C-17 Day

     The paper gave us a heads-up that at 0700 this morning there were going to be thirteen C-17s taking off to go support a mass training jump at Fort Bragg. I got up hoping that the chosen runway this morning would be the one directly in line with our house. At 0650 as I was rounding up the camera, a lawn chair and a mug of coffee, the first four took off, and I missed them. Over the next twenty minutes the remaining nine took off, never close enough together to appear in the same picture. And they did not use the hoped for runway. Nonetheless, I got a few nice shots including one with an ibis in the foreground.

     While I was sitting there in my bathrobe waiting for the next aircraft, I snapped some other miscellaneous shots. Here's one of a daytime moon with a magnolia blossom in the foreground.

     Another ibis was making his way along the bank.

     And, there was an alligator lying in wait along the same bank.

     Progress reports on the back and the bus:
          Bus...some will recall that we almost had the Jeep come loose again on the way home last summer. The base plate has been checked and new attachment pins (pintles?) have been ordered for the Jeep. Instead of a new residential refrigerator, we decided to just spring for a new door for the Dometic. We are also replacing a non-functional radio. As we get closer to departure, the bus will be washed, waxed, and detailed inside. This is probably its last hurrah.
          Back...I'm wandering around without a cane for most of the time.  The only time I use the walker is when I climb out of the bed at night to go to the bathroom.  I feel like a bit more security is called for then. My gait is impacted by the neuropathy almost as much as by the back. I can stand, unassisted, for only a few minutes until back pain takes over. The back brace is some help. Driving does not seem to present any problems.
     We moved here in 2004 and have yet to spend a summer here. As we transition from spring to summer in Charleston, it's clear why we are longing for another Maine summer with great views, great food, and great friends.