The wild blue great beyond

Yesterday I was at the mall looking for a couple of Christmas gifts and as I was about to leave I decided to make a quick stop at the card shop. For many years, I've given BCG and TG a special Hallmark ornament every Christmas Eve. Now that they're grown, I've decided not to continue the tradition, but I thought it would be fun to see what was being offered this year.

Well. Wasn't I surprised to see this!

It's an Ercoupe. Dear ol' dad had an Ercoupe for several years when I was in high school, and I used to go flying with him almost every weekend. It was just a two-seater, and only one person could get in at a time. We had to walk up on the wing (see that little dark walking strip?) and slide the window up and over to the other side. After one person was in, the window had to be moved back up and over so the second one could enter. It was noisy and it bounced up and down a lot--especially going through the Banning Pass. Sometimes I could look out and see birds flying along beside us. It was great fun, but not something I'd do today. I'm much more sensible now....

How strange that Hallmark would make an ornament out of this old plane. I had to have one, of course. There's a little more to the story, and if you didn't like my previous orb discussions, it might be best if you just scoot along now to the next blog on your reading list.

During the last week or two of my dad's life, when I knew he was nearing the end, I spent many hours sitting next to his bed at the nursing home. I wanted very much to ask him to send me a sign, after he passed, to let me know he was ok. But I was hesitant to talk to him about it because, #1: he was steadfast in his belief that he wasn't going on anywhere else, and #2: he was almost deaf and I would have had to scream, and how embarrassing would that have been with all those other folks around. So I thought it. I thought it many times. I wanted to ask him to send me an Ercoupe......