Just a few months ago, my eldest daughter graduated from high school, and I thought that * that * was pretty amazing. Nearly 20 years spent raising a kid from birth to Valedictorian Achievements takes a lot of Life: focus, time, attention, prayers, guidance (and $$$ of course.. most estimate: ¼ million)... But now it's time for her to spread her wings and fly out into the wide world, seek her own way, and Show Her Quality! This is the dream of every parent: to see our child(ren) step out from their childhood home and enter the Real World with dignity, grace, strength and boldness. This can certainly be said of my firstborn —( thanks be to God! )— who not only personified these traits during her years at home, but also demonstrated these convictions in her first major adult choice by joining the Air Force. She means to 'see the world' while broadening her horizons in achieving her goal to become a Christian Counselor. And I couldn't be prouder of my Golden Girl!

BUT · · it all starts with a fun-filled trip to Lackland Air Force Base!

For those who —( like me )— haven't really thought much about such things, LAFB can be found tucked under the western side of San Antonio, Texas, just south of center:

Lackland Air Force Base

Danielle flew there toward the end of September quite concerned about facing the rigors of boot camp... but God set her up with another young woman also joining now — another 'Danielle' who is also a Christian, and who also aspires to become a Christian Counselor! I waved them both onto their plane at Sky Harbor Airport ...and so my girl was off on her first big Solo Life Adventure! I shouldn't have been all that surprised when she called hours later gushing about how many trees she could see from their bus as they zoomed down the road toward LAFB .. . And that was the last peaceful communication she extended to us for the next two months. :-]

We wrote letters to her religiously, packed full of pictures and fun facts from the home front. She wrote back and was able to call occasionally during their infrequent 15-minute weekly 'phone home' sessions. As Military Basic Training (BMT) is designed to do, she felt pretty broken at first, and cried a couple of times even while talking with us — "They show us only once how to do something, then expect us to perform it immediately! But they don't give us nearly enough time to do it!" — But true to her resolve, she stuck it out and over the following weeks began to sound more confident in her ability to meet her training instructors' expectations ..and more importantly, her overall decision to join the Air Force.

Actually, she had it pretty good in BMT. I had led her in running over the summer to condition her up, so the infamous PT (physical training) of Boot Camp did not prove too much for her at all. :-) And upon arriving, she was straight-away 'volunteered' to play the cymbals in a marching band, scheduled to perform all the music for her squadron's graduation ceremony to be held in November. With only a bit of piano training, Danielle has never aspired to be [ahem] a Musician, but since this is the military, you do as you're told, and you will play the cymbals in a marching band. "Mostly I just stand still and bang the cymbals once in a while." She went on to explain that since their 'flight' (think: platoon) had been assigned to band duty, they didn't have to endure as much marching or drill practices as the other flights, and they took all their classes a full week before everyone else — except for BEAST Week, of course.

I am happy to say that, all in all, both the Air Force and Airman Bryant accomplished the tasks set out before them during these eight weeks. In fact, not only would she graduate from BMT on schedule, but she was just one point shy of making 'Honor Graduate'! For someone who worried about making it through at all, I would say that's pretty good! In fact, of all the graduating flights, only hers earned the coveted award of "Honor Flight"!

...But, she didn't know all of this going in, of course, and it was nothing but crazy beans there for a while .. .

Initial Gear	·  Duffelbag Action Shot  ·
Goggled & Ready (peeking from the back)	Carrying their flight banner through rain or whatever . . .
. . . waiting in formation . . . (lots and lots of this) . . .	M-16 Rifle Killer!
Attack!	Attack Some More!
Danielle actually laughed when telling us about certain adventures... like during their gas mask training, when she made the mistake of taking an extra gulp of fumed air after removing her mask in the gas chamber, because she flubbed the words of her requisite statement at first (..bad move) . .. And the inverted wall on the obstacle course, from which she hung like a twitching bug for waaaay too long trying to swing a leg up over the top, getting ripped good and loud by the TI the whole time (per protocol). For our part, once we learned that they were obligated to show their training instructors EVERY image that arrived via mail, we put a little more effort into our letters . . . (see below) . . .

By November, she had achieved or exceeded every milestone BMT threw at her!  Way To Go, Danielle!!  Now it was just a matter of graduating and learning where she would be sent for specialized training.  :-)  Some people go through basic training and graduation with no loved one(s) in attendance —(that's how it was for me nearly 30 years ago, back in Fort Benning, GA)— and generally, that's fine. But Danielle is not one of those people. She really wanted me to be there. So, I soon found myself hopping a couple of planes bound for San Antonio, Texas! ( YEEEEE-HAW! )

It is worth mentioning how delightful it was to discover, during a layover at Denver International Airport, a Caribou Coffee shop RIGHT THERE as I stepped off my first flight - AND it featured their beloved rustic old logo & signage!

