Here's a few from DJ's ring out at the station...

A cool shot of some of the gear...

Ringing out...

The bell

More to come :)

Poor little dude.  He was SO hot.

And because I'm such a fabulous and resourceful mother (*snort*) I let him lick the condensation off of my water bottle.  I know, I know... Mother-of-the-Year award here I come...  "I'd just like to thank my fabulous staff of 1, ME, and all the little people..."

The guys had a truck out there and were spraying some water to cool people off.  

Trey and his face painting... kind of hard to see from this angle, but one side is Pokkemon and the other is a big brown dinosaur.  Nice.

Would you look at that... Santa took time off from his vacation to stop by Americafest.  Amazing.  

The best way to beat the heat... Why is it unacceptable for me to just fall asleep in the middle of an event and the expect people to cart me around?!  So unfair.

Game prizes.  Gawd the games there were so expensive...$3 a pop! They are now strewn about the house and one sword is already broken.  

A flight-line extinguisher...you know, I gotta give props..afterall, DJ was the extinguisher maintenance bitch guy at one point.  

I think this is an A-10.  Don't quote me on this (or make fun if it's not)...

An F-15?  or F-16? Which one has the one jet in the back?  

Another jet.  I'll just say that... a fighter.

We walked up to this one and Trey drew in a deep breath and exclaimed, "It's like the twansfohmer...!  Dad!" (and then a little more hesitantly...) "Is dat going to twansfohm?"

So we had a pretty good time. Noah did pretty well through the fireworks.  But, as expected, because we kept them up so late they were both pretty tired and cranky by the end of the night. But, like DJ said, our lives can't stop completely just because we have kids.  So we came out for a bit...braved the heat and the late hour... it was worth it.  

To come: a yum new restaurant we tried and some cool sunset pics.

COUNTDOWN TO PCS: 4 weeks and 4 days.

Man and dog by the seawall at Kadena in Okinawa.

As I watched Nargis develop last week, (Tropical Storm Risk), it seemed as though the storm lingered over the sea to gather strength. Now I read that preliminary estimates say 10,000 have died or are missing, the country of Burma is devastated; more homeless, more trauma. I hope that with the devastation will come the will to build sustainable housing. The information is a click of the mouse button away. Then I look at New Orleans, and I wonder what it will take to change the cultural ethos.

When I was looking up the word "Nargis", I was found out there was a famous Indian actress by that name. Her grandfather was Motilal Nehru, founder of the political dynasty. I went to You Tube, and was able to find this clip from a movie called Mother India. If you watch it, you'll know why they named the storm Nargis.

Now typhoon Kadena heads for Okinawa, ETA is 48 hours. The US has an Air Force Base there.

My last client was telling me about a couple who made a fortune in Silicon Valley who are building their third or fourth home up above Ragged Point; 7,000 sq. feet for two people, part time. No expense spared, from imported Italian mable for the floors to crystal handrails on the deck, so that nothing obscures the view. I think about what I read yesterday in Earth Dance, "No other creatures take more than they need, and this must be our first lesson." Let it be so.

Edit: May 6th - BBC now reports the death toll in Burma at over 22,00 with over 41,000 people missing.

Typhoon Kadena has apparently dissipated, it is no longer listed on the TSR reports.

Neuer Star aus Japan erobert das Internet.. mach dir doch gleich mal einen Eindruck von der zarten Schönheit! Babe anschauen..

Reference Photo

Ti kadena ket isu ti lapped ti dur-as, ti lapped ti dakiwas ti waya a panunot, lapped dagiti bayanggudaw a rikna.

Ti pluma ket isu ti armas kadagiti gapu ti ranget, dagiti di agressat a ranget uray pay ti agsipnget, dagiti ranget ti sirok ti alipuspos. Ti pluma ket ti pintor a mutektek ti gabsuon ti leddaang, dagiti dayengdeng ti simron ken durmen amin a balo, ulila a karkarma, dagiti pusiaw ti kuranges a nakem.

Ti ima, ti gemgem, ti tag-ay. Daytoy ti simbolo dagiti di agressat a ranget, ti dangadang, ti baringkuas ti tagainep nga agturong ti tignay a nawaya.

Ti RUKKUAS. Daytoy ti tignay, ti panagayat ti bukod a sao, ti bukod a kultura, ti bukod a nakem, leddaang, gura, bisin. Ket, kalpasan a matalado ti gapu, ket adda RUKKUAS!

Ti BIAG. Ti sirkulo ti amin a TIGNAY, amin a RUKKUAS, ti amin a TAGAINEP.