Godspeed, Bill Freeman

I was shocked and saddened when Dave Goyer (on the left) told me our high school band compadre Bill Freeman (center) died earlier this week.

Dave said Bill had been in hospice care with colon cancer. Bill was a year behind us in school, graduating in 1964.

Here we are playing a gig at the Purdue University Club 25 Fraternity in the winter of 1962-63. Trumpet players will recognize the spots on our pants as drainage from spit valves.

A serious closet light

 Our house was built in 1903 and has only four tiny bedroom closets. It was an era when people kept their clothes in free-standing wardrobes.

Naturally, none of the closets have lights, so we've had to improvise. Today, I installed a motion-activated light in our office closet, powered by 4 D-cell batteries. It really lights up the space.

Fifty-five years ago today.

 Fifty-five years ago today, I raised my right hand and proclaimed:

"I, John Marshall Flora, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

The scene was the Armed Forces Induction Center on West Washington Street in downtown Indianapolis.

And thus began my 41-day career in the U.S. Air Force.

I consider myself still bound by that oath.

I was given an early discharge because a lost records physical - my physical records from the Induction Center went astray - indicated I had enough allergies to plants and animals that I would be a bad investment for the Air Force.

I was glad to be sent home, but let the record show I volunteered at a time when the Vietnam War was heating up.

1967 flashback

 Back in 1967 when I was trying to explore the hippie counterculture, I had a pair of prism glasses that approximated what an insect sees with its compound eyes. They were fun for brief periods and I even tried driving my 1965 VW beetle with them for a few seconds.

Somehow, they got lost and I found myself thinking about them last week. I did a search on Amazon for "prism glasses" and "kaleidoscope glasses" and found several examples. I settled on these and they were delivered yesterday.

Here's what things look like through them:

Pretty trippy, eh?

I can see for miles. And years.

 Among the treasures my first father-in-law brought home from WWII was a pair of Leitz 15x60 Campofortit binoculars - the biggest, most powerful that E. Leitz of Wetzlar ever made.

I inherited them and they spent the last few decades packed away in closets and boxes. I considered them too valuable and too powerful for day-to-day use and the optics, which were state-of-the-art at the time of their manufacture, have become hazy.

I had the good fortune to discover Suddarth Optical Repair in Henryetta, Okla. a couple of years ago and am in awe of the ability of Cory Suddarth and his son Eric to restore and refurbish old and abused binoculars at what I consider a very reasonable price.

I decided to have my binos restored and, happily, Maria agreed so I packed them carefully, insured them heavily and sent them off to Suddarths' shop.

I'm eager to see how they stack up against my Steiner 7x50 Navigator Pro binos once they're cleaned and restored.

Jack turned 9 on Sept. 1

 This is the image that made us fall in love with Jack nine years ago.

He was born in Carthage, Mo. and Maria found him on the breeder's website. His temporary name was Luke, but he looked more like a Jack to us.

He has been an exceptionally loving boy and a joy to have in our family.

Here's a more recent photo:

Lynda and me

 My Delphi High School classmate and double cousin (both sides of my family tree) Lynda McCain Brooks turned 75 last week, so I drove up to Delphi and took her to lunch.

We had burgers at the famous Sandwich Shop, toured the equally famous Delphi Opera House and cruised all over town revisiting our youth. We've known each other since the third grade.

Lynda became a widow four months ago and seems to be coping alright, but I think I should spend more time with her. Maria agrees.

Subaru!

 Our 2002 Subaru Forester reached the end of its useful life this summer. With more than 260,000 mils on the odometer, I can't blame it for developing a terminally expensive transmission problem.

Happily this came at a time when we were in a position to consider a new-to-us car and since Maria dearly loves Foresters, we went searching for a good used Forester.

We found it at Dreyer & Reinbold Subaru in Greenwood - a 2017 mode with only 15,000 miles on it.

We donated the old Forester to charity and dearly love our new ride.

Steiner binoculars at last!

 I've lusted after Steiner binoculars for years, but always considered them out of my financial league.

Then my wife turned me onto the Amazon Warehouse offerings and I found a pair of Navigator Pro 7x50 binos, "renewed", at a considerable saving. I pulled the trigger and Amazon delivered them Sunday afternoon. They looked, felt and smelled (the rubber armor smells a little like a new tire) like brand new - no hint of previous use or even unpacking.

I've been collecting/accumulating binoculars and monoculars and spotting scopes for year and these binos are easily optically superior to anything else I've ever used. They're a little on the heavy side for everyday use, but the clarity, coupled with the fact that the 7x50 format is the ideal combination of light gathering objective lens and magnification that enables prolonged use without vibration makes them better than anything else I've used.

My only regret is that our house is surrounded by trees. I haven't lived anywhere with a decent view since I sold my lakefront condo in Indianapolis 20 years ago.

Anyhow, I love these things and look forward to traveling with them.