What a sight to behold! Caribou Coffee boasts the smoothest, creamiest over-the-counter coffee anywhere! And they * smack * the * snot * outa Starbucks for flavor! (Compare if you doubt) But with Caribou locations limited to just one third of all U.S. states, I really did not expect to stumble upon a find like this! I think Denver represents their western-most reach, which was just darn lucky because it turns out that Texas is a Caribou-free state! Out of curiosity, I decided to check out where some Caribou Coffee shops may be found .. . check this out: here's the one I found in Denver .. . and three or four in their hometown of Minneapolis:

CARIBOU COFFEE  in  Denver

CARIBOU COFFEE  in  Minneapolis

So I really enjoyed that stroke of luck .. not so much the unfortunate guy who, seated a few rows behind me on our flight, had puked his guts out most of the way .. . I think he was traveling from Vegas .. . Anyway, so I made it to San Antonio for my first time ever (W00T) ready to see what my Golden Girl had been about for lo these many weeks! Unbeknownst to me, she had not been off-base once since her arrival. Had I known this, I would have celebrated her freedom in more practical ways, like insisting on a rental car that actually had functional shocks. ~ Anyway . . .

Lackland Air Force Base features a number of different 'gates' -- points of entry for all working or visiting personnel. Civilians like me had to have a specific pass lined up weeks in advance in their possession; otherwise, you would be summarily barred at the gate -- and that would be that! So, clutching pass tightly in hand, I awoke early and made for the base with plenty of time to spare ...or so I thought. Out of all these gates, only one or two are open before or after regular duty hours. I learned this abruptly upon joining two miles of red pre-dawn brake lights, trailing away ahead of me to where I hoped the base would be located, backed up through residential neighborhoods clear out to the freeway.. and growing behind me. And the worst part was, this situation ... just ... craaaawwwled.... No joke: we would ease forward by one car-length.. and then sit dead still for about five minutes before another nudge forward. To be clear, hundreds of vehicles were moving like molasses, all in this fashion, jockeying to merge into one lane prior to the gate. Pedestrians cruised by, walking right down the road and through the gate located (one would hope) up ahead in the dark somewhere. Apparently EVERYBODY in Texas wanted to get onto the base this morning, and this was the only gate open.

Well ... without going into too much detail, I shucked and jived and applied some 'creative driving' to cut a good mile off of my approach. There's something to be said for driving a rental car in a city you will never return to . . .

So I got on the base (finally) no late for the first visitor briefing.. and was lucky to ever find parking quite a distance from the ceremony area. But that's okay because I had made it!! I would see our Danielle in just a few minutes!!

All the graduating airmen (this includes airwomen.. who are called 'airmen' too) would soon be running down one particular paved back road, cheered on by doting families & friends who came to celebrate with them. I took up my position and, as is the military way, waited.. and waited .. .

At long last, over a bridge made just for marching and running over busy streets, here came the graduating airmen jogging in formation, flight after flight, singing in cadence (called 'jodies') and trying to spot their visiting loved ones while appearing to Maintain Eyes Forward. The picture showing Danielle running (below) was taken by the photographer seen standing on a rise in the previous shot. I missed seeing her entirely. And she also missed me.. until about the time I took that cool 'reflecto-sun' shot. She later said she spotted me then from the far side of her running flight, standing there, camera poised, craning my neck to see through and above the crowd. So spotted saw me before I saw her. But it was kind of unfair, seeing how I was standing tall among those around me, wearing my bright blue button-down lion shirt ... and she was just a passing T-shirt in a cast of hundreds!

View from the crossing bridge	~    here they come, running across the bridge  .  .  .
There's Danielle, 4th from the end — looking for me!	Running back — this is when she first spotted me through everybody

So they came and went, and I scanned my digital camera to see if I caught her on film. [nada] I made it for the second visitor briefing, followed by a general wandering about in a plaza of inward facing bleachers. And waited . . and waited... . in the cold .. .

This would be the Coin Ceremony, which is kind of a big deal in the Air Force, getting your first Coin. You see, some 20 years ago someone in the USAF decided that the Air Force could use some kind of esprit de corps camaraderie-booster, and dreamed up the idea of minting special Coins for certain achievements, to be handed out in recognition of special or exemplary service. Some of these are, I have learned, quite special, sought out and treasured by those who really get into this sort of thing. These are typically handed out by senior officers, only on rare occasions. Other Coins are rendered as career milestones, such as graduating from Basic Military Training. I understand that different kinds feature different stylings and artwork, but they're all around the size of a well-fed silver dollar. You can see the trays holding all of their BMT Coins below, as well as a front/back (rollover) close-up of Danielle's Coin below.

