It’s Been Awhile

Tonight was the kick-off for Hubby’s weekend of birthday celebration. We decided to go to a local bar that’s just 2 blocks from our house with the intention of sitting in the sunshine and having a beer or two.

This bar has a deck with heaters that sits so high, it’s close to the foliage of the trees and overlooks a river. It’s a nice place, but the service has never been stellar. That’s ok, we weren’t in any kind of hurry. The clear blue sky, crisp air and sun illuminating the yellows and reds of the leaves was stunning, and it was nice to watch a solitary leave tumble through the air here and there.

We used to go to this bar every Friday night for a few years. We even had a special table, but then we stopped going right around the same time my son stopped being the dishwasher. We had many a fine night there, laughing and talking with friends. In fact, Hubby celebrated his 40th birthday there.

While we were enjoying the air and the sights, a group of military personnel arrive and set up next to us. Soon there were quite a few there in many different uniforms. My back was to them, but Hubby had a clear view. He started smiling that smile he has as he watched them gather. When I asked what he was smiling about he said, “Brown shoes.”

He saw the look of confusion on my face and continued to tell me that brown shoes were part of the Naval Aviators uniform and had been since the dawn of time (or at least Naval Aviators). Hubby grew up near a military base and the military has played quite a role in his life, even if he’s never been active in the service. He continued to educate me on the subtleties of the military fatigues and uniforms.

Did you know that square-ish green/khaki digi cammo is army and blue/grey/khaki with a swirl is Air Force? Neither did I. And there was some discussion about patches and their meanings as well.

One of the gentlemen was being awarded a special plaque. (a dagger embedded into a green computer board) We didn’t focus on what they were saying but after the presentation and another beverage, Hubby got up and walked over to two of the men in the group and I heard him say, “I just want to thank you for all that you do every day. As a person who has his father’s name on the wall over there, what you do is very important to me. Thank you.”, and then came and sat back down. (Hubby’s father was killed on the Uss Liberty, which was part of the NSA in the 60s)

1. That was awesome. And you could hear in their voices that the men were very appreciative of his show of support.

2. Hubby is a pretty shy guy when it comes to opening up and showing who “he” is. This was near and dear to his heart and  took a lot for him to do. I was proud of him for doing it.

The rest of the evening paled in comparison although I have to say the conversations that went on around us which varied from cyber-security, new age spiritualism and hunting was pretty interesting as well.

Tomorrow we hit the track!