Among The Joshua Trees

Halloween in Wichita. The are Bailee and Piper. Bailee is the fried egg and Piper is the Goth Bride.

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The Daily Lex – October 31st

Our ghost story

Today’s Daily Lex doesn’t follow the usual ‘corresponding date’ pattern – I’ve been saving this one for today. Happy Halloween, and enjoy!

Originally published March 28, 2004.

 

Lex’s Birthday is coming up

November 9th – Kat has posted at neptunuslex.com about a get together at Shakespeares. Of special interest to those around San Diego!

Wind as art

See the live wind map over CONUS.  TS Sandy is quite evident

 

http://hint.fm/wind/

 

 

The Daily Lex – October 30th

Going Back

Originally published October 30th, 2011.

Luftwaffe F-4Fs DACT at Decimomannu, Sardinia

Some interesting footage of Luftwaffe DACT training at Decimomannu Air Base on the Italian island of Sardinia in 1976.

Some things of note in my mind. What was the designation/name of the dart shaped towed target on the wing of one of the jets on the flightline? Damn, those J79s are some pretty bad smokers 🙂 Looks like the beginning of the end of the camo’d Rhinos in the Luftwaffe. There are a few of the TPS schemed Rhinos in parts 1 and 2.

The narration is in German so I have no idea what they’re saying. I think it get the gist though.

Part1:

Part 2:

Hopefully the Phantom people out there will like this 🙂

Highly Unusual

The Navy has pulled an admiral from the command seat.

Verrry interesting, but no relevant info beyond the words “inappropriate leadership judgement.” One wonders about how such an event develops, and who it is that looks at the information available and decides it is time for a change of command temporary reassignment at this level.
Any of our august group have more for us to digest? Maybe it’s just about the strawberries…

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/27/navy-replaces-admiral-leading-mideast-strike-group/

The Law of the Sea

Nature, at best, is neutral it is often said.  The sea, even less so.  I have been through storms in the Atlantic and Mediterranean and have seen high seas in the Pacific as well as standing on that great ocean’s eastern shores and witnessed  strong fury that actually pales in comparison to some of nature’s real efforts. But one thing I have learned is to give Davey Jones his due and not venture out where there be dangerous waters.  Now, most of my experience was on the ample hulls of large, grey steel apartment houses, with airports conveniently located on the roof.  At actual displacement of around 100,000 tons and most measuring over 1,000 feet in length, the fact that we took rolls and damage made me a true believer in our real place in the scheme of all things aquatic.

We sometimes forget that for centuries upon centuries, humans have ventured forth upon the waters on vessels much smaller, more frail and even more at the mercy of the seas.  This morning, a recreation of one of the most well-known vessels of the 19th Century and those who remain on her, stands in deep peril off our shores as Hurricane Sandy churns the deep enroute to landfall:

HMS Bounty Crew Abandons Ship

For them, and all who venture forth, let us join in the Breton Fisherman’s Prayer:

Dear God, be good to me;
The sea is so wide,
And my boat is so small.

May they all come to shore in one piece.

The Daily Lex – October 29th

Charlie

Originally published October 29th, 2006.

The Last Rose of Summer

This was mentioned in comments at TDL yesterday and I felt it deserved more attention.  Our beloved Marianne Matthews – has passed.  Reported by Maggie’s Farm this past Friday, it seems that Marianne died about a month ago.

Marianne was, so often at least to me, the heart & soul of the Lex Community.  She was incredibly well-educated at a time when women didn’t go to college; she held several high-powered jobs in publishing.  Her first fiance was killed in WWII and I don’t believe she ever shared more than that about him.  She never had children yet – she was a mother-figure to so many of us.

I had been exchanging emails with her in the months since we lost our Beloved Lex and the last note I had from her indicated she was having some health troubles.  She never specified what – which was like her of course.  And in that last e-mail she did, as always, talk about politics and her concerns for our country.

A patriot to the last.

Her husband – Downs – is 87 and now in a nursing home.

By all means, go to the link for Maggie’s Farm. They have an audio recording of a folk song that Marianne performed back in the 1950s – the title of which is the title of this post; I didn’t know this but she was quite a prominent folk singer in the 1940s/1950s.  I was listening to it as I typed this and her voice – so pure and sweet – told me she is with her Lord … and with Lex.

Raise your glasses to this great lady – for strength, for courage, for love.  I will raise a glass of Woodfords Reserve bourbon – which I know she would have done for Lex.

Godspeed Marianne.  You were a wondrous spirit to have known.