Coins prepared for the Graduates	Danielle's Airman Coin   [ ROLLOVER ]
Marching in for the Coin Ceremony	My first glimpse of Danielle!

I positioned myself in the bleachers closest to where I knew the band would take position, but still had no idea where Danielle might be in the ranks. With my camera zoomed to full, I finally spotted her as one speaker after another congratulated certain airmen and/or flights prior to the actual Coin Ceremony. I was sure that was my Golden Girl there standing at attention amid all the blue caps and instruments! Soon they struck up "The Star-Spangled Banner" and all manner of other patriotic tunes. The row of cymbals clanged with gusto, reminding me of what she had described weeks before.. how they were instructed to raise their cymbals high up overhead after clashing them together to let their sound ring out strong and clear! And there, buried behind the tubas, one pair of cymbals did exactly that:

Passing out the Coins took a while as the TI's worked their way to each airman, ceremoniously bestowing their prizes one by one. After the flag had been smartly secured from the pole, the squadrons were dismissed at last. The place boiled over like a massive cauldron full of people all trying to find one another among thousands. Danielle warned me ahead of time that her flight would have to return the instruments to a parked bus at first, then she could come back to the awards area to find me. So my first clear image of my precious daughter 'Airman Bryant' is this photo that I took upon her return:

She smiled, stood smartly at attention before me, said: "Sir, Airman Bryant reports as ordered," and fell into my arms with a grand sigh! Military protocol precludes overt displays of affection out in public, but this is pretty much waived when families get to see their own after such an arduous experience as basic training . . especially for a mild-mannered (but strong!) girl like Danielle. She barely cried, but just hugged me and hugged me, telling me little tidbits about her day leading up to this moment, how long she had waited for it, how she Spotted me during her run -- and knew I was there for her! It is such a precious, wonderful, inexpressible * joy * to have a daughter like this, who is sunshine in human form.. . ( I wish all fathers everywhere could know this, and really 'get' how incredible it is to blessed by their children so much! -- Psalm 127:3! )

Soon she was introducing me to her BMT friends. Photos were taken all around. She still had to go back to the bus to return their instruments to some music building, so she left momentarily. But that was OK... we were together again!

I wandered the road while families by the hundreds thronged around their graduating airmen, meandering indoors to a store, or just hanging around giddy families swapping new stories. Eventually, I made my way up and over the bridge they had run across just hours before, and spotted the bus and instruments being unloaded. Danielle fast-marched out to meet me saying, "Let's go! Let's go now!" Someone had messed up somehow (as easy as breathing in BMT) and her entire flight was nearly declined their afternoon pass! As it was, young women poured out of the building, all marching smartly away as their brother flight (a concurrent male flight) suffered the wrath earned by some offense committed by one in their ranks. "I can't WAIT to get off base," declared my dedicated airman. So I led her as best I could, stopping as she was compelled to do for every passing flight running PT or marching to their next training destination. The mile or so back to my car took a good 45 minutes to navigate.

"I can't believe how weird it feels to just be sitting in a car and driving around instead of marching," she said, stealing glances out the window. I popped in a CD and started joking around a bit, but I think she still held her breath until we cleared the nearest gate and hit the open road. "I think I can take my hat off while driving in a car.. I think it's ok..."

Then it was like she had never left! We picked right back up how we usually relate together, in a sweet father/daughter friendship that we know is rare in this day and age. She began gushing and laughing about all sorts of misadventures during her weeks in BMT, and we held hands in the car as she likes to do. She has always been rather European in her mannerisms, taking my arm as we stroll anywhere together. This has always been her way, something I felt a little awkward about at first (being American.. and male.. ) until I realized that in many cultures, this sort of thing is not uncommon at all, as acceptable [or rather, expected] as an American bellowing, "Wazzup!" upon spotting a fellow American in Dublin, for instance.. . We would certainly respect the military's code of ethics during our time out in public, but she could still hold my hand while zippin' down the road in our own car. :-)

First order of business: Danielle wanted to eat!! We had agreed beforehand to find a good steakhouse or two during my visit, but at the moment we kicked around any number of wonderful ideas. She began to rummage through the selection of CD's I had brought along, so I said, "You know what I'M really in the mood for? Some excellent fried rice!" She gave a little laugh, then sort of glanced at me like a foot just grew out of my nose. I motioned toward the CD's .. from whence she pulled out this cover-art masterpiece:

