In honor of a veteran Dad who flew into hell... again... and again... and again... along with all other veterans and those who now serve

Dad is the man who lies in this flag-draped coffin. I will not say too much about him for now, except that he was a good father and that, thanks to him, and many more like him, most of them gone now, the evil dream of a man named Hitler died in flames and blood.

We buried Dad on June 2, 2007. He died on Memorial Day.

A short time earlier, at his Mormon chapel in Sandy, Utah. You can see that Melanie served as one of the pre-honor guard pallbearers. To her left stands my nephew-in-law, Vivek Iyer and to her right, my nephew-in-law, Steve Cook. My niece, Sarah Fox, daughter of my late brother, Ron, stands on the other side of the coffin.

Other family members can be seen in the background, including my brothers Mac and Rex and my nieces, Khena and Shaela.

A few days earlier, as he lay on his death bed. The important thing to understand about the picture that my sister, Mary Ann, shows to Dad before he goes is that it is not just any old, dramatic, war picture. It is a picture that I grew up with, because it was taken from his B-24 bomber and he knew the men in the plane that is breaking apart.

He knew also that it could just as easily have been his plane and at any moment might yet be. Each time he sandwiched himself into the navigator's hutch he knew this. Yet always he went. Fear did not stop him.

Dad did this kind of thing over and over during World War II, flying out of bases in North Africa and Europe. Once, he and his crew took off on a mission in a squadron of seven. Only their airplane reached the target and returned.

Another time, a German machine gun bullet ripped through the fuselage and struck his flight helmet right at his forehead. It spun the helmet around 180 degrees and knocked Dad unconscious. Believing him to be dead, his Captain ordered another crewman to shove him aside and take his place.

Mary Ann gives Dad a kiss.

Dad, as he looked on August 8, 2004.

I will post these images again one day. I once sent several stories that I wrote about Dad to Soundarya after she requested that I do so. Last summer, she told me that I should post them here and I will, when the time is right and I have the time.

I should also note that this is not one of the week's plus worth of posts that I put up on Thursday, November 5, because I was too ill to concentrate on my work and wanted to have several days of uninterrupted time to concentrate on my work as I recovered. I did not think of Veteran's Day at that time. 

The deaths of the 13 soldiers at Fort Hood and those that we continually hear about in Afghanistan and Iraq put Veteran's Day into my head.

Along with my Dad, I honor all these as well, along with those who now stand in harm's way.

Catching up with more missed photos, part 3*: The great Black Cat Football fake

I had no idea why Margie was holding a pan with a football in it on her lap. "Are we going to have boiled football for dinner tonight?" I asked.

It turns out, she didn't know why she had it there, either.

Somehow, I think this guy was behind it. Kalib comes to get the football.

It would appear that Melanie is simply giving Jim a few pets, but all those intimately familiar with the game of American football will recognize this as the famous "Black Cat Fake."

The "Black Cat Fake" worked! Melanie snags the football!

What a catch! She proves herself to be the greatest receiver in the world.

What a pass! She proves herself to be the greatest quarterback in the world.

Whoa! What an interception! She proves herself to be the greatest defensive back in the world! This is my daughter and I am damn proud of her - even when there is no football involved.

The football is put away. Charlie and Royce chill. Charlie knows about cats. Cats know about Charlie.

*Although I have scheduled this to appear Tuesday, November 10, I actually made this post on Thursday, November 5. There are two reasons for this: 1: whatever bug it is that has got me down has left me unable to concentrate to the degree that I must to do my work. 2: The project that I have been working on is very nearly done, but I have never brought such a project to a close without going full-bore, night and day, on it at the end, distracted by no other tasks, including this blog.

So, before I go to bed, I am going to put up several days worth of posts from photos that I have recently taken but have not used. Then, for the next several days, I will not blog, I will stay away from the internet as much as possible and just bear down on getting this job done - but my posts will keep coming.

I think Kalib with get three of those posts, two at the very least.

First snow forces me to take a break from the break that I took so that I could do nothing but work

It came very late this fall - which seems to me to have been the warmest fall that I ever remember here - but finally, Sunday night, it snowed. It's true that last Thursday, I put blog entries together all the way through this coming Friday so that until that time, I would not be disturbed by this blog but could just concentrate fully on my work.

But how can I ignore the first snow, especially when it comes so late?

