Happy Hour

"IF A LIFETIME CAN BE LIKENED TO A DAY, THEN THIS IS HAPPY HOUR!"
BUCK PENNINGTON

Mother, Mother Ocean

Mother, Mother Ocean, I've heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You've seen it all, you've seen it all
Watched the men who rode you, switch from sails to steam
In your belly you hold the treasures, few have ever seen
Most of 'em dream, most of 'em dream
Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred year's too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late

Yoda

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."
―Yoda, to Luke Skywalker

Counted the Stars

Counted the stars on the 4th of July
Wishing we were rockets bursting in the sky
Talking about redemption and leaving things behind
I have these pictures and I keep these photographs
To remind me of a time
These pictures and these photographs
Let me know I'm doin' fine
We used to be so happy once upon a time
Once upon a time
But the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line
And the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line


""SOME SEE A GLASS AS HALF FULL, SOME SEE IT AS HALF EMPTY, I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHO’S DRINKING MY RUM."
Rumbear

Friday, November 13, 2009

Late Veterans Day Entry

Simple. Go to Pixie Place, my sister's blog, read about our DAD. Shut up and do it. The link is in the sidebar to starboard.
Additional notes on it are the Bronze Star that took 20 years for him to receive for a place called the Pescadores, which comprise the rocks/islands called Quemoy and Matsu. Old dogs will know, the rest can look it up, I was four when he was there getting shelled by the ChiComs. And he was in Vietnam before we were "in" Vietnam. Back in 82, I took his medals in to the NAS Whidbey Island tailor shop to get mounted. The little old Korean lady took one look at me and gave me the what for. I had to tell her that they were my Dads. She calmed down then. Remember the perspective post sometime back? Insert here.
And I still remember the day in January of 1967 when Ed White, Roger Chaffee and Gus Grissom died in Apollo 1 and when Joe Walker lost his life later that spring when his F104 chase plane collided with the XB70 Valkeryie over the place I now work. I was in the seventh grade at the time.
The moving wall is in Palmdale until the 21st. I know a couple names on that also. Reid Grayson and Darryl Jewel from Scobey, Montana. A small town on the edge of nowhere. I played junior high basketball with their kid brothers. I may head down on Sunday.
For guys like me and Buck(Exile in Portales), alot of things still have that just yesterday feel, even though it was almost a lifetime ago.

1 comment:

Buck said...

For guys like me and Buck(Exile in Portales)...

Too true, that. But, OTOH, I take a great deal of pleasure out of remembering the good times and the good people I was fortunate enough to serve with. I wouldn't change a thing were I to do it over.

Your sister did a great job with her tribute to your father. I should do something like that one of these days.

I will not go down and tell my children I didn't have the courage, the conviction, the commitment or the character to fight for this country...Don't go home and let your children down~~ LTC Allen West

Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus

‎"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.("Therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war")" from "Epitoma Rei Militaris," by Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus)