A Piece of Living History

Denver was fortunate today to have a visit from the "Aluminum Overcast", one of the only remaining airworthy B-17 bombers in the world.

The B-17 (officially named the "Flying Fortress") was probably the most widely-used Allied bomber during World War II, responsible for dropping 640,000 tons of bombs on Germany. It is also one of the most recognizable World War II aircraft.  The B-17 earned the name "Flying Fortress" from a remark made by a reporter when he first saw the plane in 1935, due to the many defensive machine gun positions on the aircraft.  Boeing--the manufacturer of the B-17--quickly realized the marketability of the name, and had it copyrighted. (The theme stuck.  Boeing later product the B-29 "Superfortress", the aircraft that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, and the B-52 "Stratofortress", which is still in service with the U.S. Air Force today.)

In addition to being on static display, the bomber also made a few flights around the Denver metro area. Tickets were about $500 per person for a 20-30 minute flight (maintenance costs on an aircraft of this size and age are probably pretty high). Unfortunately, I couldn't purchase a ticket, but I did get to watch the old girl fire up her engines and take off. What a sight!

The sound was incredible. Not so much loud, as...powerful. I can only imagine what an entire airfield of B-17's would sound like.

Interesting historical fact: note that the majority of the plane is bare, unpainted metal. The only paint is the markings, and if you look closely you'll see that the nose right in from of the cockpit windows and the insides of the engine cowlings are painted olive drab (to reduce the glare of the bare metal in the cockpit). The reason that the aircraft isn't fully painted: weight. The amount of paint required to cover the whole aircraft added several hundred pounds to the overall weight of the plane. More weight equals more fuel burned, which equals less range. After the Allies established air superiority over Europe, there was no need to camouflage the bombers anymore, thereby giving them a little more power and greater operational range. The same concept was used with fighter aircraft. So if you see a World War II aircraft with no paint on it, chances are it's representative of the late war period.

While waiting for the bomber to return, I checked out some of other displays. There was a decent turn-out, with a few other military aircraft and ground vehicles on display, and several organizations as well (the Colorado Air National Guard, the Civil Air Patrol, etc). The event was co-sponsored by the Wings Over the Rockies aviation museum, and I spoke to one of their staff about volunteering at the musuem (although it will probably have to wait until after the fall, due to the new house and our vacation at the end of the summer).

The P-51 Mustang, one of the premier fighters of World War II.

The AT-6 Texan, a World War II trainer aircraft.

The Willys Jeep, my favorite vehicle of all time.  General Dwight Eisenhower said that the three things that helped the Allies win the war were the Dakota transport aircraft, the amphibious landing craft, and the Jeep.

Watching the bomber land was interesting. Due to the configuration of the landing gear, the B-17 lands with its nose pointed down, as opposed to landing with the nose elevated like most modern aircraft:

I believe that events like this are very important for our culture. It's one thing to see aircraft like this behind a barrier in a museum--it's something else entirely to see one move under its own power and actually fly. It brings the subject to life, and makes you realize that these aircraft are--well, real. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to climb around inside a B-17 at a small airfield near our house in Virginia. Seeing the inside of that aircraft brought to life the history books I've read about World War II.  I met a veteran that day who had flown 39 missions over Germany as a B-17 co-pilot.  The stories he had were simply amazing.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Enjoy the pictures!

TGIF, people!

Operation Overlord

"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you...

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Supreme Allied Commander
June 2, 1944

(full speech can be found here)

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On this day in 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the go-ahead for the largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, the Allied invasion of northern France. By daybreak, 18,000 British and American parachutists were already on the ground. At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches. At Omaha, the U.S. First Division battled high seas, mist, mines, burning vehicles—and German coastal batteries, including an elite infantry division, which spewed heavy fire. Many wounded Americans ultimately drowned in the high tide. British divisions, which landed at Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches, and Canadian troops also met with heavy German fire, but by the end of the day they were able to push inland. Despite the German resistance, Allied casualties overall were relatively light. The United States and Britain each lost about 1,000 men, and Canada 355. Before the day was over, 155,000 Allied troops would be in Normandy.  Though it did not go off exactly as planned, as later claimed by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery--for example, the Allies were able to land only fractions of the supplies and vehicles they had intended in France--D-Day was a decided success. By the end of June, the Allies had 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles in Normandy and were poised to continue their march across Europe.

(from History.com)

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My grandfather was assigned to a hospital unit near Sherborne, England, during World War II.  We were able to visit the site of his unit when we traveled to England last year.  Not much is left--mostly just the concrete pads that the Quonset huts stood on.  It was never meant to be a permanent installation.  But even though there was very little left, I'm glad we went to see it.  Papa has talked with me numerous times about his experiences in England--some funny, some sad, some touching, all fascinating.  At the age of 91, he often can't remember the score of yesterday's Cubs game, but he can tell you the name of his co-driver that time when they had to drive the colonel to London to visit his girlfriend.

Papa with his jeep in England--probably in late 1943 or early 1944

He told me that the night before D-Day, you just about couldn't throw a rock up into the air without hitting a plane.  Papa spent most of his time immediately after D-Day ferrying wounded soldiers from the port at Southampton up to the hospital.  These would have been the men injured in the fighting on the beaches and inland as the Allied forces drove the Germans back.  Interestingly, one of my coworkers in Virginia, who is about my dad's age, told me that his dad and one of his uncles both participated in the D-Day assault--and both survived.  His uncle jumped into Normandy with the Rangers the night before the landings, and his dad landed on Utah Beach with the 4th Infantry Division on June 6th.  His uncle was wounded, and was sent back to England for treatment.  When I told my coworker about Papa's assignment, he said that he's almost 100% sure that his uncle went through the hospital at Sherborne.  It's entirely possible that Papa drove him there!

