rustypants speaks

every summer the Navy’s crack Flight Demonstration Squadron, aka the Blue Angels, put on an incredible show at Pensacola Beach. the performance is legendary, as are the crowds and the noise. we wanted to go, but the thought of having to be at the beach by 7am for a show that doesn’t start until 2pm… it was a bit much for us.

so when we heard that they do 2 full dress rehersals the two days prior to the actual show, we were totally game! we packed lunch, books, lots of water, and hit the beach late morning. at 2pm, the first plane came overhead, and a few short minutes later, the Blue Angels screamed across the beach from behind us. for the next 50 minutes, we were absolutely floored at their ability, speed, and execution. it was incredible!

each of the thumbnails below blows up to a bigger shot.

thunderstorms. playing cards. reading. nature. driving.

these are only a few of the things my dad loves that i also love. these are things that he introduced to me when i was a little kid, and i am a much better man because of them. some of  my earliest memories include:

• watching thunderstorms roll in while sitting on the back porch together and jumping at the lightning and thunder.
• being read to at night (by mom, too!) – this was a nightly occurrance – at least one story before bedtime in my room or in jason’s.
• being read to, having a thunderstorm roll in, STOP reading, turn out the lights, and watch the storm together.
• learning how to play gin rummy & chess and spending time playing both (or should i say losing both – i doubt that i’ve beat him at either).
• camping trips to Heuston Woods & Miami Whitewater, building fires, hiking, swimming.
• drives, sometimes just to drive. other times, 3 weeks worth of driving (remember the RV trip from cincy to wisconsin to california to mexico to tennessee to ohio?).
• raiding his bookshelves for good reading material. dad loves to read – being read to every night as a youngster was pivotal. being grounded from TV for five years in my later years didn’t hurt, either. i was introduced to Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, JRR Tolkien, and John Steinbeck, among others, in those junior high years.

now, to be sure, we have our differences. we have very different personalities. we have different likes and dislikes. we disagree about things.

but dad is level-headed. intelligent. loving. kind. analytical.

he is still the first person i call when i’m trying to make a decision about this or that and need someone to see more sides of the situation than i can figure.

he still loves me and lets me know it frequently.

he still lets me raid his bookshelves and “forget” to return the books to him.

he’s the first person i think of when lise and i are sitting on the beach or on the front porch watching a big thunderstorm move through.

i’m a better man because of my dad.

thanks, dad! happy fathers day! i love you!

for years, lise and i had coveted my mom’s doormat. we’ve laughed about it every time we visited her home, asked her to leave it to us in her will, hatched plots to steal it, and asked her to just plain give it to us.

so when she told me to take it with me when we moved to Florida 2 years ago, it was a bit of a shock. i mean, we had been joking about it for so long that now… well, we can just… take it?

i turned her down. thanks, but no thanks. why are you giving it up now? she tells me it’s time for her to grow up (to which i laughed – at age 61, to decide that this welcome mat is too “immature” for you… well, that’s my momma).

at any rate, every time i see it when i come home, i think about mom. she’s funny. i love her and miss her a lot.

on my way home from school i called the pensacola surf advisory hotline & found out that the water was calm on the Gulf and the flag was green – this was great news! lise and i grabbed our stuff and headed out.

not long after we arrived, the wind picked up and some pretty chunky looking clouds appeared.

we got in the car to drive around and investigate.

in some spots, the sky was clear. in others it was pitch black. and still in others it was yellow / pink / purple-ish.

it came through like a snake. pitch black up the middle, clear or colorful on either side.

after we’d hung about for a bit longer, we started to head back to the house for some dinner and playtime with dolby. along the bay (the “scenic tour” way home), i saw a HUGE bird in a tree – too big for a hawk, wrong neck for a heron, and pelicans don’t roost in trees.

we pulled a u-turn and then another, got out the camera and shot what i thought might’ve been an eagle or falcon at first glance. it was an osprey! a big boy, too!

a spectacular sunset was brewing after we saw the falcon. we pulled off into a cemetary by the bay and snapped some pretty cool shots. also got some rainbow shots that i’m having difficulty manipulating in the newest WordPress release. if i’m able, will update with that later.