Here is a kid, getting off of a school bus on Ward's. As you can see, somebody did a bit of fish-tailing.

And here is an AWAC, flying through the clear sky the snow left behind.

I hope the driver of this vehicle guided it safely to its destination. 

He biked with a heavy load. This was about noon, when the temperature was 17 degrees. We have yet to experience our first cold snap. Perhaps he is glad that it is late.

More jets in the clear sky.

And here is the decoy frozen into the surface of Little Lake.

Tilted stop sign, with Pioneer Peak in the background.

Crossing the bridge over the Little Su.

Somebody is behind me. I hope it's peaceful person. I don't want any trouble.

I still have my respiratory infection, by the way, but it is not as bad as it was.

Catching up with Kalib,* Part 2: He teases his grandma - who will eat the chocolate chip?

During the time of her convalescence, this end of the couch is reserved for Margie, whenever she wants to sit down. There are some good reasons for this, but I will not take the time to explain. Kalib has figured this out, and so has come to see this end of the couch as the most special seat in the house. He also recognizes the fact that all present see him as the most special person in the house - a viewpoint with which he tends to agree.

So, he sometimes seems to think, the most special person in the house should be able to claim the most special seat in the house at will. Therefore, when he sees his grandma moving slowly toward this most special seat, he will often dash ahead of her, jump into his grandma's spot and claim it for himself. 

"Can Grandma sit there, please?" Margie asks in her most pleasant voice. "Grandma needs to sit there. Will you let me sit there?"

Kalib vacates the seat. Grandma makes herself as comfy as she can. Soon, Kalib shows up with a few chocolate chips in a cup. He offers one to his grandma. "A chocolate chip for Grandma? Oh, thank you!" Margie says, as she reaches out for it.

But swift as an eagle snatching a salmon, Kalib withdraws the offer and plops the chocolate chip into his own mouth.

At another moment on a different day, as Grandma changes his diaper, Kalib suddenly dives off the couch.

*Although I have scheduled this to appear Monday, November 9, I actually made this post on Thursday, November 5. There are two reasons for this: 1: whatever bug it is that has got me down has left me unable to concentrate to the degree that I must to do my work. 2: The project that I have been working on is very nearly done, but I have never brought such a project to a close without going full-bore, night and day, on it at the end, distracted by no other tasks, including this blog.

So, before I go to bed, I am going to put up several days worth of posts from photos that I have recently taken but have not used. Then, for the next several days, I will not blog, I will stay away from the internet as much as possible and just bear down on getting this job done - but my posts will keep coming.

I think Kalib with get three of those posts, two at the very least.

Catching up with Kalib,* Part 1: He opens the door for his grandma

On Lavina's birthday, Margie and I agreed to pick Kalib up from his daycare in Anchorage and bring him home. This would allow Jacob and Lavina to go out and celebrate, all night long. 

You all know that I love the pocket camera - because I can carry it in my pocket and it is just flat-out fun to use. But every now and then, I am overwhelmed by its limitations - and this is one such case.

When we stepped into Kalib's classroom, we discovered that it was nap-time. Every child in the room was fast asleep, including Kalib - and, boy, did he look precious! I had to photograph the moment, but, by the time I could get the pocket camera turned on and ready to shoot, he had discovered we were there. It was amazing to see how quickly he transformed from being fast asleep to standing on his feet.

He stepped briefly into his mother's arms, to get a quick hug.

Then, again, too fast for me to catch with the pocket camera, he dashed out into the hall and raced to the door, making certain that he reached it before his grandma did.

He wanted to open the doors for her, that's why. 

On the way to the car, he stopped to pick up a rock. Lavina said he does this every day that she picks him up. It is like a ritual.

The small keeper.

We buckled him in, then headed for home. Soon, he was again fast asleep.

*Although I have scheduled this to appear Sunday, November 8, I actually made this post on Thursday, November 5. There are two reasons for this: 1: whatever bug it is that has got me down has left me unable to concentrate to the degree that I must to do my work. 2: The project that I have been working on is very nearly done, but I have never brought such a project to a close without going full-bore at it, night and day, at the end, distracted by no other tasks, including this blog.

So, before I go to bed, I am going to put up several days worth of posts from photos that I have recently taken but have not used. Then, for the next several days, I will not blog, I will stay away from the internet as much as possible and just bear down on getting this job done - but my posts will keep coming.

I think Kalib with get at least three of those posts, two at the very least.