Freedom Burn

Last Monday, I woke up with my face three shades of red. It was kind of a gradient effect. Dark red on the left, gradually changing over to a milder shade of red on the right side. This was not sun burn. This was a case of Freedom Burn!

If the sound of military aircraft flying is the sound of freedom, then the burn on my skin caused by watching military aircraft fly during the day is Freedom Burn.

Last weekend I took the family, and some friends from out of town, to the Oceana Air Show. I love the planes and the noise! We went on Saturday and Sunday this year. Double your fun!

The first day we got there late, but we did have some excitement. As my friend PR and I were looking for earplugs, we saw a guy get arrested. I have no idea what for, but they shuttled him off pretty quickly.

PR is a tall guy and no sooner than we noticed the ruckus did he blurt out, "Hey what are the doing that for?"

I about freaked out! There are dozens of military police standing around where we were with M16's. You don't question these guys or even make eye contact when you are on base. Regular laws do not apply. So, I quietly told him to shut up, and snapped the picture below as PR posed in front of the B-52 on display.


A minute after this picture was taken, a squad of MPs, and an attack dog, ran from where the first guy was hauled away, to a new group of people. That picture is below.


I have no idea what was going on and I didn't stick around long. I was surprised that I was able to take these photos, but I wasn't the only one taking pictures.

Day two was incredible! We had the best spot out there. VIP tent location with free food and $1 beer. I spent most of my time trying to keep the kids happy while taking pictures and video clips.

I am a terrible photographer/videographer. I take way too many pictures and video clips. Most of them are of my shoe and the tarmac, but every once in a while I do get something that passes for acceptable.

I put some of the better images together in a little movie below. I hope you enjoy the highlights of the the airshow!

I must give a special thank you to my neighbor Don for getting us the most incredible VIP passes in the world. If you looked at the video, you can really see how close we were to the action. After the jets passed by, you could feel the heat blast from their engines.

Awesome!