A long-standing tradition in our home is the occasional making of Celebration CD's featuring select tunes that we know others in our family will really enjoy -- except 'country'. ~ Any significant road trip will do, so of course this was no exception. I had compiled this collection with Danielle's sisters before my trip, but we just couldn't figure out what to name it, as it featured such a colorful mish-mash of most of Danielle's favorites, along with some timely new ones: "Come Go With Me" (the Del-Vikings), "Just Like Heaven" (the Cure), "The River of Dreams" (Billy Joel), "Twilight" (ELO), "Banana Pancakes" (Jack Johnson), "Dancing With the Lion" (Andreas Vollenweider), and many others, including Disney tunes she loves... PLUS an original composition by Jessica. :-) Jess has recently learned how to craft some really fabulous fried rice for dinner.. so as a joke one night I said, "Why don't we just name it after your excellent fried rice, Jessi, because it has a little bit of everything in it?" ~ And there you go: a steaming bowl of audio love straight from Home to our wonderful Danielle! She played it almost the entire time we were together in San Antonio, finger ever poised to advance from one great song to the next all around that disc...

And during those times whew we weren't driving, she just ATE all the time!

It all started at an incredible place called Chama Gaúcha, a rightfully famous steakhouse (not-so-conveniently) located on the northern edge of the I-410 loop. This place ...I don't even know where to begin! For a nominal fee, you are cut loose upon a popping-fresh salad bar boasting so many exotic tidbits we couldn't even identify some of them! It was so good and fresh, I could have completed my dinner with that and still not sampled it all. But no.. that's not even it... They give you these little 'fun' cards to flip over on your table, but you had better mean it because if you indicate you'd like to try some steak, you are nearly tackled by eager waiters tearing around the place with giant skewers hanging with sizzling steaks of every variety! This was * The * Best * Filet Mignon I had ever had in my life!! And it just kept on going! All you can eat! Every kind of steak cut you could imagine -- - we had to turn them away after a while, reaching to flip our little table cards back over to thwart another avalanche of steaks upon us!! Of course they offered side dishes as well (just as delectable as everything else) and the decor was amazing as well, if you could pry your eyes from your plate to catch a glimpse now and then . .. All You Can Eat steaks — best steaks ever — plus a killer salad bar, unending side dishes, and drinks .. all for about $30 apiece! :-D And then Danielle ordered desserts --- To say we rolled out of that place to our car is an understatement... she aiming to maintain some measure of military decorum, I bumping up against the car, trying to snag the handle as I rolled past it, I was so stuffed .. .

This being our first stop off-base, I also believe it was the first of many instances when a complete stranger stopped us, smiled warmly at her, and thanked her for her service! This caught us both unawares but, as we soon learned, good ol' American Patriotism runs deep in the heart of Texas! Danielle offered a stuttering, "You're welcome.." but found herself getting Thanked so many times that she soon began to dodge folks outright for fear of Being Thanked..! I thought it was great, but also understood her desire not to draw undue attention to herself.. being Danielle & all.. Even so, she routinely got Thanked at restaurants (by other patrons as well as the staff), at my hotel, on the streets as we walked along, at parks, at the library.. everywhere!  Heh... :-)

Anyway, she wanted to see where I was staying at the * fabulous * Sleep Inn & Suites ..not-so-conveniently located on the western side of the I-410 loop. After her two months of Basic Training and an epic visit to a killer steakhouse, she wanted to hit a jacuzzi and just float around for a while, I guess.. Jessi had packed her a bathing suit for just such an occasion, so we gelled in the spa for a while, then cooled out before having to return to base, so I was able to giver her a few little gifts her sisters had sent along.

Graduating airmen had to be back on base by 8:00pm this first night, which meant we had to be en-route at least an hour before hand. But as luck would have it, the traffic line was quite short now (go figure) so we cruised around the base for a while, listening to her favorite 'Huey Lewis and The News' CD, and ended up at the BX where she indulged yet One More BMT fantasy: she got herself a Cinnabon! By now, I was so stuffed I felt I would not need to eat for at least a week. But she sat there and pounded that thing down like it was Turkish Delight! —( the REAL stuff.. like from Narnia.. not the fakey vaguely licorice-like powder-sugared slab Jessi just scored from an eclectic candy import store, which tasted like jellied pavement )— Being Thanksgiving week, all the Christmas decorations and displays lured Danielle into the commissary. She just loves Loves LOVES the Christmas season, and just drank up the sights and sounds as if wandering the aisles of a convenience store for the first time in her life (think: Wal·mart.. but she was ecstatic), fawning over the Christmas music playing in the air, and marveling about how she could buy virtually Anything At All now with her Very Own Income! ~ Ahh.. those Run Away Days of First Paychecks...

