that beckoning sky

my sister and i went to the air show this weekend. we saw some F-16s, a Stealth Fighter and Bomber, the Blue Angels, a partial reenactment of Pearl Harbor, Mustang P-31s, the Red Baron Pizza Squad (or something) (i still haven't figured that one out), and many, many other historic airplanes and airplane acrobatics. i had a kink in my neck before long, and i'm pretty sure i looked like something of a cross between a country tourist in a city full of skyscrapers and a giddy teenager in love.
i love airplanes, and i always have. my untold (before now) dream was to be a pilot...although i never really put any thought or effort into that career, being quite positive it would always remain nothing but a dream. because as much as i'm fascinated by airplanes, strangely enough, i never felt drawn to learn much about them. i'm perfectly content to leave them in the Mysteries category (along with cars and tax stuff) and simply be in awe at them. the sky is the beginning of space, and as far as we on this planet are concerned, it might as well be infinite. an expanse of mystery and pure physics. (the poem linked in the title of this post is one of my favorites. it was written by a WW2 pilot, and was made famous when it was quoted by Ronald Reagan.)

in other weekend events, friday night was the Mother of All Steak Nights (that name didn't really catch on for some reason) and we (all thirty of us!) gorged ourselves on steak, chicken, asparagus (perfectly cooked and seasoned, might i add), potatoes, garlic bread, and a plethora -- that's right, a plethora -- of assorted desserts. there was also a good amount of poker playing, guitar playing, computer-stuff-doing, et al.

today (sunday) the ecuador team drove to a small town to give a presentation about our summer trip. :) i was way more nervous than usual, with my hands and voice shaking and for some reason i'd felt compelled to grab a pen before i went to the front. so i had the large handheld mic, the suddenly-unwanted pen, and a crinkled bulletin with a few vague notes scratched on it...all cluttering up my hands and doing their best to jump to the floor. but other than my part, which wasn't horrible but wasn't great either, the others did really well (4 of us spoke). the trip was fun. i had fun. plus there was a potluck afterwards with these awesome potatoes.

that's it for now. i'm unbelievably tired because, like usually happens on the weekends, my sleep schedule is drastically altered and my sleep debt becomes bloated, much like the national debt. so with interest, i owe myself 10.58 hours of sleep each night this week. i'm off to pay some of that now. thanks for reading!