per·i·pa·tet·ic
ˌperēpəˈtedik/
adjective
  1. 1.
    traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various places for relatively short periods.
    "the peripatetic nature of military life"
    synonyms:nomadic, itinerant, traveling, wandering, roving, roaming, migrant,migratory, unsettled
    "I could never get used to her peripatetic lifestyle"
  2. 2.
    Aristotelian.
noun
  1. 1.
    a person who travels from place to place.
  2. 2.
    an Aristotelian philosopher.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

All Hands on Deck--Saving Time at the National Naval Aviation Museum



As raindrops

Before us, Days fly by--

Catching Time with Micah and

Setting it free to dry--
Someone's Tear

An early morning rain shower and lingering clouds on Saturday, the first day of August, left us with few options for spending the day with Micah. We chose an indoor activity--the National Naval Aviation Museum--but wondered as we drove out to the Pensacola Naval Air Station whether we were making a big mistake. What would a two-year-0ld boy do among all those planes and people? Would he get bored in five minutes and throw a tantrum?



We needn't have worried. He didn't waste a single minute on tears and found plenty of things to occupy his mind and hands. There were planes to fly...


...and new horizons to scan. Someone has seen fit to add a play area designed for toddlers. It's surrounded by seats for weary adults to park themselves for a few minutes and watch boundless energy in motion. Museum volunteers ensure that the kids stay safe while playing.


SAM and I have been to the museum several times over the past few years, but this visit was special. We didn't have to try very hard to see things anew through the eyes of a two-year-old child.


Real men carry diaper bags if necessary and agree with requests to strike a pose--IMHO.



The Builders
All are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest.
For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our todays and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.
Truly shape and fashion these;
Leave no yawning gaps between;
Think not, because no man sees,
Such things will remain unseen.
In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
For the gods see everywhere.
Let us do our work as well,
Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house where gods may dwell
Beautiful, entire, and clean.
Else our lives are incomplete,
Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
Stumble, as they seek to climb.
Build today, then, strong and sure,
With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
Shall tomorrow find its place.
Thus alone can we attain
To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
And one boundless reach of sky.

19 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a wonderful day-trip... and I really like the poem. I've been sitting here trying to think of something wonderful to say, but I've just spen 12 hours driving that blasted truck, and I think my brain has vibrated loose... So just pretend I said something deep and meaningful, OK?

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  2. What a fun day! I, too, would wonder about a two year old at that museum...but it sounds like all was great! What a sweet guy Micah is!!!

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  3. That's quite a downpour ... heavy enough to ground flights, but it looked like it cleared soon enough, which always make for better museum touring.

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  4. What fun with Micah for you guys! He looks most happy. Great shot of the raindrops.

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  5. Sounds like a wonderful place to take a little boy. It seems to me boys are born with a fascination for planes, big trucks, trains, and any other thing loud and large;)
    Marnie

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  6. I don't have to pretend, Claude. If I've caused a kind thought to surface, I've served my purpose with the post. Thanks.

    Julie, with a two year old you just never know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed the place. He almost cried when it was time to leave!

    Mr. S, I wish we could have a shower like that every day at our house. It has been raining all around us for several weeks, and some areas have seen rain every day. Our immediate area is a bit of an anomaly. I wish I knew why.

    Tina, SAM just laughed when he saw me grab the camera for a shot of the rain. My excuse was that lately it has been kind of rare to see right here.

    Marnie, you'd be surprised at how many girls young and old are just as or more fascinated with the place. Besides the beach, it's one of the biggest attractions in this part of Florida.

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  7. Seems you had a fun watching the ball of energy playing in the museum and SAM sure seems to have had wonderful time! Nice to see such happy faces.

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  8. You stopped by my blog a while back and I was in a stressy period. I thought I had come to see you, but don't think so now that I've read some of your poetry.

    Your son looks like he had a wonderful time at the aviation museaum. My husband and son are engineers and would have loved to visit that place.

    I loved the picture of the raindrops. We live in Texas and in our area it has been pretty dry this summer. It was a blessing to see cooling raindrops bringing new life to the earth.

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  9. That would be museum! I really can spell, but it is getting late. :)

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  10. I fondly recall a trip to that museum about 8 years ago, with my older brother. He sat in the model of the plane he'd crashed while a Navy pilot, and which he hadn't seen in more than 30 years. Not exactly seeing the place through a child's eyes...
    Your poem about the builders is lovely, and the perfect accompaniment to your museum to visit memories and monuments. It's so wonderful that you share these times which your grandson - and with us!

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  11. Chandramouli, the threat of rain never materialized after we picked Micah up and headed for the museum. We were glad, though, that we had a day to spend indoors.

    Hello, Amber! I'm glad you came by for a visit and hope you're over the rough spot. Micah is our grandson. He is so interested in how things work that I'm pretty sure he will gravitate toward engineering some day. We're doing all we can to encourage his interests.

    WS, it must have been an emotional moment for your brother to see his plane once in pieces then reassembled. Few people who visit this place leave unaffected in some way. I hope you got to take one of the guided tours offered every few hours. The volunteers who make them possible are retired pilots who make history come to life again. Glad you liked Longfellow's poem. He's one of those oft-neglected poets I love to quote.

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  12. GO NAVY! Although I was on a submarine, I'm very partial to all things NAVY. Your grandson is gorgeous, if such words can be used on males (and I think they must!). Can such an adjective be used to express one's feelings for certain poems? No. Good poetry surpasses even the words used within its own lines; any other descriptive measure one might use is worthless for how can you express that which cannot be expressed? I argued this point with my poetry professor who seemed reluctant to agree with me. I would use your poem to defend my theory.

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  13. I thought a Navy post might appeal to you, TC. So I'm not the only one who likes to argue with professors? I think it may be one reason that older students are not so sedulously enticed to attend university or as cultivated once they get there. We tend to be "stinkers" at times, old farts that we are. Longfellow's poem certainly is gorgeous and worthy of admiration.

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  14. What a great day at the museum. We had a similar one at an air museum near Denver a few years back when our grandson was four. He has wanted to be a jet pilot ever since.

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  15. Awwww..that is precious. It looks like you all had a wonderful time at the museum. It was nice that there was a special place for the little ones too....

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  16. "...where the eye sees the world as one vast plain, and one boundless reach of sky" sounds like a little bit of heaven, but it's certainly more possible when seen anew through the eyes of a two-year-old. You're so lucky to have Micah nearby and to able to spend so much time with him; they do grow up so fast!

    And yes, "real men" DO carry diaper bags!:)

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  17. Troutbirder, Micah isn't quite old enough to establish a dialogue with him, but he provides plenty of nonverbal clues and sound effects. From what I could gather, he seems to favor the idea of becoming a pilot too. I think it's important to present all kinds of different occupational options to youngsters as they grow up. Then work becomes a natural extension of play and maybe even a bit enjoyable. I'm glad your grandson has a goal in mind even at such a young age. Maybe he will apply himself in school that much more than if he had no idea what he wants to be when he grows up.

    Hi, Michelle. Spending a day with a child and exploring his or her interests works wonders for one's outlook on life.

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  18. Rose, your comment came up just as I was adding mine. Doesn't it seem like Longfellow had a bit of the prophet in his poetry--maybe some divine inspiration peeking through? He must have dreamed of flying too. You know, I don't remember SAM carrying the diaper bag all that much when our kids were little. He was usually the one toting the camera and snapping the pics. Yes, we are really blessed to be close enough now to see Micah at least once a week. He is definitely one of the silver linings in our cloud of SAM's job loss.

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  19. Beautiful poem, and I love the sharing day you guys had with little Micah...perfect.
    Marie

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