At last it was time to say goodbye .. and this was just our first day together! The rest would go by quickly as we could now make more 'normal' plans, knowing where and how I could pick her up each day.. and we got that (first!) steakhouse experience out of the way...

Because this was Thanksgiving week, all the graduates got a Whole Extra Free Day to be with friends & family! So long as she checked back in before 8:00pm, we could do whatever we wanted! First: IHOP . .. and the WORLD'S GREATEST HOT CHOCOLATE!!!  I am * NOT * kidding! Their seasonal cocoa selection is INSANELY Good!! Danielle ordered one and made me take a sip .. . and I nearly ordered four more!!

So of course we hit Starbucks, which featured some whacked-out rock music playing overhead, then drove in about an hour early to Sea World!! The wait in the line out front was really nothing at all since we simply make our own fun wherever we go together — and we kind of almost matched (see below) which I suppose might be important to some . . . ( I am a firm proponent of Matthew 6:28-30! )

She wanted to see the dolphins first, so away we went! ...followed by the seals and the otters and Sea World's trademark MASSIVE aquariums! Each Sea World features a unique assortment of rides now, so I talked her into going on the GREAT WHITE, which is a hanging rollercoaster complete with inverted loops.. which she loved so much, we went on it again later! And the STEEL EEL (front seats!) which flings you up * away * from the tracks right up outa your seat SUPER-high up! That one got to us a LOT more than we expected .. but it was fun! Their white-water river raft ride, the RIO LOCO, is nowhere near as wild and splashy as SHIPWRECK RAPIDS in the San Diego Sea World .. nor is Antonio's ATLANTIS as decorative, imaginative, or involved as the one in California. BUT the entire park was decked out for the holidays, and they had tons of wonderful critter exhibits and stuff to check out and mess with, which is really what Sea World is all about -- plus Shamu, of course! I took a picture of one of the many themed-out snowmen invading the park. And I think there would have been much more to check out, but a large section was fenced off for the constructing some gigantor water park called AQUATICA, which promises a rafting ride that will take you * under * a bay full of stingrays and tropical fish! "It's the only ride of its kind in the world!" Lots of other stuff, too.. but we couldn't really see over the fence.. just what the brochures showed  ~  No matter!

I am here to tell you that the penguins are just as kick-your-face-in · stinky · as always! I like how the map describes it: "Enter a charming and chilly world..." ~ yeah, one that'll knock your head in with the rancid fish reek! Talk about going for that authentic Antarctic ambience.. :-) Once you acclimate --(Danielle should have brought her BMT gas mask.. we could have shared..)-- they're actually a lot of fun to watch zip around in the water and * pop * right up onto the land. And the otters! Oh man .. I don't know WHAT was up with these two, but they just cried and cried for attention, sounding EXACTLY like when you pinch the mouth of a blown-up balloon in your fingertips and let the air squeak out in one long continuous whine! That is precisely what they sounded like! And lots of it! Loudly! Pretty cool, for about 40 seconds ...

