Eight months ago I lay heavily sedated in a hospital in Murietta California not knowing that the day before I had landed Sound of Freedom upside down. No one in my family knew what had happened and were not to find out for three more days. Eight months..... I'm glad to be alive and reasonably healthy but the recovery is slow after living three quarters of a century.
On the up side, my success at repelling the local terrorists is unquestioned. While I was building the Sound of Freedom at Flabob Airport, in support of George Bush's war on terror I willingly assumed local reponsibility for keeping Flabob Airport free of terrorists. Since the incident I also managed to succesfully keep terrorists out of Kaiser Sunset hospital, the All Saints Rehab center and more recently, my neighborhood. Either that or GWB has fabricated a war out of whole cloth. While I am prepared to accept credit for the successes on a war on terror, more likely it's the latter.
Terrorists and all, we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Back to the metronome

Using the iPod during my walk is nice but use of the metronome lends itself to a more disciplined approach. Today I felt strong and finished the walk without stopping to rest. The morning is overcast but the forecast is for afternoon sunshine.
Not much to report but we are all on this flight together.

Dick

Back to the iPod

For the last two days I've reverted to using my iPod on my morning walk. It's a slower pace but much more productive. There are a series of lectures arranged by a group called TED. And downloadable for free. I first found out about these lectures when Deb brought me 5 hours of talks about Einstein, his life and scientific contributions, when I was unable to sleep in the hospital. Anyway, the lectures tend to be about as long as my morning walk so it works out well. I'll go back to the metronome when I run out of lectures.
As a sideline, I was a senior in college when Einstein was at Princeton. The Chemistry Club had a field trip to Princeton the day Einstein died. I no longer recall the topic.
But Einstein knew that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Taiko, Taiko, and more Taiko

Yesterday was the 15th annual Taiko Festival held in Little Tokyo. Several groups were there and played enthusiastically in the shade of a giant tent. You had to be there to really enjoy it... and I did. Now that I've learned to download pics, here is one of three Taiko drummers drumming. Close your eyes and imagine being a peasant in feudal Japan and 50 of these come booming over the hills knowing it would be followed by an enemy army. It must have been terrifying. The bass emanating from the larger drums shakes your insides.
All those Taiko drummers serve to remind me that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Three Musketeers.

A few weeks ago Tom Conklin and Mike Story came to visit. We had all worked together 45 years ago and had sort of drifted in different directions. Anyway, here is a photo of the three musketeers taken during the reunion. Thanks to Mike for the photo.
Even after 45 years we're all on this flight together.

Dick

All's quiet on the morning walk

The morning is overcast and there were no planes flying about during the walk. One cat who opened his eyes as I passed and then sleepily closed them again after perceiving me not to be a threat. The walk has become a walking mediatition during which I ponder the worlds great problems and the appropoirate solutions thereto.
Yesterday afternoon I went to see the movie The Mummy. Another battle between good and evil. Here, the difference was obvious. My problem with the movie is that every time I saw the evil mummy destroying the world I thought of what George Bush has done to this country in the last seven years.
Knowing that art follows life shows me that the evil in GWB is also a part me and reminds me once more that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Wandering wonders.

The wind is off the ocean so this morning the overcast is thicker than usual and will probably stick around for most of the day. So I think I'll go to the movies this afternoon. Yesterday I felt the need to go to the movies and went to see Dark Knight, the story of Batman. What a story of good and evil and which one is which. Today I'll go to see The Mummy. Neither movie is for kids.
Scary movies always remind me that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It's garbage day in the neighborhood.

Yesterday I finally got back to work on the Pietenpole wing ribs. I finished installing the internal parts and started placing the gussets on the first side.
It's garbage day in the neighborhood. As I traverse the neighborhood it is apparent the we are a disposable society. Most people seem to recycle paper items but little else. This makes for a cottage industry for the less privileged to survey the area for items which they can collect for resale. Tables, chairs, refrigerators and other appliances. All freely given. No tax credit given or taken.
One cat and no airplanes. The pace was rapid so I tied my course record. It is overcast but it looks to be VFR weather (barely).
All those collectibles remind me that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

The weather's changing

It was almost dark this morning when I went out to pick up the paper,. Winter approaches. The days are getting shorter.
I did notice on my Sunday walk that the right wing/corporate Register was delivered in GREEN plastic. Metaphorically I suppose one would conclude that the Register is politically good to go. However, the centrist/corporate Times the same day was delivered in CLEAR plastic indicating a certain political clarity. Where does the plastic truth lay?
Changing the color of the plastic reminds me that were all on this flight together.

