This morning I went looking for a song; I didn’t know the name, but I knew two parts of the lyrics: Frank jumped in and bit my leg and But, she’s cherry. Turns out the song is Classified by C.W. McCall and I managed to find a YouTube version of it.

Now while I was over there at YouTube and in the country western song division, I looked over at the sidebar and saw some  videos of June Carter, before she was June Carter Cash. I listened to a few and then typed Johnny Cash into the search panel. Working my way through, I came to one about the flag – our flag, the U.S. flag – and I listened to it. I listened to it twice.

I thought about a lot of things, not the least of which are the people who have just been so upset with the United States and any show of allegiance. But thought gave way to just feeling and  I realized in my mind, I was back standing at the side of a runway – in the family visitors’ area on a SAC base. The klaxon had sounded and the crews had zoomed off in their blue pick-up.  I stood there with my four-year-old son, watching as B-52 after B-52 came down the runway and lifted into the sky.

I must have been aware of  the roar of the engines, but what struck me most was how the wings were so long, the flapped slightly at the ends. (There were actually little wheels to keep them from scraping the ground.) I was young, the sun was out, the wind up a bit and, for some reason, I just knew it was a drill. It was impressive but it was part of my everyday life.

Looking back, I realize I’m proud of what I witnessed – my husband and others taking responsibility for protecting what that flag stands for – my country, my heritage, and what was then, my future.

THE VIEDO:

VIDEO OF B-52 SCRAMBLE:

And here’s a video of a B-52 minimum time take-off: (It’s 10 minutes long)

Stuff is fairly chockablock here at The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse and I’m thinking about documenting some of it so that maybe I will see it and not just pass my eyes over it. I don’t know where it will wind up when I am gone, but for now, I’ll let these iphone photos hold the images.

On a window sash:

Just got word of a 2-hour delay for today because of winter weather – ice, snow and wind chill – so that will throw a cog in the make-up snow day scheduling. Oh, well, it gives me an extra two hours before I have to “shoot the slalom run” on the downhill street that empties into the back side of the school parking lot. That route keeps you from encountering school buses on narrow streets both my the middle school and the high school, but it is itself a narrow street on which cars are allowed to park on one side.

Sometimes I think maybe somebody might park a car out there that they wouldn’t mind getting hit by one of those teenage drivers. Oh, such a mind I have.

I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but the last time we had such a strong wind, the garbage bin lid whipped up and smacked me a good one on the forehead. I guess I live sort of a low-rent Garrison Keillor lifestyle sometimes,. (Without his politics)

I believe I’m feeling in the mood for a quick tempo-ed country song –  one with line such as “Frank jumped in and bit my leg”. * Oh, no, am I actually thinking of looking that up on itunes?

Aha, I found it  on YouTube.