Remembrance

In the US, today is a day to honor those who died preserving our freedoms. There has never been a time to be more vigilant about protecting our freedoms. 

The problem is how do YOU define freedom? 

And to what lengths are you willing to go to preserve that freedom?

Let's honor and remember those who gave their all for us.

Freedom is NEVER free.

Food and Sharing

Food and Sharing

On a recent trip to Slovenia while talking with bloggers about one bloggers  project to Eat on 1 Euro aDay the following observation was made:

In Slovenia everyone grows lettuce.  If you don’t have lettuce, your friends will bring you lettuce.  No one should have to buy their lettuce in the market.

Should we be planning our gardens and our lives to share with others?

The Ritual

Wine is not only an adult beverage, but has a mystique and language of its own, especially when describing it’s flavor

For wine aficionado’s the tasting and smelling of the wine can provide as much satisfaction as the actual drinking of the wine.  Wine is meant to be savored. Observe the “ritual” the next time a bottle of wine is ordered in a restaurant. 

In the US, the server presents the ordered bottle to the person ordering, pulls the cork with the corkscrew (or uncaps the screw top for more modern white wines) and presents the cork to be examined.  Then a tasting pouring is placed into the stemware. A swirl, a smell and a taste with a simple nod indicate to the server that this bottle is acceptable.  All of the other guests are served at this point.

In Central Europe, the server presents the bottle, opens it then they examine the cork and taste the wine.  When the server has deemed the wine acceptable it is served to the table.

The ritual can vary, but there is ALWAYS a ritual.  Like wine, we all have our rituals in life.   

Sometimes we need to examine them to see why they originated and then determine if the need still exists.

Artifacts of the Past

Lying neglected in a adjoining airport field sits a C-47 which served honorably in World War II. Like most veterans, after it’s discharge from service, it took up a civilian life.  First as a passenger plane for Frontier Airlines then with continuing service with Southern Airways.

At some point it left working for the airlines and probably flew cargo at some point.  My encounter with this C-47 nicknamed Sugar Alpha began in LaGrange GA as a novice jumper.  I made at least ten jumps with a Para Commander from this airplane before I moved on to a Ram Air canopy. I eventually made over 200 jumps from Sugar Alpha.  Being around Sugar Alpha and eventually being the lead manifestor and loader turned my skydiving hobby into a small business. 

Without Sugar Alpha, I wouldn’t have been able to gain those 12 hours of freefall time as quickly leading in succession to becoming an Accelerated Freefall Instructor, Senior Rigger and at some point a Drop Zone Operator. So much for the hobby.

Sugar Alpha has many memories.  One of my favorite visual memories is hanging rear float, dropping off and seeing 8 -20 other people leaving aircraft.  I also remember overnights playing assistant for two retired Delta DC-3 mechanics when one of those Pratt and Whitney’s blew a  jug – usually at an away boogie.  I still have one of Sugar Alpha’s spark plugs sitting on my desk.

Sugar Alpha may be neglected now but she’s not forgotten.

Day One - Of Ramblings

A simple post to just express whatever's on my mind at that particular time.  I plan very little structure and as the title indicates, I'll ramble on some (I'll try and hold the rants to a minimum though).

Upcoming posts will be on wine, Slovenia, castles, dragons and other topics from my recent trip to Slovenia, Croatia and small areas of Italy

Ciao