we love nights like tonight – the time together, the variety of weather, the awe of creation. it’s good to be reminded of the insignificance that our puny lives represent when cast against everything else. crummy days at school melt away in times like these.

i was 13 years old. 1982. jr. high.

the song came on the radio and i froze.

the smooth beat started. the whispered plea, the wailing voice.

nevermind that the subject matter is first and foremost on the minds of jr. high boys everywhere.

the music stays smooth and cool through the entire song, but the intensity of marvin gaye’s singing, the urgency of his needs grows as the song goes on.

holy cow, the man had pipes.

my first 7″ 45 single? sexual healing.

i remember walking up to globe records and tapes at western hills plaza and searching through the singles on the shelf. finding my prize, i bought it and zipped back.

when i got it home, i played it. and played it. and played it. it was my first serious exposure to gaye’s music and it was one i never forgot.

it still has a mesmerizing effect on me. i’ve listened to it four times as i’ve written this and had to force myself not to play it a fifth time. truly addictive.

and no one else can quite set the tone like he does.

the list that has been making the facebook rounds with 25 random things about yourself – it’s vexing to me. i don’t want to do it. and i won’t

but this – this list is something i can do and be happy about!

25 favorite albums in no particular order

1. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
2. Jason Mraz – Live at Schuba’s Tavern 01-15-2003
3. Waterdeep – Sink or Swim
4. Herbie Hancock – Headhunters
5. Keith Jarrett Trio – Live at the Blue Note
6. Green Day – Dookie
7. Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds – Live at Radio City
8. Damien Jurado – Ghost of David
9. Cowboy Junkies – Trinity Session
10. The Band – The Last Waltz
11. The Black Keys – Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough
12. Chick Corea and Gary Burton – Crystal Silence
13. Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days
14. Jimmy Smith – The Sermon!
15. Joe Satriani – Super Colossal
16. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II
17. Mazzy Star – So Tonight That I Might See
18. Miles Davis and John Coltrane – The Complete Columbia Recordings
19. Yo-Yo Ma – The Cello Suites Inspired by Bach
20. Rusted Root – Cruel Sun
21. Phil Keaggy – Beyond Nature
22. Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance
23. Neil Young – Deepsix Vol. 2
24. John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
25. Grateful Dead – Live at the Fillmore East – 4-29-1971
26. Over the Rhine – Drunkard’s Prayer

i noted over on facebook that the honorable mentions list would be at least as long as this one.

what’s your list?

several weeks ago may vanderbilt (of www.anneandmay.com) put up several items for grabs on her blog – cool items that, if you wanted one of them, you simply had to tell her you wanted it – at the end of that week, she drew names out of a hat to determine who would get what of the things she had (sort of a cool-item housecleaning, if you will).

one item was a Moleskine Notebook. i like moleskine (and will post soon on how i abuse them) so i put my name in for it, not thinking i had a chance in the world of getting it.

but a week later, my name is pulled out of a hat – yay!

and this is my video thanks to May for the cool notebook! click on the Play button to see…

Download thanks to may vanderbilt!

the wind was blowing like crazy that morning. the beach was deserted. the surf flag was red which means DANGER and DO NOT SWIM IN THE GULF. the sand was whipping around and stung my legs and most of the beach had been washed away by the storm the previous night. storm clouds were brewing still. it’s a rare sight to see pensacola beach emptied in early august.

i drove down to the dead-end just to watch the swirling & crashing waves for a while. on the way there, i passed a single vehicle. an SUV with Kansas plates was parked on the side of the road and an umbrella was in the middle of the beach, propped on it’s side against the onslaught of wind. driving slowly past, i see two folks huddled under the meager protection from the elements, a cooler between them and looking like they were having the time of their lives.

i smiled once as i crawled past because i realized that lise and i would have done the same crazy kind of thing.

i smiled twice because i could hear them saying to themselves, “dagnabbit, we drove all the way from kansas to sit on the beach, and come hell or high water, that’s what we’re doing!!”