From: dangerous@telus.net   
      
   A birthday you will not forget even though it did not go down as planned.   
      
   Damn newsman anyway...lol   Papers always get the stories wrong....   
      
   --   
   Dora   
   Dangerous with Attitude   
      
   I do it cause I can   
   "Dennis Lloyd"  wrote in message   
   news:dgvo40$an1$1@theodyn.ncf.ca...   
   >   
   > "Dangerous" (dangerous@telus.net) writes:   
   >> Happy Birthday Dennis.  I am so sorry I over looked your Bday.  So much =   
   >> had been happening lately.   
   >> Especially since the last of our warm riding weather is still around.   
   >> Hope your day was special and filled with lots of surprises.   
   >   
   > Thanks, Dora! - Yes, it was. Our daughter is on the police force   
   > (forensics), and was taking a course at Algonquin College, where I teach.   
   > She   
   > and Diane surprised me by showing up during her lunch break from classes,   
   > and   
   > took me to lunch at the local eatery next to the college.   
   >   
   > A lot has been happening here, too - never seems to end.   
   > Last weekend, I had a bittersweet Sunday. During the week, the Ottawa   
   > Citizen newspaper reported that, in honour of the 65th anniversary of the   
   > Battle of Britain, there would be a flypast at "the War Museum" that was   
   > to include the Lancaster and B-25 Mitchell from Hamilton, a Canadair   
   > Challenger decked out in D-Day colours, plus a Spitfire, Mustang and   
   > Harvard (the last in yellow trainer livery).   
   >   
   > Yahoo! The ceremonies would be at 10am, and the flypast at 11:00.   
   > I bussed down to the museum, as one of the curators had told me that, on   
   > the May 8 celebrations, he had stood on the top of the new War Museum (a   
   > public area) and the Lancaster had roared low over his head and scared the   
   > wits out of him. I was looking forward to the same experience.   
   >   
   > First glitch was the lousy Sunday bus schedules - I did not arrive at the   
   > War Museum until after 10:00. There was no ceremony in progress on the   
   > ceremonial square, so I ventured inside the museum. Only visitors and tour   
   > guides - no ceremony. I then tried the top of the museum - maybe everyone   
   > was up there.   
   > Nothing.   
   >   
   >    
   >   
   > As I came back to ground level in front of the museum, there was a guy in   
   > uniform telling the first in a line of about 12 cars that "You're at the   
   > wrong museum!!"   
   > My heart sank. If I had thought about it, the Battle of Britain involved   
   > several [  :^)  ] AIRPLANES...perhaps the ceremonies were at the Canadian   
   > AVIATION museum - way over on the east end of the city...   
   > Sigh...I figured that I had read the paper incorrectly.   
   >   
   > I hopped a bus downtown and walked quickly past the Chateau Laurier hotel,   
   > through Major's Hill park and past the National Gallery up onto Nepean   
   > Point - I figured that, if the aircraft made their usual west-to-east run,   
   > they would pass right over my position, and at least I could get photos of   
   > SOMETHING.   
   > As luck would have it, wind conditions (or something) made them fly   
   > south-to-north, so all I got to see were tiny dots buzzing lazily across a   
   > distant sky...sigh...   
   >   
   > At least, if I closed my eyes, perched up there on the cold, grey stone   
   > base   
   > of the statue of Samuel de Champlain, I could listen to the unmistakable   
   > roar of the four-engined Lancaster, the twin-engined Mitchell and the   
   > uniquely   
   > distinctive whine of the Harvard's supersonic propellor tips, and imagine   
   > that they were closer than they actually were.   
   >   
   > What ticks me off is that, not only did I miss seeing all of these rare   
   > war birds flying closely overhead together, but I also missed imagining   
   > the thrill that those two pilots, in the Mustang and Spitfire, must have   
   > been experiencing as they "escorted" those two big, vintage bombers   
   > through the sky, just as young men did 65 years ago...   
   >   
   > Later in the week, I retrieved the newspaper article from the bulletin   
   > board at school - I had posted it, in case any of my Museum students   
   > wished to witness this rare and interesting event - and discovered that,   
   > indeed, the dummy reporter had mistakenly written that the flypast was at   
   > "the War Museum," instead of the Aviation Museum.   
   > Twice.   
   > In the same article.   
   >   
   > Anyway, I took advantage of being downtown to take a walk over to the   
   > National War Memorial and Grave of the Unknown Soldier to say some prayers   
   > and   
   > thank those who did what they did for us. I told them about the ceremony   
   > and the flypast, and hoped all the airforce folks had witnessed the   
   > memorial.   
   > All in all, despite the disapointment, not a bad Sunday morning.   
   >   
   > Then came the week from Hell, which will finally end late tomorrow   
   > (student presentations this week).   
   > Diane and I are off to the "Bytown Ball" on Saturday - a gala fundraiser   
   > for two local community museums. We are both dressing in Edwardian costume   
   > (hey, if I am DRESSED like one, do I hafta BEHAVE like a "gentleman?").   
   > Next week, the schedule is a lot clearer - ahhhhh - some breathing   
   > space...   
   > Dennis Lloyd.   
   > Ottawa.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)