Before we move on to other things (like airplane pictures), let's take one last look at Eoin and Evie. I'm afraid the boy got short shrift in the last couple of posts, but that's because Evie is older and more interactive at this moment.
That doesn't mean Eoin is a wallflower. As I mentioned yesterday his personality is coming out and he is indeed a (mostly) happy boy. This shot of him playing on his fire engine is ample evidence of that.
On the subject of toys, it absolutely amazes me the amount of stuff middle-class kids get these days! And Mike and Evie are relatively modest in what they buy their children. Tina and I lean toward clothes, movies, books and donations to their respective college funds, so it's not us. It's Christie' mom and her side of the family that really goes to town in the toy department. If I was a kid I'd be in hog heaven.
The upside is they have plenty of neat things to keep them occupied. The down side is where on earth do you store all those things? And what they got was not small. Many of the toys had multiple parts and pieces, too. Walking around the living room proved to be a real challenge at times.
I am happy to say that neither child seems overwhelmed or adversely affected by the mass of presents. Indeed, Evie finds joy in simple things, too, like paper cutout penguins and felt reindeer antlers. It's fun to watch her revel in the small as well as the big.
I think as long as her parents are well grounded - and they seem to be - then it's a good chance she and Eoin will be, too. She certainly appears that way to me.
We can only hope.
One of the most enjoyable parts of watching Evie and Eoin at this stage in their lives is seeing their interaction as siblings. Evie, who likes to tell everyone that she's all grown up now, seems to really like helping out with taking care of little brother. She has been known to give Nana careful instructions on how to change Eoin - even to the point of bossiness!
Eoin, on the other hand, is developing his personality and his playfulness. But you have to watch carefully to notice as he can be a sly little devil. For instance, the above photo was taken at our favorite sushi restaurant in Colorado Springs (yes, I know that sounds weird, but it really is good!). Eoin was fussing because he was hungry. Evie, who has never met a carb she didn't like, was eating steamed rice while we were waiting for our sushi to arrive.
Being the ever helpful girl she is, Evie tried to supplement the Cheerios and yogurt his parents had been feeding Eoin with some of her rice. He gladly accepted the spoonfuls, even as both parents and grandparents belatedly reached for their cameras.
The photos turned out pretty good, but the video was classic. Since Eoin was getting sated by now, he turned playful. Notice how he teases his sister by pretending to take a bite, then turning his head away. Normally you'd think he was fussing, but then he turns back to face her and starts to grin and laugh. It was a game, and both were having fun!
It was truly delightful to watch, albeit a bit messy. The arguments and tears will follow as they always seem to do between siblings, but for now all is happiness and peace. And are we ever thankful for that!
Tina enjoys baking. Whether because of that or from other influences, Christie and Mike also enjoy baking. Personally I enjoy eating their baking, but beyond that I'm pleased to report that Evie seems to be following the family tradition.
While we were back there for the holidays Mike, Christie and Tina decided sugar cookies would be nice to have for New Year's Eve. Tina and Mike made the dough and let it chill. I ended up rolling out the dough and Evie helped me use the cookie cutters to make a large quantity of festive shapes. As can be seen in the first photo, Tina then showed Evie how to make the frosting.
Evie wanted color sprinkles on the cookies, so she took charge and began the decorating process.
"Sprinkling" consisted of pouring a bunch into her hand and dumping them onto the cookies.
As can be expected, she went through quite a bit of sprinkles. A lot ended up on the cookies, but a lot ended up on the counter.
Those, of course, were free for the sampling. I'm not sure if that was the ultimate plan or not, but it worked out that way. She was a happy camper and buzzed around the house for hours afterwords. The final product can be seen below. Not a bad looking batch, and they tasted pretty good, too, for sugar cookies. The fun and memories were priceless!
This was my first use of the new flash I bought for my Canon camera. I'd been unhappy with my old one as I found that it tended to blow out images with the light, even if used in a fill mode. A piece of tissue really helped, but looked really cheesy. Not exactly a professional-looking solution. The new flash has a flip-down diffuser panel that softens the light. I was quite happy with the results of both the cookies and the photos.
December was a very busy month. End of the year orders as various persons of note retired made for very, very long work days. It also made it imperative that I take two weeks off at the end of the year just to recover from the 12-14 hour shifts, not including travel time.
While we did get some rest, we also spent ten days in Colorado Springs visiting Christie and Mike and the grandkids. It was tons of fun, but not totally restful as you can imagine. We did have a few days to relax at home before work started up again, but then it was another mad rush as the lingering retirees-to-be had their parties in January. As before, the bulk of the farewell gifts were made by our shop.
Needless to say I've not had much time to write. But I have had some time to reflect on the visit and the rapidly growing Miss Evelyn.
I have always been struck by the similarity between Christie and her daughter in their physical appearances at the same relative ages. It is unnerving to me, sometimes, to see how close they are. Genetics will do that for you, I know, but it is truly a case of deja' vu all over again for me.
Case in point is the two photos in this post, the first a screen capture from a video I shot of Evie, the other from an unknown pro doing Christie's class pictures. Both were about the same age when the images were taken, and both involve dance. Yes, the hair styles are different and Evie is in practice garb and Christie is in performance costume, but the likeness in their faces and forms is staggering. It never ceases to amaze me.
