Air Show

When you're unable to trial your agility dog, your weekends can take all sorts of unexpected turns. 

You might even find yourself checking out the airplanes at the Wings Over the Wine Country Air Show. 

The artwork on the fighter planes is something else.  Lots of teeth!!  Do birds notice?  

I like this little tiger.  But he looks a bit anxious.  Is he flying 'on a wing and a prayer'?  

There are plenty of babes painted on jets.  Apparently, airplanes are female.  And beautiful.  And dangerous.  Is that little tiger a girl tiger?  "Miss Maria" looks innocent and alluring, until you notice the huge bullets.  All of the airplane babes are scantily dressed.  Are they trying to distract enemy pilots?   Or are they trying to tell everyone 'this flying fighting-machine-of-death is gorgeous'? 

There were a gazillion planes to look at.  The cockpit of this old DC-3-style Russian plane looks a bit worse for the wear.   I like to think most cockpits do not look like this. 

In spite of the potential for claustrophobia and air-sickness, apparently lots of folks love to fly.  All of them were at the Air Show, climbing in and out of airplanes old and new, large and small. 

There was plenty of action in the sky, too.  The photo below is from a "rescue demonstration" by our local SWAT team.  Wow.  These folks mean Business.  I hope we never have to call them.  

This is called the "Missing Man" formation.  This fly-by preceded a moving "9/11" ceremony.  Did you know that we now have a piece of iron from the World Trade Center at our local air museum? 

The Air Show was very impressive, but it made me feel sad.  Not only for all of the innocent WTC folks, but also for our young men and women who've suffered and/or died since, in these crazy wars. 

The main attraction at the show seemed to be the fighter jets.  Fast, loud, incredibly amazing jets. 

Built to fight. 

Crazy, crazy wars.