Sea World - San Antonio	Dolphiny Goodness!     [ ROLLOVER ]
! Otters !	Seal asleep  (two feet underwater!)
Aquarium Wreath	The 'Great White'!
Rockin' Snowman!	A grim Airman Bryant reports on a * $6.00 * [!!] cup of hot chocolate!
One of their park restaurants was featuring a Real Thanksgiving Dinner! A Sea World representative had sung their praises at our civilian briefing yesterday on base. So when we found ourselves entering a line for some pre-heated lamp burgers, I made the call to cross the park and try our luck with this option. After all, it was Thanksgiving! Quite hungry, and still a little tweaked from our STEEL EEL ride, we made our way around Ski Lake and found 'Trimmings'. Danielle registered her concern straightaway over their $6.00 cocoa . . [$6.00!!] . . what, is it sprinkled with Real Gold shavings, or something..? We dodged the window-banging bees inside while going through the queue, but did manage to score some nice turkey and mashed potatoes, stuffing and a roll - AND bonus Shamu Whale Tail cookies, which were actually quite good, plus some lemonade. :-) We ate outside in the Perfect Weather under a canopy of trees and thought everything just so ideal we could hardly believe our luck! Until a Bluegrass band started twanging out Christmas carols nearby. As musicians, they were talented enough I suppose, and seemed to be having a good ol' time with it (which did make it fun), but the most disturbing things were happening not far away. I am talking about 'Shamu Claus'. No lie - they had a guy dressed up in a Shamu whale suit, sporting a giant red Christmas hat . . And there was also a shark, and some kind of otter guy, I think. We saw just enough of them to keep well hidden in our secluded rustic dining area. And I'm not sure what was going down out there.. something involving some little kids, I think.. but the lead singer kept cracking up in the middle of his banjo songs. Maybe Shamu Claus had finally snapped and was snacking on children in a frenzy of holiday glee, and Mr. Banjo just couldn't keep a straight face anymore at this gig like this... i dunno... A couple of times, I brought up how glad I was to have crossed the park for our little Thanksgiving feast rather than settle for limited-shelf-life burgers back at the other place. But whenever I said this, a heavy torpedo-like leaf fell from overhead and landed with a pronounced "bonk" on my plate! It was uncanny as it happened every time! Laughing as we were, I struggled to get my camera out ready to take a snapshot of the many squirrels dashing about in the trees and everywhere around the park. One little opportunist zipped down a leaning tree trunk, snuck around behind us, and leapt onto a tray set on a bench beside one family, in hopes of scoring a snatch-&-run prize, no doubt. But the empty tray only rested halfway on the bench. So the squirrel's pounce made it flip over and smack the ground with a "BANG!" which sent our hero off like a shot for the nearest tree! ~ All in all, I don't think we've ever been so entertained during a holiday meal! I went to say something about this, and "BAM" a leaf-bomb nailed Danielle's plate .. .
( [ Thanksgiving Feast Squirrel ] )	~   Our Opulent Thanksgiving Sea World FEAST   ~
Thanksgiving Day!	'Shamu Claus' gets chummy with an Oompa-Loompa
Outside of Shamu Theater	Shamu Theater
We really enjoyed the animal shows, but try as I might, I just couldn't catch a killer whale up on its tail in the water.. (my old camera is getting the better of me these days) -- mostly just their tails splashing back into the water.. But it was great to see these incredible animals rush up and out of the water right there at the edge of the pool, 'standing' up out of the water to tower over the crowd before plunging straight back down again. Pretty breath-taking! And the 'Azul' show was really spectacular as well, featuring lots of Pacific white-sided dolphins, exotic birds flying overhead, beluga whales, and a score of human swimmers, dancers, and acrobats!
My 'kid' in the crowd	Shamu Goodness!     [ ROLLOVER ]
Decorations around the park	More Christmas decorations
The excellent 'AZUL' show!     [ ROLLOVER ]	Plaid Sharks - - seriously . . .
As if this wasn't enough wildlife, I think today was when we went to jump back onto the freeway and nearly collided with a 3,000-strong flock of birds! Maybe it's this time of year around San Antonio, who knows? But all around the city, huge flocks of some kind of dark-feathered birds undulate in the sky and all around neighborhoods. If you're lucky, they might all decide to whoosh down to street level like some massive sky-blob alien life form and swallow whatever car(s) they may find! This time it was our turn. We missed them all, fortunately, but what a rush that could have been, eh? A real moment from Hitchcock's THE BIRDS come to life.. :-]

Back to the USAF Graduation Schedule — I awoke this morning with a headache (~probably too much penguin stink~) but took an Advil at the hotel on my way out. Only after I had slammed down the pills found in the little packet did I realize it was 'Advil PM'. This would become a bit of an issue later on...

T'was a chilled, foggy morning out on the parade grounds, but dozens of mounted vintage airplanes on display surrounding the area made up for it. (I've always favored those cool-looking P-38's) Once more, Danielle informed me ahead of time where best to sit in the bleachers surrounding the area so we wouldn't have to find each other across half a mile of people-clogged parade turf afterwards.. So I spent most of my time during her final graduation ceremony squinting at the band waaaay out there in the center of the parade grounds . . .

Parade Grounds + a nice P·38!   [ ROLLOVER ]	Danielle is that one, there, holding the cymbals . . .   [ ROLLOVER ]
There's Danielle playing her cymbals in the middle of the band!    0.o	USAF Graduation Ceremony tunes  ♫
Sworn in as full-fledged members of the United States Air Force!	~      Danielle in the band     ~
Airman Bryant after the graduation ceremony   [ ROLLOVER ]	The bay area under the 'dorms'   [ ROLLOVER ]
Danielle's bunk = third on the right / "tightly laced"   [ ROLLOVER ]	Lockers - "   [ ROLLOVER ]

