It was strange yesterday to arrive at
work after dropping my Favorite Panamanian off at the airport and then to have
her report in from far off California before I left the desk for the day. I’m
sure the decibel level in that apartment experienced a quantum leap with her arrival,
especially when she first saw our granddaughter. Wingman picked her up at the airport
in L.A. and by the time she checked in with me she had the First Blog Reader
firmly in gramma grasp.
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| Together Again! |
Buddy seemed a little put out that he
was once again consigned to the basement for the work day. He, as well as I,
had gotten used to having her around again. We quickly slipped back into winter
mode of solitary existence and the dearth of decibels. An unimagined
consequence of middle age seems to be added difficulty to these separations
without young children scampering around to distract us. Over the past couple
of years my wife has given me an object lesson in what life was like during my
military career when I would disappear regularly, sometimes for months, when the
Army would send me to some garden spot around the world. I think she’s getting
the better part of the deal, no sand in her skivvies and a granddaughter.
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| Wingman Retrieving at LAX |
I am going to take some of the tried
and true remedies for lonely living. The first was a visit to the movie theater
where I saw Eye in the Sky. An excellent look into the world of drone warfare
and the staggering capabilities of modern conflict. The plot revolves around a
British intelligence operation in Kenya assisted by a US piloted drone. Helen
Mirren shines as a British colonel pushing to execute the mission in the face
of dithering politicians refusing to make a decision. She’d be even more
worried if she saw the drone pilot was none other than Jesse Pinkman, who’s
very good as well. I did wonder why he was still a 2d lieutenant after two
years in service though.
The mission goes sideways when the video
feed shows two suicide bombers garbing up for an attack. While the military
desperately wants to attack before they can deploy the politicians keep holding
things up and then a young girl sets up a bread table right outside the
targeted building. That sets up the fantastic final 1/3 of the movie where
undue command influence, the absolute need to kill the terrorists, and the
price of collateral damage are slung back and forth. Fantastic acting at all
levels and while I’m sure this film was made as an anti-war flick – it’s
anything but. It shows in unflinching detail the cost associated at both human
and moral levels with an aspect of modern war that almost sounds bloodless in
media portrayals but is anything but. Alan Rickman in one of his final roles is
superb and utters a fitting rejoinder to one of the ditherers, “Never tell a Soldier
the price of war.” A truly great movie – made for adults who are willing to think.
Well back to trying to figure out the
ins and outs of the self-contained lifestyle. I’m sure there’s a puzzle in my immediate
future.
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