We're All In This Together

A friend made that super fantastic title for me the other day and I decided it needed to be the feature of this page about the award that my son received from Civil Air Patrol. I also decided to use a piece of plastic that my son gifted me after he dismantled a key board. I thought it was only fitting as the award was for the Air Force Assocation's CyberPatriot competition. They got first place in NY State for the service division and there wasn't time for the ceremony before Covid hit. So, a couple of months later when the Cadets really needed a lift, they got an award presented to them at home. 

It's super hard to believe that the kid that started CAP when he was just a youngster now is old enough to grow a beard and fly a plane. 

Yes, that's right. He's flying these days. A scholarship from our local Experimental Aircraft Association has him lifting off a couple of times a week in hopes to obtain his solo and ultimately his private pilot's license. He's taking ground school as he goes. It's a pretty useful pursuit this summer. A summer where a job isn't a thing as the place he normally works isn't open yet and we're not even sure what phase that place will fit into or whether they will even need the extra staff. 

It's good for my soul that he's getting to do something worthy. I, like every other parent on this planet during the pandemic is worried that her kids are not getting enough. We're embracing the small things here, but right now there are some fairly large things looming on the horizon that are scaring our socks off. 

It's all a little too real to me at the moment. Generally speaking in our quiet little spot, democracy is something in the background. On Friday it was in my head all day. My office at work is above the police station and was one of the many places throughout the country with protesting. All day there were horns honking in support, chanting, and squealing tires. Normally I can work through just about anything but all the cacophony coming into the third story of my building was distracting. Despite my best attempts at calm (it was peaceful after all) I could not relax. By the time I got home my head was pounding. Other places aren't so lucky as we've seen fires on the news and some of those places are a short drive away. 

Escape with a book, some cooking & crafting were the small things that helped bring my head back into a good spot. Add in some sunlight and a historic SpaceEx launch, I'm ready to head back into the thick of it with a little wind under my wings.