Insights From The Rocking Chair

 I have already received several emails this Christmas season with life lessons learned in each one. This one is no different. Read the following then I will comment at the end. I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped  the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know  that!" My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be  true. Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I  told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she  snor...

Okay, so Thursday was a rough day. We said our first good-bye to my son-in-law, the next will come the day after Christmas. Tuesday his battalion  was given a great deployment ceremony. A very patriotic and moving experience. Thursday morning the event was much more subdued. A simple formation, the unit commander spoke, then the last few minutes with the families then out to their aircraft. We stood and watched as they started the big engines and then the rotor blades, and then moved into flight formation and then they took off.  I am still awed by the sound of the engines and the skill that it takes to lift that UH-60 Blackhawk into the air, rotate it then move forward to a specific spot and then all lift off at the same time and move forward to their destination. Here is a snippet of the sights and sounds of the morning. This is video