Black Hawk Down

My biggest challenge on this assignment has been staying connected to the Internet. Multiple times I have typed - and lost - communication to my buddies at home. There are several events I want to share with you through the blog before the experiences bleach from my memory. Time is running out, however, so suffice to say I'm well and winding down.

Eat off the floor German garage

Last weekend I fine tuned my skills on the Autobahn. I have traded my muscle car for a winterized Passant Wagon that climbed to 100 MPH easily and smoothly. The red Ferrari roaring by me at 110 (Rachel assures me he was going 120-140) made me feel as if I were being drafted by an F22.

I enjoyed the new Mosel wine - light, sweet, and tasting of grapefruit. Some of it reminding me of the thirst quenching Canadian beverages I shared with Gail and Ron in Fairmont Hot Springs. Can it really be 10% alcohol volume?

10% WHEW.

I have taken the plunge and braved the waters at the Frankenterme, floating out of control in the high intensity salt pools right into a stout rosy faced farm wife who never lost her broad smile. I felt like an astronaut trying to navigate her unmanageable weightless body on her first flight.

Speaking of first flight, under the careful tutelage of Ken I made my first Black Hawk flight. He loaded me into the simulation cockpit and was patient and helpful as I flew the copter over Fort Carson through thunderstorms and over the Colorado Rockies. His ongoing encouragement gave me the guts to go for the landing. I thought I was home safe as I hovered about 500 feet over the pad. Ken was speaking words of encouragement, and then suddenly, I crashed. I was demoralized as the screen in front of me switched from runway to a massive canvas of blood red interspersed with cracked lines. It was a double blow since Roger had been telling the young woman visiting from Toronto that I was a pilot for the military. I think I'll stick with fixed wing aircraft. Ken debriefed me back in his office where I looked over the walls of his previous flights: Bill Clinton and Peter Jennings in Normandy, Iraq, and too many other beautiful pictures to mention. He is a man with a passion for flying and it was a pleasure to share the cockpit with him that morning.

Back at the hotel

Two weekends ago the town of Bad Windsheim remembered Kristallnacht - The Night of Broken Glass. Jews traveled from around the world to return to the town where their families had lived before they were drivien from their homes. The town was honoring these former residents by memorializing their names on a marble structure which has been placed in one of the town squares. Several of the esteemed guests stayed at my hotel. It was a somber and emotional experience as the town honored them and they spoke at a ceremony held in a local church. I was so touched that they included me in this important piece of history and as they left two by two I said good bye to people I hope I will have the pleasure of meeting again at some time in the future.

Ruth, Roger, and Anthony

So today as I headed back to work, I passed the lovely pale green multi-windowed home that I have been passing every day since my arrival. I noticed that the window boxes which had held beautiful red flowers were gone. They had been removed by the owner over the weekend in preparation for winter. Every morning I had been thinking about stopping to photograph the lovely house but was always short on time or had something else to do thinking I could do it tomorrow. Another reminder not to put off important things because when the moment passes and the opportunity is gone it might be forever. JUST DO IT!