Steve is still coughing up a lung, but other than that is finally starting to feel slightly better.
Today was Kaylee's last day of school, last day of Junior High. When I picked her up, we went to Kohls to get a birthday present for a friend of hers for tomorrow, went to the party store to pick up some stuff for that, and then went to Starbucks for a Java Chip Frappuccino (I had to use spell checker for that one) to celebrate the end of school. We usually do ice cream, but Starbucks won for her this year. She is taking Marching Band next year along with Starlets, both of which are very busy and have large practice schedules, including early morning practices before school. I wonder how that's going to go. I wonder who is going to take her there at 6:30 a.m. Gah.
The US National Aerobatics champs are back at Kokomo for the next 9 days, practicing for the world competition being held in France. Pretty cool that they're here. Pretty annoying, too, because that makes it pretty hard for us to get anything done ourselves. Students can't really solo, it's hard to get in and out, even trips aren't that easy. You can work around it, and I don't mind some of that, but 9 days is a long time to mess with it. Today I had one flight out there, and somebody launched right when I got ready to leave, and another was up as I came back in, after flying for half an hour extra just to go somewhere else to practice takeoffs and landings. Tomorrow I have two flights out there. Not really looking forward to it. They're fun to watch for awhile though, as they really are the best out there, and are truly impressive.
I realized something the other day, about hospitals. I've always had a hard time with hospitals, but I haven't had a hard time with St. Vincent's, and I think I accidentally figured out why, if I can explain it properly. I remember describing before the eyes you see at the Children's Hospital. Parents' eyes so full of agony, or terror, or horror, or sometimes blank and resigned, with some bone-deep exhaustion in there. Children with eyes so wizened from what they've been through. When people get on an elevator, there may be a quick nod, but most people instinctively look down, look away. I can't handle it, that's for sure. You know what's different here? The people, the doctors, the patients, the nurses, the visitors...there is some worry in faces, and definitely tiredness, but the despair isn't there, and hope IS. The whole vibe is different, and it makes all the difference in the world, to everyone. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the nurses and caregivers who work full time in any hospital, who treat the people there with patience and gentleness no matter what, who are running for hours without a break, who brighten up the room with a smile even during a difficult time. The success rate of the hospital isn't just because of the state of the art technology, it's because of the people and the confidence they inspire in the whole process. Oh, one thing I found out that I hadn't mentioned before. The surgeon who did Richard's procedure? The staff was really surprised he was the one who did it, and asked Ann if they were family to him or something, because he doesn't take "just anybody". It was unusual that he was the one to do it. And considering how touch and go it was, it was one more thing that probably saved Richard's life. He literally had the best around. That's something!
I had a flight at Glenndale today--it had flooded, badly, and the water was all gone in short order, leaving behind mud and corn husk messes for everyone to clean up. The water got up to the belly of an airplane, and over the wheels of several more, even into a Corvette (ow). The water was deep into several hangars, and the area was a real lake. The lake was gone in a day. Amazing. Anyway, I flew in the Champ today, and I'm sort of all done with that thing. I can't get it started any more. Huffing and puffing and throwing and throwing and it doesn't start right and I can't find the formula to make it start right cold, and I HATE that. Once we got it started, we did some takeoffs and landings, ended up with a nice crosswind gusting up to 16 knots, sometimes swapping to direct, even a slight tailwind sometimes and a slight headwind others, so it was good practice for him, a fair amount of work. It took me awhile to quit being annoyed about starting it so I could enjoy the flight. I took a few photos, and once when the camera was backwards, I saw my hair in the image and it made me pause, so I took a picture of it. What a mess.
So, when did I become a blonde? And look at that rat's nest! Of course I still didn't close the window though.
View out the window...
And in case you're wondering, this is what my hands and feet are doing in the back seat of a taildragger when a student is on final... :)
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