'Axe' the Frozen Sea: Bull Run Instead of Blue Angels Show at Pensacola Beach?

Pensacola Beach, sometime in late January 2013

It has been a while since I read Allen Josephs' Ritual and Sacrifice in the Corrida. So long in fact that it almost escaped notice again. Forgive me, book, it has been six years since my last reading. Why did it jump out at me then from my bookshelf, with its unassuming spine, sending shivers down mine? I open to the prologue, and it hits me. "Inspiration and Aspiration." Those words sound familiar somehow. Oh yes, my last post. And now the words that struck my frozen sea six years ago while I sat listening to the author's lecture:

"A book, the axe to chop the frozen sea inside, as Franz Kafka once reputedly remarked, can have a strange and not altogether logical genesis." Well put, Dr. Josephs. Your taurine dream described in such vivid detail in your book's prologue, sunk deep within my subconscious, gave me an idea, fantastic though it may be. Tonight on the local news, there was a brief segment about the Blue Angels. The sequestration deadline, pushed back to March 1, is looming on the horizon, and the locals are restless about it. The Blue Angels' shows that leave millions of dollars in their wake and wow tourists and locals alike may soon be on the chopping block.


Now, I "axe" you: Is that necessary? Well, maybe, from a practical standpoint, since this country simply cannot continue to spend more money than it makes. Some sacrifices need to be made now and then, just to keep things going, right? They aren't always pretty or pleasant, but there they are, keeping us on our toes, trying to outrun the bulls and gals in Congress and stay one step ahead of whatever it is they leave behind them. Is a Bull Run on the beach more doable than the Blue Angels? On second thought, I'd rather have the Blue Angels than a Bull Run on Pensacola Beach. Pamplona can keep those bulls running right where they usually do, and we'll continue to let the Blue Angels fly high. If the bulls and gals in D.C. want to chop something, let them work on cleaning up the stuff they leave behind and keeping their own houses in order. Sacrifice, indeed!

Blue Angels Among Us--Amen! We Agree!

"The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind--"

--from The Message, John 17:21--

A certain kind of miracle occurs quite frequently at this time of year in Northwest Florida. It involves an exchange between a group of disciplined, highly trained pilots and their audiences at air show practices which take place behind the National Naval Aviation Museum. The toughest cookie in the jar might very well crumble after witnessing one of these practice sessions. It's not enough to just see the death-defying midair stunts the pilots perform. You have to hear the roar of the engines and the simultaneous gasps of wonder coming from hundreds of people sitting around you on the bleachers. And then there are the running commentaries from the volunteers on site. They keep you informed as to how many "G's" the pilots must overcome as they perform some of their maneuvers. Seven or eight, I heard someone say. And all of that overcoming doesn't come easy. Their workout schedule would put any professional sports player to shame. One of the volunteers said that in order to maintain control over the joystick (throttle?) of the jet, a pilot must be able to curl a 35-pound free weight and hold it in that curled position for five minutes. Or did she say 45 minutes? The more I watched and heard about these disciples of the air on this Maundy Thursday morning, the more I wanted to believe that it was the latter.