After the ceremony, Danielle took me to her barracks 'dorm' and introduced me to her Training Instructors, who radiated an air of measured restraint. She showed me which bunk was hers (third in on the right, above) and how she tended her locker - then wanted to get OUTA THERE! So we hopped in my rental, hit the bank, and stopped at a Godfather's Pizzeria there on base for a quick lunch. ...But wait, there's more..! "Donuts," she said. "I am craving Dunkin Donuts.." Of course! Who wouldn't?!..after pizza... There happened to be a DD just down the road from where we exited the base, so we hit that next. I'm tellin' ya .. this was an EATIN' GIRL! I couldn't even keep up with her anymore... We decided to spend our afternoon visiting the San Antonio Zoo. Danielle * LOVES * animals and checking out zoos, so this was just a Perfect plan . . . and then the Advil PM kicked in. If you ever wonder about those night-time-help-you-sleep claims from headache pills, I'm here to tell you that Advil Means What They Say. By the time we filed through the entrance (and navigated some more Thank You For Your Service!'s) I suddenly felt like someone had dropped a Sherman tank on me .. . hit full-on Zombie Mode .. could barely stagger about upright with eyelids like lead weights.. But I forged bravely on with Danielle laughing and dragging me by the hand from one exhibit to the next... For as wonky as their freeways are, one thing San Antonio DOES have going for it is their zoo! I don't think I've ever been closer to such a diverse collection of wild animals in any other zoo... from elephants and rhinos and lions and tigers and bears [go ahead.. say it...] to alligators and snakes, anteaters and capybaras ... and more monkey-types than you could shake a trembling stick at! One of the funniest moments involved a rather brash denizen of the 'Gibbon Forest' exhibit. This enclosure features a couple of thick-glass partitions that sort of push right into their habitat, complete with a bar running along the top inside about twelve feet overhead.. the perfect place for curious school children to crowd in and hop up and down and point out all the monkeys they can find. Such was the scene when a big black gibbon swung into view facing the crowd. He swept in from nowhere to that top beam, slammed both feet palm-flat against the glass in a grand spread-eagle display, and took a remarkable wizz right there against the glass at the crowd with the steady assurance bred from previous performances, I'm sure. ...and this was no small monkey, probably a good 4½-footer. Well the children squealed or hid their eyes, all grinning like maniacs, daring one another loudly to risk a glance: "Lookit that! Ewww! No YOU look!" Parents fumbled to steer their little ones away from the Raw Nature on display in the Gibbon Forest today. For his part, the gibbon's eyes darted from one kid to the next. I imagined him systematically targeting each mini human one after another in turn . . . Depending on your species, a visit to the zoo can mean very different things ... I suppose you have never guessed that capybaras can grow to be the size of a Saint Bernard dog.. These things can get HUGE!! I almost felt like we had found some kind of prehistoric fuzzy version of a hippopotamus, worried just a little that one might clamber over their low enclosure fence and gnaw off my leg. And anteaters get giant TOO!! (Hence the name: Giant Anteater) Their specimen easily measured seven feet long from snout to tail-tip! All well and good so long as it's confined to its zoo habitat.. quite another thing to imagine it stumbling upon your sleeping camp in the middle of a steamy jungle night, nosing about your face quietly... Just imagine the kind of 'wet willie' this guy could deliver! And of course they had snakes .. pythons so behemoth I would struggle to get my arms around their middle .. . Danielle loves those big cats, so we made sure to check out all of them. :-) I tend to dig the more unusually-formed critters: giraffes, rhinos, tapirs, the aforementioned oddities. We saw a porcupine close-up for the first time ever. ~ That can't be comfortable, we decided, living with all of those spines just FLAYING out of your body like that! But it seemed perfectly fine with this arrangement. So, whatever... Speaking of hippo's, the San Antonio Zoo has a great environment where you can view them at underwater level! That was pretty cool.. like snorkeling up on these notoriously vicious monsters in some African bog, but without all those pesky water parasites and crocodiles homing in on you... We turned one corner and came face-to-face with a cluster of panic-faced little branch-hopping monkeys just screeching their dinky heads off like car alarms! After seeing what the gibbons pursued as a hobby, I wasn't about to get all too close to those wire cages .. .

