Double The Pleasure
We've been hanging out at Edwards Air Force Base with Andra and her twin boys, Reilly and Jordan. They're pretty active youngsters. We went to Chuck E. Cheese to chew up a few hours of daylight hours. Then we went back to the base. They rode their bikes. They rode their scooters. If one gets tired, not to worry, the other will pick up the pace. I marvel at how Andra does it all. Justin is in Iraq (he's due to return in a few weeks) and has been there since last November. She works in Base Security so she's always helping to manage the safety of the equipment, people and physical space of the largest base in the U.S. On top of that, she's going to college online. I feel like a real slacker next to her.
Driving around the high California desert (they call the region Antelope Valley), I'm amazed at how visually bleak and windswept the area appears. I read a short story by Joan Didion that so captured the feel of the area. Almost every time we go through the area, Alec says he'd shoot himself if he had to live out there. The hot, dusty wind chafes the air and leaves you feeling gritty after only a few moments. To borrow from Steinbeck, unending seasons of discontent.
Andra's military service is complete in June of 2007. She's planning on moving to the lush hills of Maryland. I'm sure her boys will love the woods, the hills and the lakes. They'll grow up in a region more similar to the Wisconsin environs Andra and I grew up in. It's certainly more visually arresting.
