Greetings, loyal airmen.  Another week has rolled on by and with many, many changes, both public and personal.  The last time I posted a log entry it was to wish all of you a Happy Halloween as Valerie and I headed down to Bethel, Conn. to spend the weekend with son Scott, his wife Katie and grand kids, Taryn & Logan.  It was a truly gorgeous train ride down the eastern coast, both ways, and we had a great time.  In fact, while Scott and Katie took the kids Trick or Treating Friday night, Valerie and your old Air Chief manned the candy station by the front down and for several hours confronted dozens of scary ghosts and goblins of all shapes and sizes.  Let me tell you, it was the most fun we've had in ages.  Our own home sets on the outskirts of town and save for family and a few other kids, we really don't get any of this kind of activity.  So we thoroughly had a great time.  We did take some pictures but I don't have them readily available right now.  Thing is, Taryn opted to go out in the same original costume her father built for her two years ago…as a birthday cake!

So I dug out this two year old photo out of the files.  Taryn, amazingly, is much taller, but her growth spurt seems to have been in her legs, as she was actually able to fit her torso into the costume with absolutely no problems. All of us were amazed.  Scott has those two candle lights hooked up to batteries and when she was walking along the street in the dark, both were lit.  It's a truly ingenious costume and you can see why she, and the rest of us all loved it.  Oh, and if you are curious, younger brother Logan went in his doctor's scrubs.  He was so cute.

Now the birthday theme has relevancy for your old Air Chief, but let's work that in with the proper sequencing.  We got home early Sunday afternoon and on Tuesday morning, Nov. 4th, used our daily hike to walk downtown to the polls and vote in the election.  It ended up being an historical event as Barack Obama become the first black American to win the office of president.  Have you ever wished you wrong about something?  I didn't vote for Senator Obama because I did not believe he was either qualified or experienced enough to be president. Now that he has won that office, it has not changed my opinion.  The only difference now is that I very much want to be proven wrong.  Before anything else, Republican or Democrat, we are all Americans and as such, I will support this man totally, praying every day that he rises to the overwhelming challenges that face our great country.  It truly is time to put the bickering of politics aside, roll up our sleeves and get to work fixing those problems that confront us all.

On Wed. Nov. 5th, your old Air Chief became 62 years old.  And Valerie set out to make it a very special day all around.  My favorite food in the entire world is crepes and every year, on my birthday, she makes me a stack of these delicious, thin and sweet breakfast treats.  A little butter, some maple syrup and your Old Chief was in seventh heaven.  Oh, yeah.  Then spent the day together getting some errands run, going out for lunch and just having a wonderful time.  My e-mail was filled all day with lots of wonderful birthday well wishes from friends and family. Thanks to each and every one of you for taking the time to send those greetings.  They mean a lot to me. Your Air Chief is truly a blessed soul when it comes to the marvelous friends I have in you loyal airmen.

It was towards the end of that fun day that I discovered that one of my farovirte writers had passed.  The only sad note to my celebration.   Science fiction and thriller bestselling novelist, Michael Crichton died of cancer at the age of 66.   I was a huge fan of his books like JURASSIC PARK and EATERS OF THE DEAD, TIMELINE and CONGO to name only a few.   Crichton had a way of exploring scientific themes that question the morality of our society and asked the right questions in the process.  They were thought provoking as well as action filled and he stood head and shoulders above his peers.  His passing was a great loss to all who love to read.  66!  That's just too young.

Finally I wanted to share with all you loyal airmen one of my surprise goodies.  Valerie and I are both suckers for good, uplifting sports movies and this past week we latched on to one that is just terrific.

It's called THE FINAL SEASON and stars Sean Astin and Powers Boothe.  It tells the true story of Norway,  Iowa, a small town that for twenty (2-0!) years won the state baseball championship!  That has got to be the single longest sport team record ever completed!  The movie tells the story of their final season, and how state officials set about closing the school for heartless economic reasons.  What your old Air Chief loved about this story is that although it is about a baseball team and its players and coaches, the underlying theme exposes the continuing extinction of rural American small towns; the once moral cornerstone of our society.  Thus it is both a sad and feel-good movie all of you should see.  Sadly it was never released to theaters and I was just lucky enough to read about on-line months ago so that when I saw this copy at a local store, I scoffed it up sight unseen and am delighted to have done so.  This is a truly one of a kind story.

Also, for all you techy airmen, Scott has added that RSS Feed at the top of the column.  He tells me this will allow of you to subscribe via your I-pods or whatever to this blog.  How cool is that?  Thanks, Scott.

And there you have it, loyal airmen.  Before signing off, let remind you that I will be doing my first ever bookstore signing this coming Tuesday (Veteran's Day) 11th Nov. at 3 PM at the Barnes & Noble on South Willow St. in Manchester.  If you are anywhere nearby, please stop on in and say.   Your Air Chief could use all the support he can get. Ha.

Ron – Over & Out.