Yesterday, my closest friend, who is a Sheriff’s Detective in Indiana, was shot at by an individual they were attempting to arrest. He writes about the experience briefly over at his weblog:
Yesterday afternoon while serving an arrest warrant, the suspect fled and shot at myself and other officers.
I’ll have more thoughts on my experience later, but in the mean time here is the article from our local paper, The Republic
I’m just glad he’s alright.
Every person, all the events of your life,
are there because you have drawn them there.What you choose to do with them is up to you.
– Richard Bach
There are moments, I believe, between the bubbles of life.. those brief fleeting moments that we only see from time to time.. that lie between this world and the next.
I was there, for a bit today. Between what was.. and what is.. and out there somewhere… what will be.
It’s interesting, I feel, because we see what’s out there… and we don’t. Sometimes, we get that glimpse through the opaque barrier in front of us.. that brief shining of light.. and we say.. “there it is.. I see it…”
and yet, we do not grasp it.
But sometimes… sometimes.. that light shines through.. and combined with some innate desire.. we choose to see it.
Enlightenment? I’m not sure.
But we grow through that lesson. Whatever it may be.
Am writing this, to be posted later, from the airport in scenic Providence, Rhode Island, where I enjoy a fine chilled adult beverage in preparation for my flight back to the frigid tunda of Minnesota. Tomorrow it’s back to the land of the suit, tie, and strategy….
The week back in the homeland has been filled with some home repairs, quiet time with the sidekick, purring and cuddle time with the kitty, and some fine homecooked meals. You forget what it’s like to cook and eat your own meals until you’ve lived in a Residence Inn for two weeks.
A side note, yesterday was the Commissioning Ceremony for SSN-23, the USS Jimmy Carter, just south of here in Groton, Connecticut. A family just walked by to catch their flight, with all of them wearing USS Jimmy Carter hats. Interesting. I hope they got to go.
In the next two and a half weeks, in my time in Minnesota, will come our annual meeting, the beginnings of exploring the surrounding communities, some exploration of the possibility of building a home, and a ton of fun interesting work. I will definately be busy.
I’ve finished my cycle of 9/11 tomes and am ready to switch genres. I read several 9/11 books for work – seeking knowledge to be able to function in my new role with some sense of credibility. I still have a lot to learn, but my gut guides me well. I’ve also managed to finish all but the last of the Dune series of novels – the originals, that is.. the ones by Frank Herbert. This evening I started on Chapterhouse: Dune and that will complete the cycle. I’ve not read them all since I was around 16 years old. As I’m about to turn 31, it’s been enough time that I don’t remember what happens.
And with that, it’s off to watch TV on the PowerBook until I get to Minnesota.
Lex writes today of the battle for Iwo Jima, on the day after the 60th anniversary of that battle:
These World War II veterans are among us still. We can still hear their voices. And they can still teach us.
I have been to Iwo Jima – when I was stationed in Japan, we used to fly down there to practice our carrier landing patterns prior to going aboard ship for carrier qualification. It is a small, small place to have held such death. One wonders that it did not sink under the weight of the blood of 28,000 who died there on both sides. I have walked up LST beach with Suribachi to my left, glowering down from its fog-shrouded heights. Looked right and seen more rising terrain, an elevated sea wall to the right. I have made the long climb through soft volcanic sand and finally waist high grass, to get to an uncertain summit, and everywhere, seen the mouths of cave and tunnel systems in which the fanatic hordes poured out in counter-attack after counter-attack.
In nothing but tennis shoes and a bathing suit, I have found myself panting and out of breath, and thought about the men who waded ashore that day, 60 years ago today, with 80 pound packs and the noise and their brothers falling all around them like blades of grass beneath a mower. And I have wondered how they did it, and if we, whom they made, are made of the same stuff.
After Fallujah in November, I believe that at least some of us are. As for the rest, perhaps in 60 years’ time we will learn about how our great campaign to once again liberate millions from tyranny and throw down fascism of a different stripe was truly national in character. I am sure that if this great task we are embarked upon is successful, that will be the narrative.
Success, it is truly said, has many fathers.
Back a little less than four years ago, while watching the interviews of the real men of Easy Company, during the beginning of each episode of HBO’s Band of Brothers, I wondered if our generation.. my generation, had the same stuff as the men that conquered Normandy, and the Bulge, and Tarawa, and Iwo Jima… and then 9/11 came.. and I knew that we did.. as did those of my parent’s generation who had fought in the jungles of Vietnam.. and those that fought before them in the Marne.. success, indeed, has many fathers…
No, they won’t be musings regularly here, such as what Lex does each week. I’m not that regular unfortunately.
I’m flying back to Boston after two weeks in Minneapolis where I started in my new position. Loads of fun, this new job. Incredibly smart people working in a set of beautiful buildings doing some really neat stuff. There is Starbucks in the lobby. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world. And that’s all I’ll have to say about work.
For the last two months, I’ve been using a Tablet PC from Motion Computing. It’s in the slate format and fits into a nice planner that I carry around with me. Other than the “ohhhhs” and “ahhhs” that it produces when I yank it out at meetings and the like, it’s an incredible productivity machine and I continue to find new uses for it. It makes me highly dangerous. I just gotta get my routines altered so that I can make it do what I need it to do in my new role – it’s still setup for my last assignment.
My favorite ad from the Super Bowl (you did notice that the Patriots won.. right?) was the Budweiser ad with the airport crowd applauding the soldiers walking through the airport. I know, it was staged, but the feeling was heartfelt.. and that’s what counts.
I’ve been in Minneapolis without a car, and that’s not a big deal.. except when the power supply for your Apple Powerbook blows up on you.. and the closest Apple store is at the Mall of America… so off I went, via the new Light Rail. A very nice ride, 35 minutes, and quite a crowd at the Apple Store.. all getting.. iPod shuffles. Lucky dogs.
About to finish reading the book about Howard Lutnick and Cantor Fitzgerald’s post 9/11 experiences, next on deck is 102 Minutes, a story about survival during the attack on the World Trade Center.. in the midst of this, am now onto Heretics of Dune for pleasure reading. And who knows, maybe a few more books at home are calling my name too….
I’d write more, but I have 8 episodes of TV saved here on the Powerbook to watch. Have a great Friday and perhaps I’ll write more later.
Ossie Davis died earlier this week at age 87. One of my favorite actors of all time, he was instantly recognizable by that voice that he had. And his uncanny ability to deliver a message, a eulogy, a line.. with that incredible voice.
Most memorable in my mind will probably be the ending of Spike Lee’s monumental film “X” where Ossie Davis delivered the eulogy. That’s one that I’ll remember for the rest of my days.
Eighty – Seven years – a great life. Rest in peace, Ossie.