Monday, August 23, 2021

Rocky Paths

 


Some of you enjoy idyllic trout streams and rivers full of salmon or walleye, others again spend their time sea fishing off the coasts of fabled islands. Me? It's mostly all about Lake Whitney and, to be fair, the mighty Brazos, which is where I went this morning in a desperate bid to escape the crazy.

"Maybe getting out in the clean air of Texas will do you good," I thought grimly to myself as I loaded a couple of rods into the bed of the rig, "As opposed to staring in slack-jawed Francoist consternation at the end of the world."



And yes, it was good to get to the lake and cast off into the depths, and there were plenty of fish, no doubt about it, I could see them gliding by the bank and jumping with fierce predatory aggression. But did I catch any?

No. I did not. It was like our wars, Enemy 1, Home Team 0, but what am I saying. Every moment spent under the free sky of Texas is a moment worth living, a victory in itself. Just you try it and see. 


Ye Olde LSP

In the meanwhile, the Specialist called in and's settling down well into his his new unit, 57th ESB (expeditionary tactical signals). He has, predictably, asked to be sent to Central Asia, but fortunately that's off bounds for now. Not a good deployment, eh?

That aside, there is an equestrian club at Ft. Hood which practices boot-to-boot cav charges, swords out, run! I told him, "Well you can ride, so join in. Just don't fall off and skewer yourself with your wretched sabre." Always paternal, you see.

Your Best Pal,

LSP

15 comments:

  1. Beware the equestriennes. They tend to have rich, indulgent Daddies. Amazing verbal tic, that. "Daddy". Not 'my Daddy'. There is but one. I mean, that's okay en famille, but when speaking with others it's a big red flag.
    Not to disparage 'our Father' of course, but a chick who refers to a parent as generic Mommy or Daddy probably dots her letters with a heart or something.

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  2. Are you sure you and LL are concocting a scheme to expand your light cavalry?

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  3. Well, if you like the water Ed.

    I'm trying to figure out if I'm happy I'm past most of the adventure or jealous of your young man just starting his. Hmmmmm.

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  4. There's a mounted color guard stationed at Fort Riley. I've met them on several occasions and they really seem to enjoy the duty.

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  5. It's good to know that we will still be able to make a cavalry charge when OPEC shuts the valves again and our tanks run out of gas. Or maybe Uncle Joe is going to convert those to battery power in which case it'll be the Chinese put who the squeeze on our.... lithiums.

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  6. JC, I forgot to ask, do you mean "Deddy"? If so, well played!

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  7. It sure is, Ed, and (belated) happy birthday!

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  8. Kid, I feel the same way, though, to be honest, the Army wasn't for me. There I was, in a hole in Wales in the rain, reading John Chrysostom's "On the Priesthood," and I thought, "Why am I doing this?" Shoulda gone back in as a padre. But hey, hindsight's as 20/20 as dovorce is 90/90 :)

    Whatev. Fair play to the the fella, lots of opportunity in the service. Go for it, kid.

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  9. Jim, I badly feel the urge to get back in the saddle. Hmmmmm. No more broken bones though. But hey, I'd be all over that cav charge thing. Big fun.

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  10. I was thinking exactly that, Pewster. Maybe the training program should expand?

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  11. Will the Dallas Light Cavalry ever transition to Heavy Cavalry? Or will it go the other way to take up the teak lance and become known as the Dallas Lancers?

    I harbored the hope that it would mechanize and transform into the Dallas Armored Cavalry and would trade in the swords for wheeled armor with light cannons.

    The big trend in the US Army is "transitioning". In fact, that's job one, but that's not at all what I'm suggesting.

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  12. LL, I don't see why we can't mechanize AND have horses. As I understand it, the US Army's giving away lots of kit, we shouldn't we benefit?

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