Scattered Thoughts . . .

We again headed toward the airport the other day to greet Adam as he arrived from his last assignment. He is on his way to his new assignment and will be staying with us for a short while before continuing on to his new duty station.  It was a big 4th of July Parade day in all the towns surrounding Burlington so we were a little late getting to the airport which meant we didn't have time to visit the tower to watch Adam's plane arrive from up there... Nan and Pop arrived at about the same time as we did but parked at the opposite end of the parking garage... Adam arrived only a few minutes after our own arrival... Liza and the kids arrived shortly after Adam's arrival and we found them on our way to the luggage carousel... Kenzie surprised us by making a sneaky and very determined, direct beeline toward Uncle Adam and jumped up into his arms... As usual, we headed out to a nearby restaurant for a nice lunch together... Lukey w

Adam is visiting for a short while as he travels from his previous assignment to his next assignment. It has been nice catching up with him about stuff at home as well as Air Force stuff.   Last night, Adam realized that he had an award to show us and went digging through one of his bags...   Adam was recently awarded his second Air Force Achievement Medal (hence the reference to an "oak leaf cluster" on the certificate). The citation (the narrative describing his particular accomplishment for this medal) cannot be shown here because it contains classified and sensitive information but I can say that this is definitely a noteworthy achievement relating to specific Air Force operations and missions on multiple continents. Congratulations, Adam!

Since Sheila's latest bout with cancer, I've been doing all I can to keep her happy and keep her mind off the cancer as best as I can. She had already received a few gifts to lift her spirits throughout treatment but she also expressed that she would like to visit Manhattan for Christmas. Needless to say, we headed down to Manhattan earlier this week to spend some time there while the city is decorated for Christmas.  As usual, we traveled on Amtrak so we didn't need to worry about staying awake while driving nor did we need to worry about where to park the car once we arrived in Manhattan. Amtrak has proven to be a mostly trouble-free way to travel for us. I'll write more about our journey on Amtrak soon.  I picked out an historic hotel and we reserved a good-sized suite by Manhattan standards. The location of this hotel was perfect for our plans... mid-town Manhattan, near all the animated storefront windows decorated for Christmas, near the Empire State Building

Last night, Sheila and I had to head toward Burlington in the middle of the night for a fun little event. Adam's flights from overseas had, as usual, changed at the last minute from what was planned which delayed things by a few hours. As a result, we found ourselves up in Burlington in the middle of the night last night. On the positive side, there was absolutely no traffic and we didn't hit a single traffic light on the way to the airport! The airport is decorated for Christmas... We spent a little bit of time in the tower watching air traffic... well, Sheila spent our time in the tower tracking Adam's flight on her cellphone while I watched air traffic... After we picked up some checked baggage, we made our way back home. Now I need to get to ironing for the wedding weekend...

This past Friday night, we had the grandchildren because Liza had a meeting... or so we were told...  When she returned to the house after her "meeting", she informed us that she had a surprise for the kids so Sheila and I pulled the kids into the bedroom until Liza brought the surprise into the house... within a minute or two, she called to us saying we could come out of the bedroom...  and Adam was standing in the living room! It was a very nice surprise!  And, it was a loud, screaming, tearful surprise for Sheila! Adam arranged to have some time off so he could come to the lake house with us again. This is a good sign that we made the right choice in choosing the lake house as our summer vacation each year since Adam was starting high school. Of course, Sheila and I enjoy it as well.  Needless to say, it has been a rather busy weekend while catching up with Adam and trying to get ready for our move to the lake house.  Yesterday, I shot some photos when we decided

...In the wee hours of the morning!  Long before sunrise, we were up and about getting ready to head back to the airport to say goodbye to Adam... once again. It was a bit dark before 4am...  it definitely reminded me of my own career this morning... I rarely see these hours of the day! We had already said goodbye when he left for his basic training... then said goodbye after his graduation and he was headed to his technical training... then he visited us at the lake last year and we said goodbye at the airport when he departed for his first duty assignment which was about as far away from his home as is physically possible on our little planet... and now we said goodbye, again, as he heads to his second duty assignment. It is funny... it was cool, damp and very dark when we arose this morning and it vividly reminded me of mornings while I, myself, was training at Lackland Air Force Base. This was very appropriate considering why we were up so early. On this day, I was r

Adam was scheduled to arrive in Vermont sometime last week but, as luck would have it, his aircraft had a mechanical problem and they diverted to not only a different airfield but to a completely different country.  Adam has had the worst luck in air travel ever since we sent him to a Young Eagles encampment when he was 12 years old... a school run by the Experimental Aircraft Association. No matter when he has flown... no matter where he has flown... whether it was with the airlines or during flight lessons or with the military... he has consistently run into weather cancellations and maintenance cancellations. This three or four leg journey was no different. On the positive side, this time, his aircraft actually diverted to a country which he had intended to visit. His leave schedule never worked out for a trip to this country so his originally planned visit was cancelled. Now, here he was stuck in this country for three or four days!  This diversion actually turned into a luc