The Pause That Refreshes

No war stories today, I gave the Muse a 48-hour pass as the weather here in Little Rhody was just too fine to spend time writing about war. Besides which, there is the "where do we go next" aspect to the story that I just haven't worked out yet. (Fear not, if I paint myself into a corner, I can find some semi-clever way out. Or something...)

But I digress, as I said, the weather, note the opening photo, was lovely. Lots of blue was to be seen from the cockpit of Blue. For those who may have forgotten, that is the vehicle which replaced Big Girl last year. Anyhoo, blue, the blue of Narragansett Bay, the blue of a New England sky, and (of course) the blue of my Honda Pilot. (Hey, if I can't be a pilot, I can at least drive a Pilot. Why I didn't name her Anjin-San, I really don't know.)

So what sparked this trip to go "oot and aboot" (as they allegedly say in the Great White Up)? Well, The Missus Herself stopped by the command center/computer room at Chez Sarge in the late morning and suggested an outing. As Blue needed fuel anyway, I decided, let's make it a refueling/pleasure cruise.

It's been a while since milady and Your Humble Scribe have made a visit to Colt State Park on the shores of Narragansett Bay. We often liked to go there and just sit and watch the seagulls, the waves, and other members of our own species enjoying a day on and by the water.

Pleasant it is, pleasant it was.

Though the temperature was a balmy 49°, the wind was, how you say, brisk. So while it looked pretty nice, it was definitely sweater weather. We did see one chap wearing a thick vest and shorts. He tried to make it look like he wasn't cold, but he just couldn't pull it off. The hands in the pockets and the hunching of the shoulders gave it away. Not to mention the shivering, yeah buddy, I saw that.

Did have one distressing fact brought home to me today that as I age, my visual acuity isn't what it used to be. Whereas once upon a time I could discern a mast on the horizon and say, "Why that's a Flight II Arleigh Burke making her way back to base," those days are, sad to say, no more. But the old Mark One Mod One (I've had some work done) eyeballs can still pick out such things that others might not notice.

Like tall spindly things on the horizon which seem to have movement of a rotational variety near the top. Having spotted such a thing I asked The Missus Herself, "Say love, do you see those tall spindly things on the horizon?"

"Where away?" asked the love of my life. (Yes, I paraphrase, she doesn't use nautical expressions as a rule, well, in fact never.)

"Why there m'dear, two points off the starboard bow, right on the horizon!"

"Nope, I see nothing..."

"Stand by!"

Pulling out the trusty cell phone camera, marvel of engineering that it is, I took the following photo (at 30 times magnification).

She looked then shook her head, "Sorry old chap, left me spectacles at home, I see sea, I see sky, and naught else." (Again, no, she doesn't really talk like that. I do, much to her chagrin when we're with company. Other than The WSO and The Naviguesser, who, God love 'em, appreciate my quirks, such as they are. The Nuke? Not so much, she being much like her mother.)

So when we got home, she fetched her glasses and said, "Wow, you could actually see those?"

I answered with a paraphrase of Pattonesque poetry, "Yes, as through a glass, and darkly, but see them I did. Oh look, there's some sort of communications tower as well!"

Yes, Dear Reader she did shake her head and walk away, but after forty-three years she's, as they say, "used to me." (Thank God, as I doubt any other lady on the planet could tolerate my occasional flights of fancy if not outright bouts of lunacy. Oh yes, I have my days...)

So sorry, me lads and lasses, no war stories today. We shall catch up with C Company and their German opponents on Tuesday. Unless Tuna decides he has something to share, for I promised him Tuesday when he took the King's Shilling, just as Juvat owns Mondays. Which is a good thing, gives me a break now and again.

Beans? He jumps in from time to time at random intervals. He's kinda like the weather, only not nearly as predictable.

Speaking of weather, damned lovely it was on Saturday.

Lovely indeed.