So many things to see and places to go in Arizona. I gave you an overview of spring training last week. The next three days I enjoyed great Desert Mountain golf courses. I am only going to say that I was thankful for the camaraderie of my fellow players as my game lacked any real highlights. The desert provides great morning and evening vistas, multiple cactus varieties – including the stately saguaro – roadrunners, other bird species, lots of rock formations and when it gets warmer a few poisonous ovoviviparous slitherers. (As an aside, ovoviviparous snakes, retain their fertilized eggs within their oviducts and give birth to live snakes. I found that fact disconcerting.) It is so quiet in the hills outside Scottsdale, it adds to the beauty. I could go on about excellent food and friendly people like our waitperson at Harold’s. If you are ever in Cave Creek, an eclectic diner/bar, enjoy the checked table cloths over wooden benches and the varied clientele, from children to bikers and sometimes even old golfers from Idaho, all enjoying the atmosphere. However, the most memorable and moving event of the week happened as we had breakfast at the Airport.
We passed a large group at the top of the concourse all wearing a distinctive yellow shirt emblazoned with the Honor Flight Arizona logo. A bit later everyone in the concourse began to stand and clap as the veterans of WW2 and the Korean conflict were escorted to their Southwest Airline Flight. On the tarmac the entire Southwest crew stood at attention as the plane left the gate. All remained standing and clapping long after the group had passed. The energy in the crowd was heartfelt. The veterans walking and in wheel chairs were as diverse as our country and the crowd put aside all issues except appreciation for the freedom they helped to ensure. Thanks to our veterans and to their volunteer guardians who make sure their all-expenses paid trip to the appropriate memorials in Washington D. C. is safe and memorable. There are 28 states that have joined the Honor Flight Network. So far Arizona has flown over 1600 veterans with several hundred more in the cue. Our many Vietnam veterans are scheduled as the next to be honored starting in the next few years. The experience reminded me again of what is right about our country.
An unknown author said it well, “a veteran is someone who at some point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to the ‘United States of America’ for any amount up to and including their life.”
Take a minute this week end to count your lucky stars and remember another hero, Stephen Hawking. He asked, “In a world that is in chaos politically, socially, and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?” He did not know the answer but it is up to us to work together to figure this out. I think he did identify the key – “we are all time travelers, we must all work together to assure the future is a place we want to visit.” It cannot be as difficult as theoretical physics!
Mike