason I haven't posted in a couple of days is emotional shock.  I'm sure all of you have heard about the RPG attack that took the lives of so many of our forces this past weekend.  It has hit our community here very hard, 22 of them are from right down the street from us, many wives and children were awakened by that dreaded knock on the door Saturday.  Most all of the Team members were husbands, fathers and sons, I know a couple of the Team members and their families and even though I am fully aware of the sacrifices they are willing to make and knowingly do so, it still comes as a shock.  If you met any of these Team guys the first word that comes to mind is indestructible - that's the feeling you get from them, they make you feel safe beyond any doubt, but I guess that's why they are so good at what they do.  Truth is, families have been destroyed, some are still waiting, and we are all anticipating the tears that will come tomorrow as we watch all those caskets being carried off the jet in Dover, DE.  I can't help but think of how terrible it will be for all their kids to start back to school in just a month and be around all their friends again talking excitedly about what they did this summer...  

I don't like to get political very often because of the very fact that I am highly opinionated and I'll admit, biased, but maybe now eyes will open to how much we are not ready to pull troops out overseas.  For many of us military families, pulling out before the job is truly done to allow these countries to fall back in on themselves makes us feel that our sacrifices were in vain.  I know most of the opposition comes from a very good place in peoples' hearts in the basic need to have our members home, but they are doing a very important job, and they don't want to do it half-a$$ed.

Please keep these families all over the country that lost a part of themselves this weekend in your prayers, and if you aren't the praying type, send healing thoughts their way, I know they are appreciated.  

via: http://short-sharp-shock.blogspot.com/

 http://www.patrickjhughes.org/

http://www.patrickjhughes.org/

http://www.upi.com/

I hope everyone takes a minute to look at these photographs of dignified transfers, I was shocked to learn that many Americans never see these images.  From Dover, DE these heroes will be flown to their respective families all over the United States using regular airlines.  If you ever fly and are asked to remain in your seat "for a few extra minutes", please tell the impatient people complaining around you to be quiet, and look out the window... some amazing heroes were traveling with you, most passengers never know, although there are many pilots that are prior military and will be proud to announce their special added mission on the flight.  I only say this because I nearly knocked someone out for their ridiculous behavior in an airport while a flag draped casket was being wheeled out of a cargo bay of a plane.  I have hope though, that the majority of Americans are respectful and emotional about such things the way I am.

Signs that we are different...

Military life is full of funny things when you pause to think about them.  Take yesterday, for instance.  The dogs' veterinarian was deployed, so I had to make an appointment with a different Army vet clinic, so that necessitated me picking up their records to transport.  This is what I got:

You may have to enlarge it, but notice the need to indicate whether the pet is Government-Owned or Privately Owned, LOL!  Also a spot on the upper right to indicate which branch of the military the pet "serves in"  :)

When you open the record, you will find that our pets are in "active" status serving in the Navy, and the pet's relationship to the servicemember.  Maybe I'm the only one who sees humor in this stuff?  We have to look for fun where we can find it sometimes.

Upon pulling out of the vet clinic at the Army base, there was this guy, practicing bagpipes at the tailgate of his car as nonchalantly as if he was digging for a soccerball.  They were loud, too!

  

And finally, I'll leave you with this gem... you might live here IF...

Yes folks, that's a piece of a training missile that fell from a jet flying overhead.  Nobody was hurt, so it just serves as funny stuff now.  I love how these people are just standing around looking at it,  one guy there is probably calling his insurance company.  :) 

But wait...there's more wierdness!  That was written last night, but shortly afterwards we had a bit of excitement...

At 7:20 pm, we had an event that as of this morning is still unexplained.  The walls and roof shook violently for about 2 seconds.  Very strange.  I was barefoot, and I'll say that it didn't quite feel like any earthquake I had been through (I've been through quite a few in NorCal), but yet all the other signs were there.  No movement underfoot, but walls and roof shaking, a quiet boom, but not a loud explosive noise.  Did not sound or feel like any sonic boom I've seen (which we are very familiar with), it was way more violent than that.  The really wierd thing was that this was accompanied by a whoosh where it felt like an immediate air pressure drop and where air seemed to quickly be sucked outward from the house.  Hubby and I immediately looked at each other and ran outside, both thinking the same thing, a jet crashed on the airfield across the street.  He called work, nothing had happened there.  About 15 minutes later we found out we were not crazy, reports from as far as far away as 60-70 miles were coming in about the event as well.  Military denies any activity, Geological Survey says no seismic activity, NASA here denies any activity.  So basically this morning we are left with no answers.  Not that I'm a conspiracy theory gal or anything, but I have to admit I HATE that it was publicized that the now famous Seal Team came from here, and the timing of the mystery event has a few people on edge.  The local news story is here, but there are no answers.  Of course "reliable postings" by Facebook users on the news website is confirming chupacabras, alien landings, space junk, BinLaden being shot skyward, etc LOL.  

I think the best way for me to deal with it all is by planting squash, so that's what I'm gonna do...