Confessions of a Quiet Saturday

• I stayed in my pajamas today, and I liked it.
  
• I read on my latest Robert Ludlum book today, in my pjs, and I liked that, too.
  
• I have accomplished very little of import today, and I don't mind that. Sometimes you just need a break. I may accomplish more later this evening, but for now, we are relaxing.
  
• Kaylee hid Easter eggs filled with candy around the house just because she felt like it. I think they have all been found. We don't care that it isn't Easter.
  
• I need to work on compassion, because I find myself annoyed at the 1200 people who stayed in Galveston after being told that if they did it would be "certain death" who did it anyway and then called 911 in the middle of the hurricane when it was too late for anyone to do anything about it. *sigh*
  
• I am sure that there are some who had good reasons for staying. I know some SMA families who can't sit in cars for 10 hours straight trying to get out of town in the herd, and stay and do their best. I would also guess that all 1200 people who called 911 in the middle of a hurricane are not all medically fragile people who couldn't leave.
  
• I have managed for the most part to miss what many would call "classic" movies, in particular many old westerns. Today I watched "The Magnificent Seven", and, in true confession form, must admit that I actually liked it. Chiseled chins and high cheekbones and manly men with honor and courage who know when to stand up for themselves and when to walk away. You can come away with dozens of life lessons out of that one movie. The young hotheads who either learn to control themselves or don't make it. The 'soldiers' who know that sometimes you have to fight to defend those who can't defend themselves, but realize that even when they win such a fight, they lose, too. The people who are bullied and bullied until one day they realize they have to stand up and risk being destroyed, or don't stand up and be destroyed. Courage and fear was a frequent theme in the movie as well. That everyone feels fear, including our heroes, but they do what they have to do despite the fear. One man described it as wet hands and dry mouth and wondered if the gunslinger felt the same way before a fight. Gunfighter says "every time". And then he gets it done anyway. Hasn't everybody felt some variation of that feeling? I know I have. There are several things I have done that were a lot tougher for me to do than anyone would know, and I'm sure probably everybody has experienced that at some level. It was kind of nice to watch the movie, I have to admit, even though "old" flicks, let alone Westerns, are not usually my style. "The Magnificent Seven" is a classic for a reason.
  
• My pajama time ended around 3 pm when Nathan asked if we wanted to come out to OKK and do some T-6 flying. Why, yes, in fact, that sounds lovely! The winds today at the time we went flying were 19 gusting to 25 knots. Those are pretty good winds for me in this plane right now. Fortunately they were down the runway, though it was still a little bumpy and gusty.
  
• I lost track of how many takeoffs and landings we did, or how long we flew. I know that when I got out of the plane, my shirt, jeans and hair were all wet, my neck was rubbed raw where the seatbelt scrapes, my left arm was a little weak feeling from me holding it in place and pulling heavy gear/flap levers, and I felt pretty good about it all. Not that I had all beautiful takeoffs and landings, but they are feeling more in control.
  
• I'm still working on taxiing smoothly and properly with that big old heavy tailwheel, and turning around with a gusting wind was a definite exercise. I didn't stop the rate of turn soon enough once, and the wind pushed us almost all the way back around, and by the time I got it corrected and headed the other way, we swung too far that way too, and to a lesser degree I did it again trying to go straight-finally we were both just laughing out loud watching me try to straighten the thing out and go the right way down the runway. Hey, if I can't laugh at myself, I'm sure there will be plenty of others in line waiting to do it for me. ;)
  
• I'm having fun, I'm learning a good amount, and I look forward to it "clicking" in to the point where I can make good landings on purpose more than on accident. ;)
  
• Steve finally got his first flight in the T-6 today. I think he enjoyed himself too.
  
• Kaylee is working on cleaning her room, I cleaned up the kitchen, and I think the rest of the evening will go back to the calm, quiet day, as it started...