Christmas Day in Santa Fe

Christmas Day began with the singing of a robin.  Not usual in my part of the world.

We had a noon date for Christmas Dinner at the Abiquiu Inn sixty miles north of Santa Fe.  We had eaten there last year with Cousin Pat and wanted to go again this year.

There were several seatings but we went to the first.  Yummy.

Abiquiu Inn is located near Abiquiu, NM, where Georgia O'Keefe had a studio/home.

Some scenery caught the photographer's eye near the Chama River. 

We stopped by the ruins of an old church that had been built in 1734 by the Spanish.

One wonders about the weddings, services, and funerals that went on in these walls over the centuries.

Driving along the road Pat spotted a friend who took a liking to her.   

We stopped by a quaint old place of worship with three crosses in the  background.

More beauty with the Chama River racing below.

A great way to spend Christmas Day, 2014. 

Eighty-one years ago today my parents were married in the parsonage of the First Baptist Church with my Grandpa Carl Swyter officiating.

We remembered them on this trip through beautiful scenery with Cousin Pat in New Mexico.

Great Memories

We have been home a week now and adjusting to the time change and North Dakota's eternal cloudiness this time of year.  Quite a change from sunshine nearly everyday.  The last weekend included a nature walk with the "Excoverer" who loves his vest and is sporting a new compass and morse code light.  We needed to find a place that was "dark" so he could send me signals.  A thick bunch of hedge seemed to work fine. 

Daddy was giving EB her bike riding lesson.  She has not yet mastered the balance and brakes seem to be a foreign concept.  Thank goodness for helmets as she will often just "bail" rather than try the brakes.  I think it is a woman thing as I have seen it in older gals and cars.

The last weekend gave me one more time to enjoy the roar of F-22's overhead in the late afternoon sun.  I never tire of trying to catch them in their antics with my camera.  The late afternoon sun is reflecting off the pilot's helmet as he comes in for his final approach.  (Click on the picture to make it larger)

I wonder what these guys do over the vast expanse of the Pacific when they go out to train.

We enjoyed a sunset meal near the docks the night before we left. 

We had a great time with great hosts and fun with Mack and Ellie.  (Not surprising to me, the next trip is already being planned).  Aloha, till next time.

'Then God said"..."

"Let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."  

"Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind..."

"And God saw that it was good."

December 7 - Hickam Field, Hawaii

"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." President Franklin D. Roosevelt's address to a joint session of Congress on Dec. 8 1941

On a Sunday much like today, 73 years ago that attack on Pearl Harbor, Hickam Field, and other island bases was a day that would change world history.

Carrie and I met with others at the flag pole that survived at the exact hour of the attack - 7:55am.  Two Raptor F-22s did a fly over, the National Anthem was sung, and Old Glory made its way to the top of the pole before coming to rest at half mast.

The Wing Commander spoke and gave flags to the children of survivors of the attack.  Last year there were a handful of actual survivors who attended but the years have diminished their number to but a few.

With much pomp wreaths were placed by various military organizations and friends.

Across the street in what was then the barracks for hundreds of men, the bullet holes and shrapnel  scars are still visible.

In the courtyard of those old barracks which is now headquarters for the Pacific Air Force, is the  Courtyard of Heroes with its eternal flame.

Also on display is the original flag which survived the attack.  One of the national treasures of important flags in American History.

Nearby is the medical clinic which was the hospital in 1941.  The dead were laid out like cordwood in the grass that you see.  That tree was planted a few weeks after the attack in a bomb crater as a symbol of healing.

The plaque under the tree was dedicated to one of the two nurses on duty that morning.  Imagine what their day must have been like.

Today Hickam Field continues to be a visible presence, protection, and first line of defense for the west coast.

F-22 Raptors are in constant readiness should they ever be called upon to protect our freedom.

The Freedom Tower escaped the attack being mistaken for a shrine of worship.  It was actually a water tower and today reminds us of the freedom we enjoy and constant need to be vigilant.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.