Evie has also become much more confident in her speech and attitude in the last few months. She will also tell you that she is now all grown up and is going to marry one of her classmates. Interestingly enough, the boy in question knows about these plans and so far has not distanced himself from the arrangement. Since neither one of them has gone through the "girls/boys are icky" stage, I'm reasonably confident we'll not be attending nuptials anytime soon.
How quickly life can change. With the quiet of that December morning a now long forgotten memory, a young sailor stands over a comrade and watches the USS Shaw explode in the distance amid the shattered remains of naval aircraft at NAS Ford Island. The young sailor, assigned to a PBY Catalina flying boat squadron as a mechanic, is now a stunned survivor witnessing the fiery aftermath of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred 70 years ago today.
The sailor in question is in all probability my ex-father-in-law, Robert Grommett. While he can't say with 100% certainty that the man in the iconic U.S. Navy image above is him, he knows he was there around that spot at about that time. Moreover, the stance and posture are very much his, even today. The family and I are more than willing to bet it is indeed him.
Bob is in very frail health now, but remains a symbol to me of the quiet fortitude that is the hallmark of the common man. When unimaginable disasters occur, invariably the response from people around the world is to somehow persevere and survive. Life goes on and so do they. And so did Bob.
Many have called his generation the "Greatest." While they were indeed remarkable, I find it hard to believe they were greater than the generation that marched off to Valley Forge or Gettysburg or Belleau Wood. And the young men and women since World War II, at the Chosin Reservoir, Khe Sanh, Baghdad and Kandahar, are no less deserving of praise for their sacrifice and service.
Nevertheless, the generation that grew up in the Great Depression and fought in World War II deserve the highest respect. They survived the trials of peace and the horrors of a terrible war, with many returning to live a normal life full of dignity and quiet accomplishments. They were not perfect - what generation is? But they did the best they could with what they had, and that is an epitaph we should all aspire to.
Bob's generation is quickly leaving us, becoming memories to those who knew them and legends to those that didn't. But oh, what memories and legends they leave! Here's to you, Bob, seventy years after that infamous date, when the world seemed so stunningly bleak; here's to the life you forged in spite of it! It's an honor to know you.
Usually when I am at events like the C-17A 20th anniversary gig, I find myself looking for the unusual shot. This happens for a couple of reasons: First, you can only shoot so many side views, nose views, hero shots and people-crowded-around-the-really-big-airplane shots before you have more than you'll ever need or want to see again. Fortunately, in this digital age, you're only killing electrons, so the material damage - as in expensive film costs - are virtually nonexistent if you wish.
The second reason is unusual shots intrigue me. They show the commonplace in a not so common way. Sometimes its the lines that draw me; sometimes the light. More often than not its both. In any event I let my mind float until I see an angle that sings to me.
If you've ever had a chance to peruse old photo archives of newspapers, aerospace companies or other image-heavy institutions, the art of cropping becomes very apparent. It was a limitation of the fixed lens used by most company photographers, especially in the day of 4x5 Speedgraphic cameras. But while fixed lenses have their definite advantages, what I like about modern zoom lenses is their ability to allow me to "crop" in camera as a means of capturing the composition I want the first time.
The two images in this post are a good example. I liked the angle in the above shot and thought the orange Edwards AFB tail band made a good anchor for the composition. It was a tightly cropped picture compared to the normal, wider-angle style usually taken, and it made for a nice, pleasing image.
However, by going in tighter with the zoom from a slight different angle, I got the shot below. The orange band is hidden and the American flag takes center stage in a much more abstract and dramatic composition than in the first image. Because it was done in camera there is no loss of image quality or enlargement potential, which is a decided plus.
At the same time, the option of post-image cropping is still available if needed, which I have indeed used on occasion. They are, after all, tools and techniques to use in achieving what we see in our mind. In the end it's the result that counts - at least for photography.
I had the opportunity to cover the 20th anniversary of the first flight of the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III at Edwards AFB this past September. The CTF (combined test force) essentially recreated the flight from Long Beach to Edwards by having the number one aircraft (91-0003, also known as T-1) take off from Edwards, fly over the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) facility where it was built and then return and land at Edwards.
After watching the landing out by the runway we were taken to the hangar where the official ceremony was to take place. There were quite a few people there from the test force and a lot of dignitaries, including the original first flight crew.
After several speeches, and a great deal of sober reflection on how close the C-17 came to cancellation after only 40 aircraft were built due to poor design and quality issues, the program could finally reflect on the success of its remarkable turnaround and the delivery of over 230 Globemaster IIIs to the Air Force.
The airplane is now a very critical cog in this country's ability to transport troops and their supplies overseas. It truly has become a feel-good story and a great lesson in perseverance and teamwork. One could say that hopefully the lessons aren't lost in today's environment, but personally I'd prefer not to see those problems occur at all. Hardship may build character, but it also makes one very old and tired from all the stress.
Be that as it may, after the ceremony we were allowed to wander around the hangar and go inside the airplane. I found this shot to be rather neat in its design with the ceiling lights and glowing windows of the hangar straddling the towering line of the C-17's tail. It produced a rather pleasing image to me - and hopefully to you as well.
Before we move on to other things (like airplane pictures), let's take one last look at Eoin and Evie. I'm afraid the boy got short shrift in the last couple of posts, but that's because Evie is older and more interactive at this moment. 
