My previous blog "Easter's On its Way" showed an Easter Themed post. I shared my newest pencil sketch called Rugged Cross! If you'd like to view, click on the link in this section or scroll down and view on my sidebar. However, this post begins with the only home holiday decoration I'm gonna do...the Easter Basket! From that, I spent Sunday outside, walking mostly. I walked two cemeteries and one park, searching for some reported birds. I did find the Monk Parakeets right where they were reported seen last week. And, yes, they ARE preparing nesting facilities in a large palm tree in Holy Cross Cemetery on Up River Road in town. The adjacent cemetery, I found nothing. The morning was a dreary gray, overcast sky. Then, I went to a city park to hopefully find a rarity...a vagrant bird from Old Mexico...the Clay Colored Thrush. I finally spotted it by the bird fountain, but by the time I got my camera up and aimed, it flew down into the undergrowth where I could no longer find it. And as I waited around for a bit, it never did come back in sight. Maybe I'll return today sometime to give it a 2nd try.
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Naturally I find myself looking upward when I'm out walking. Yes, searching for birds mostly. But, the other day when I was walking in a park, the loudest noises from planes were heard from overhead. I was by the bay, and near the Naval Air Station when all the ruckus occurred. My inner thoughts were, "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane!!!" Several of them. This first April weekend was the local, Naval, airshow. And on this particular day, the pilots were in practice for the show. The extreme noise was coming from none other than the famous Blue Angels! I guess you could say I got a sneak preview...
I quickly zoomed in on two, and 'caught' sight of the pilots...
This brings me to another Navy Pilot from World War II. He was shot down in his plane by the Japanese enemy after Pearl Harbor Attack...none other than our 41st president, George Herbert Walker Bush. Which brings me to this book, 41, I just finished reading. Another biography. Authored by his son, another president of USA...George Walker Bush. And I really didn't want to put the book down. Of course, in my opinion, other than an autobiography, the next best thing [perhaps better] to an autobiography is one composed by a family member...a whole 'nother perspective. Sometimes I've read others, oftentimes a demeaning biography; or seldom one filled with pride and praise. This one happens to be the latter. Pride! Through and through. It's become a touching tribute of his father's trials proving himself over and over...like, a tribute of a man of history! And with this publication, the reader sees familial lessons learned. Lessons such as the all-importance of family values, campaigning with his father, diplomacy, importance of being true to oneself, taking in values and actions from a parent and how rewarding it is in life...the making of a great man, a great country. The book is a tell all of what G H W Bush accomplished graduating from Yale University, from becoming the youngest pilot in history at the time [He trained in Corpus Christi in 1944], to an oil entrepreneur, Congressman, Ambassador, Vice President, and "41"...America's 41st president....a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a great-grandfather who sky-dives on his 90th birthday! Accomplished and striving for and serving family first...AND country. The book, his son, George Walker Bush, does add comparisons of both his father's and his politics [which I really appreciate these days...YES, as the billboards around Texas had some years back after Obama was put in office..."Do You Miss Me?"...yes, I do!]. A few times throughout he added some of his father's humor which is a great addition. After reading this book, I have a better understanding of what his father was all about and how the world was and is because of his accomplishments and life. I highly recommend this to read.