simple pleasures

 Last year, Cyndi had told me there was a schedule online of the military flyovers on Memorial Day - I never thought of looking it up - it was always a case of running outside the second you start to hear the rumbling. So I found out they were coming over our town between eleven thirty and twelve. Meanwhile, my brother was out mowing, and one came along early and I missed it. 

The neighboring town had a much earlier time slot, so that must have been it, since we're near the border. But at eleven thirty I headed to the front step with my tablet and a bottle of nail polish, intending to stay for a half hour. And they came. At 11:38 one appeared, flying over our neighbor's property and I got a good view of him. At twelve I came in, but ten minutes later I felt the rumbling and looked out - another pass! 

In between these appearances I was listening to a podcast; they were discussing two books by G. K. Chesterton, Manalive and his book about St. Francis. The point of their discussion was Chesterton's emphasis on the importance of enjoying our lives as a way of expressing gratitude to God, and boredom as an opposite attitude. I can say that when these planes fly overhead, I'm like a kid in my excitement; I wait for them every year. 

Several minutes later, I heard more rumblings, and one of those big helicopters came along, with two regular ones tagging behind. Some years we miss them entirely, so this was really fun! And now I will go back to my Memorial Day preparations. 

Happy Memorial Day!