On This Day. . .

Part of the Camino gang has united within the past couple of hours at Heathrow Airport in London. Many thanks to Justine and Annie for sending me some documentation.  

Photo creativity:  definitely a 10.

That's Annie, Maurice from Philadelphia, Rachel from Seattle and Justine from Plummer, Idaho.

They will fly on to Lisbon where they'll connect with the other three folks going on this pilgrimage.

Moms, of course, are always happy upon hearing that all is going well, especially Mom Laura who said earlier this week that when she knew Annie and Justine had connected in London, all would be well.

So, it looks like all is well on this longest day of the year, and they've got a long day ahead before they reach Porto.

Safe travels to all. 

Twas 4:40 a.m. when I walked out the driveway and took this photo with my cell phone to portray the beginning of the longest day of 2018.  

We have all this daylight, so that means we have the responsibility to use it down to the beginning of darkness, which will is set for 8:51 this evening. 

It's a beautiful day to enjoy all that daylight, so I'm planning to do the best I can to take advantage as we begin a new countdown toward the shortest day of the year, which always comes soon enough. 

My brother Mike was piloting this Cobra helicopter in the Vietnam War.

His thoughts on posting it today:  

My everlasting thanks to Mike Sloniker who kept this story alive during a period when it seemed that anything pertaining to Vietnam should be kept as far as possible in the rear view mirror. 

 Equal thanks to Joe Kline whose incredible talent brought visual life to the story. 

 Also big thanks to the several eye witnesses who assisted Joe in his remarkable painting and who have continued to contribute the story over the years. 

This event occurred 46 years ago on June 21, 1972. Mike and his co-pilot both escaped, and Mike eventually wrote a book called "Missile, Missile, Missile," recounting the story of that day and the events leading up to it and those that followed. 

His book is available at www.amazon.com.

I'm sure today will have some special meaning to my brother as he, like the rest of us, follow the  journey of his granddaughter Justine on the Camino. 

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Time to get out there and enjoy all that daylight. Welcome, Summer, and Happy Thursday to everyone.