MISSISSIPPI

We are in Mississippi, a little over three hours from home, at our granddaughter (Lindsay) [and her parent’s] house!! We drove up just after lunch on Friday. I’m writing this on Saturday afternoon. The girls just headed to the store and the boys are out in the woods. I’m here alone with a sleeping Lindsay. So, I decided I’d write my blog post until she wakes up and then I’ll get some extra one-on-one time with her.

Yesterday evening, my sons and I went to our son’s place of work to fly on one of the navy simulators. The simulator is of the Navy T-45 Goshawk jet. There was a “winging” ceremony earlier in the day where new pilots got their aviator wings, so the simulators were empty early in the day. Other times we’ve gone we’ve waited until all the pilots got finished flying them before we went, which was usually after 11pm.

Time out: Lindsay woke up. There was a baby monitor sitting on the table next to me. I went in and got Lindsay and everything went well until I went to change her diaper. With pretty well one functioning hand, diaper changes are a real challenge once babies get to the squirming age. After a little bit of tussling and a few tears shed by Lindsay, we got finished. Well, the baby monitor also has a breathing sensor alarm that was sounding that I couldn’t figure out. I unplugged it but it has a battery backup. Finally I figured out that the cute little angel wings on the monitor were switches. After Lindsay and I got that all figured out, I gave her a snack. We then headed outside into the heat for a walk. Afterwards, we went back into the house to get some air conditioning. I put Lindsay down to play but she wasn’t real keen on the idea. So, I picked her back up. We walked around for a little bit before heading back outside. After walking down the road a little ways, I noticed the boys coming out of the woods. So, we headed over there. Lindsay had a great big smile and yelp when she saw her daddy. I kept holding her though and she stayed happy. Soon the girls came home and so I headed to the house. Lindsay was greatly happy to see her mommy too. Now things are back to normal and I’m back to the blog.

Anyway, we flew the T-45 simulator late into the night making both land and aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings. We had a great time although we did crash a few times. I missed the airport one time and tried to land on a nearby interstate. It went well until the very end. It’s amazing how realistic these simulators are. I started to get airsick while watching my younger son do rolls etc. It was great fun.

Before going for today, I want to mention that I was quite saddened to learn about the loss of so many troops who were shot down in Afghanistan. It was the single deadliest incident in the Afghan war. Although this is tragic, military deaths have been on the increase lately especially in Iraq. Our military is filled with amazing people who risk their lives for the American ideals that we are often too lax to appreciate. Finally, regardless of your political striping, you’d have to admit that military deaths, poverty, homelessness, and AIDS are generally mainly splashed in front of us when a republican is in the oval office. Otherwise, the news media keeps them at a low profile. Anyway, the point is that the military deaths have been ongoing and we owe a lot of families a great debt of gratitude.