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

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...

...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