Dick

Peaches, Dara ands Taiko Drums

I love fresh juicy peaches but am not generally able to find them. Supermarket peaches are hard and never ripen properly. However, this week I was able to get some excellent peaches at the local strawberry monger. Really great peaches.
For those following the Olympics, yesterday 5 time Olympian at the age of 41 Dara Torres won the silver medal in the 50 meter freestyle, missing the gold by 0.01 seconds. Her competition was young enough to be her children. If that weren't enough, she also won a silver medal for her part in the medley relay. Phelps may get the attention but Dara now has a total of 12 Olympic medals.
This week all week long in Little Tokyo there will be a celebration of the Japanese culture. Next Sunday (8/24) will be Taiko Drum Festival. For those not familiar with Taiko drums they are a little like football in that one has to be there to really appreciate them. They were originally used by Japanese military much like bagpipes, the rumbling beating drums scared the Hell out of the enemy before the enemy even saw them. Today there might be a dozen or more drums on stage at once. Tiny drums, small drums, big drums and great big drums. Some drums are 6 feet in diameter and weight almost a ton. The performers move between the drums while maintaining the proper rhythm. It's far better than my weak description. If I feel up to it next week, I'm due for a Taiko fix.
The sound of Taiko drums always reminds me that we're all on the flight together.

Dick

A Walking Meditation.

This morning on my walk I saw two airplanes and one cat which was lurking in the bushes. When I talk about airplanes seen on my walk I do not include high flying jets, I only refer to small general aviation planes.
Yesterday in Beijing Dara Torres won the preliminary 50 meter free style. Now go for the gold, Dara!
Walking to the beat of a metronome encourages waxing philosophical. I usually pass a car with the bumper sticker "Who started your religion?" Now there's a question to ponder. As soon as one strays from any tenet of a formal religion they no longer can rightly call themselves an adherent of that religion. When one considers that religion is a man made construct and follows only partly the tenets of a formal religion the conclusion could be made that everyone is the starter of his/her own religion... or not.
First member or not we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Einstein and Relativity.

Every morning as I start off on my morning walk I am made aware of the relativity of time. Einstein proved it mathematically but I experience it every morning. At the start of the walk 90 steps per minute seems to be a lackadaisical pace but as the walk wears on 90 steps per minute seems faster and faster. I completed the walk this a.m. using the cane only twice for short distances because the arthritis in my right knee was bothering me. Then I thought,"What would Dara Do?" (see July 6 entry) and I 'cowboyed up' and finished the walk.
The commonality of arthritis shows us that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

The Giant Sale

For the past few days I have passed the local Chevrolet dealer on my morning walk. There have been a number of large signs like so:
GIANT
SALE
LIQUIDATION
I searched the line of cars for sale backwards and forwards. I saw cars, big cars, little cars, cars of every color but no giants.
Moving on.... today was the first time I completed my walk without using the cane. I carried it all the way.
Today I found Tigger has an open sore on the side of her face. I have no way of knowing what caused it so it's off to the vet later today when they open up.
Open sore son a cat are evidence that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Changing Entries

I just realized that the present posts are credited to Deb. For reasons I can't explain, the only way I can access the editing function is to pretend I'm Deb.
So any time in the future where you see the publisher as Deborah Testa, blame me.

But we really are on this flight together.

Dick

08/08/08

08/08/08 is a fortuitous sequence in the Chinese culture. Also the start of the Olympics in Beijing. Two days ago the seguence was 08/06/08, significant for two reasons. The first was the memorial of dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It is also the anniversary of the reading of the National Intelligence Estimate by President GWB in which the intentions of Al Queda were clearly outlined. Shame on us... twice.

But it only goes to show that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Time Travel and Thermos Jugs

Benevolent Brother Bob was by yesterday for his (mostly) weekly visit. He reminded me that I hadn't updated the blog in a week. That's longer than ever before and certainly not intended. Changes in my life at this point are slow and often don't seem worthy of remark. But I can get philosophical. And Bob will appreciate this.
My daily walk is mostly through residential streets but one short stretch includes 2 massage parlors, 2 bail bondsmen and 3 antique stores. I tell you that to tell you this. In the window of one of the antique stores is a green Thermos jug. About 8 inches in diameter and 12 inches tall with a molded aluminum cap used as a cup. When I was about 10 years old, every nice summer day, Mother would drive us to the Point Lookout beach. After a romp in the water, lunch was a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich and lemonade from a YOU GUESSED IT!! a green Thermos jug! Every morning as I walk past the green jug I'm taken back to Point Lookout, body surfing the waves. Smell the water, hear the waves and see that green Thermos jug. That's time travel in real time. Isn't it weird how something as insignificant as an old jug can trigger those long forgotten synapses to snap.

Activating those synapses provides further evidence that we're all on this flight together.


Dick