I stayed up late last night or early this morning depending on how one looks at it... the tiny little buzz from the Asti wore off quickly, but my son had gone out at 10PM with a friend. He is 19 and though he lives at home while he goes to school and works, he doesn't have any curfews or restrictions as he did while he was in high school. When I was 19, I was working, had my own apartment and had dropped out of college. He is fortunately much more level headed than I was. But when he wasn't home by 3AM, I was a tiny bit concerned.
Releasing the apron strings is easier intellectually than doing so completely inside. I remember watching him trying to climb a fig tree when he was 3 or so- and knowing that I had to let him even while being close by to catch him if he should fall.... but knowing also that it was critical not to let him sense my fear for him. There were many such moments along the way and this age is but one more. All of parenthood is moments of letting go in an ever larger fashion and not passing along one's own fears, when every instinct is to protect and pull closer.
So I stayed up. He came in around 4AM (just fine of course) and then I went to sleep. I wanted to see the B-2 and the stealth fighters fly over this morning, so my husband woke me about 7:45AM and we went outside to watch the sky in the direction of Edwards Air Force Base.
I don't know how long the Reuters picture will be up at yahoo, but here is a link. That picture doesn't do the sight justice. Here are some more of the B2 from Boeing.
They are really impressive to see fly overhead. They do make noise, but in some years, the B-2 has flown over and I didn't hear it until it was overhead. It is startling to look up and see this huge black wedge flying above in such a slow fashion. They were accompanied today by two different stealth fighters and an escort- probably two. I have seen the F-117 up close parked at an air show. The other one is new to me, and it was the first time they have used it to thrill crowds. I am sorry, I don't know the designation. I think they are impressive, but I am not a military aircraft junkie exactly.
They used a flight path that took them further east than usual today, but we still saw them as they came over the San Gabriel Mountains and headed towards Pasadena. We heard the escort jets first, and were rewarded moments later with the three plus one of the escorts. We watched the one escort make a tight turn and head back into patrolling Los Angeles skies when they reached approximately the location of JPL. The stealth planes made a second pass a few minutes later heading back to Edwards. I was told they flew over the Rose Bowl later in the afternoon, but I didn't see them.
And then I came back in and slept the rest of the morning away. Without 6 hours of sleep, I am useless. I literally dreamed away a great part of the day and goofed off the rest while the guys watched football. I don't have too many of those days. It too was a treat.
Happy New Year everyone.
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