GULP

First things first OMG we got the house.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

Everything came together yesterday; the seller is fixing the electrical issue and the appraisal came back at exactly the amount we needed for a loan.

So at the end of this month we close on our new house and thank the LORD in Heaven we'll have the entire month of July to move.  You know, just in time for the hottest month of the year.  We are geniuses like that.  The thought of moving again makes me want to run to Sonic and stay there forever, drowning my anxieties in vats of chili cheese fries with extra jalapenos.

Also, it looks like I'll be applying to a couple of graduate programs for an MA in English.

I was pretty nervous before meeting with an advisor yesterday:

When I walked in and sat down, he goes, "Well, first of all, welcome to the MA program!"  I was like, are you joking?  He had me confused with someone else.  I was like, let me clarify for you, I'm the person who hasn't even taken the GRE yet.  Yeah.

I was sitting there in my business attire and he (we were about the same age) was sitting in his shirt and jeans, leaned back basically with his feet on the desk.  It's weird: I have one foot in the business world and one in the academic world and yet I'm out of place everywhere.  (When I gave him a copy of my resume and business card, he later referred to it as my transcript.)

Long story short, I have decided to give the ol' grad school idea a whirl.  I'm not thumbs up or thumbs down, but somewhere in the middle.  Thumbs sideways.

Lots of changes in dawrighthouse these days!  I'm not sure how we always manage to deal with 500 changes at once instead of spreading them out in a more manageable and efficient way, but this is what I can say: We love Denver.  We want to stay here, to settle here, to grow roots here and establish ourselves here.

We have found our home.  In more ways than one.

A Long Time Coming

I've decided to bite the bullet.

For years, G and I have gone back and forth about taking the GRE.  I have a Master's in Education, but I was not required to take the GRE as part of the admissions requirements because of how high my undergrad GPA was, and how my undergrad education classes "fed into" the grad program.

G and I have often debated going back to school in order to prepare ourselves to eventually change career paths.  Let's face it: I'm not going to be a manager in an extremely technical environment forever.  But every time I think of "the next thing" my mind goes blank, or if it might involve more education, I curl up into a ball and reach for the cheese dip.

But now I'm biting the bullet.  I signed up for two GRE exams in late summer, and I also signed up for a series of preparatory classes and sessions throughout June/July.

This is how I feel about it:

QUANTITATIVE REASONING!!!  AS IF I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT!!

I haven't taken a standardized test in I don't even know how long.  And this one involves math.  Two whole sections of it.  There's absolutely no hope for me.  (Jesus is nodding.  He knows.)  The fact that math stands between me and a program I'm perfectly capable of doing is just proof that we live in a fallen world.  But it is what it is.

Don't even get G started on the ridiculousness of it all.  He says,

GRE:  Gratuitously Redundant Exam.

The GRE does not measure how intelligent you are, or indicate how well you will do in post-graduate education or the work force.  The GRE measures how well you do on the GRE.  A test for the sole purpose of taking a test?  That's like my worst nightmare!  No chance to explain answers or rationalize or give examples or make a case for the right answer?  Kill me now.  MATH?  Yeah, kill me now.

Today is going to be a mile marker for a few reasons.  We find out a couple of significant things about the house purchase that could either move the whole thing along or stop it in its tracks.  I'm also meeting with a graduate advisor for an MA in English program.  Today could bring a whole lotta change, or it could bring a whole lotta nothing.

Please start regular prayer and fasting for me.  Thanks.

Monday already??

Just as I settled into the weekend, it morphed into Monday morning.  Such a buzzkill.

Supper Club was the best last night.

We ate (and drank, and drank) outside and it was marvelous.

It's going to be a doozie of a week and I don't feel quite up to it yet.  Time for more coffee and a walk to work.

Maintenance

The plan was to go hiking today but we punted until tomorrow.  The word of the day was main-ten-ance.  We took my car to the shop for some routine work; I got a much-needed haircut/color; G cashed in our REI dividend on new bladders for our camelbacks which we'll try out tomorrow when we go hiking.  For real.  Because it's totally gonna happen tomorrow.

I cooked healthy lunches and dinners for next week and am now making a roasted tomato & garlic recipe for supper club tomorrow night.

G is playing X-Box while also talking about his nerdy bored games over the mic system.  This is how he multi tasks.

Today we also cleaned the apartment and did about 85 loads of dishes.  You thought I was going to say laundry, didn't you?  We haven't done laundry in so long that I'm afraid we're going to set some kind of dirty clothes record.  How fast can germs spread in a dry climate?  Just wondering.

The day wasn't all work, though.  Look how green it is now!

There are flowers everywhere...

And a little culinary goodness to cap off the day.

Tonight I'm going to let Lucy Loo (who likes to chew chew chew) out and bunny sit while finishing my book club book.  I put fresh paper towels in her room for her to destroy.

Because this is the life we now lead.

(No word about the house yet.  We are still waiting for the sellers to address some issues we had regarding the inspection and they have until Tuesday to respond.  Cross fingers and toes.)