	At the Zoo!
Flamingos	Clouded Leopard
Super-huge python	Cheetah
Capybaras & Giant Anteater   [ ROLLOVER ]	Tiger   [ ROLLOVER ]
Despite my slogging along like a sloth on a bender, we had a grand day together, as we always do. :-) True to form [now] Danielle wanted to eat. And I needed coffee.. so we hit a Barnes & Noble Starbucks, then landed at a Texas Roadhouse for - yes - another steak dinner. But I'm sorry... after the stunning Chama Gaúcha, this place didn't stand a chance. It was good, all right .. but no Chama Gaúcha! We swung past the hotel to transfer more of Danielle's stuff to/from my home-bound luggage, then I drove her back to the base for the night. After my slog through the zoo, I was now All WIRED UP!! Headache all gone (yay Advil!) and finally awake again [coffee!] I decided to catch a movie, and found where "The Descendants" was playing. I thought the theater was stone dead and derelict when I found it.. nary a soul in sight. But I bought a ticket anyway and kicked around for a while, then made my way downstairs to where their foyer was - - and found myself surrounded by an elite society of well-dressed patrons seated at tables and perusing menus! This was a dinner movie theater! Well, since I wouldn't need food for about another month, eating wasn't much of an option. But I got to talking with one of the employees who happily told me all about this arrangement, how often celebrities frequented their theater (the Santikos Bijou) just for the convenience of dining during the show, and of course, for their good service. She leaned toward me and whispered that Tommy Lee Jones was in one of their theaters right now, watching the same movie I was bound for. She named other famous types upon whom she has waited, but I was still too stunned by this rabbit hole movie house to remember anyone else she mentioned. The movie itself was Oscar-well-acted and, if you're a George Clooney and/or Hawaii fan, you will likely enjoy it (though it deals in some dark waters - nyuk nyuk!). I probably would have liked it even more with a bucket of popcorn balanced on my lap rather than a large, dark table set up before my seat .. but hey, when in Texas . . .

Today was all about visiting the world-famous San Antonio River Walk! It's this river zone downtown that actually snakes between buildings and under streets for miles like a boardwalk canal, with countless shops and restaurants lining every picturesque walkway. (Don't tell anyone, but neither of us really wanted to spend our precious time at the Alamo.. I know, that probably makes us Communists or something.. but since she has already proven her national devotion with the Air Force and all, and I already work for the Federal government, I figure we're safe.)

It was raining buckets when I pulled into the parking lot of the Skylark Bowling Center. This is where I typically picked her up and dropped her off for our daily visits, just across the street from her dorm. She came charging out the door like her shoes were on fire, blazing in a rush to Get Off Base ASAP!

First stop: IHOP again for more of that legendary seasonal cocoa! While the weather settled, we wandered some stores and ended up back at my hotel, where Danielle reveled in her flannel jammies she requested from home, and promptly took a nap. I channel-surfed between Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies, some ridiculously cute Animal Planet show ("Must Love Kittens" i think), amazed by the local vernacular showcased in their local commercials. "Without Wayne [whomever] as my personal injury lawyer, I'd be in a whole heap o' mess!" quoth the Texas man.

By mid-afternoon, we had parked in a stacked downtown garage, found an escalator down to the river level with its open bay of shops and restaurants, and we just wandered from there . . .

As night fell, we found yet another wonderful steak house.. the Saltgrass -- right there on the river bank! We took a table overlooking the river and walkway, and enjoyed one more fabulous steak dinner together, complete with southern sweet tea and oversized desserts! Needless to say, we didn't just jump right up and take off after this, but rather languished under a heat lamp with our drinks for a while, watching the Christmas lights wink to life all along the river front .. a beautiful sight indeed! We circled the main 'island' if you can call it that, awash in different music as we slipped from one scene to the next, returning to our point of origin (the Marriott Rivercenter) where she scored a CD from a live performing group, Andean Fusion: "Christmas Classics Vol. 2". (pan flutes & stuff) We took a couple more pictures there among the lights and the holiday revelers before calling it a night .. got lost almost immediately in the multi-tiered Rivercenter Mall .. but eventually found the way to our car, and got her back to base well before her curfew. Just another perfect day with my wonderful daughter. :-)

There is basically one lone window in Danielle's dorm, up at the top of the stairwell, sort of counter-sunk into the blasé architecture like an afterthought. If you squint, you can just make out a McDonald's sign set high atop a pole about a mile away, located just off-base. One of her final goals after BMT was to have breakfast at that McDonald's. So this is what we did on our last morning together. She ordered two breakfasts. I had to catch my flight back home later this day, so we didn't plan for anything extravagant . . just kicked around San Antonio for a while, visiting a library to get our hands on a computer and check out a CD full of pix taken of her flight during their training (some of which appear near the top of this blog). She wanted to get a haircut, so we did that .. then hit a Starbucks, of course. Being Sunday, we spent a little time in the Word, discussing what sections of the Bible helped her most through BMT (the book of James, mostly), and reviewed these great guiding principles for * any * Christian to heed: You are the salt of the earth! But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world! A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. — Matthew 5:13-16 Speaking of taking heed, a word of caution regarding San Antonio's freeways: Not that the freeways themselves are bad (besides occasional stop-&-go traffic, just like any other big city) .. It's the access roads running along either side of them that'll kill you! Instead of placing on and off ramps just before & after a major cross street, like normal cities do, they built them just the opposite way so that their off ramps dump you into a two- or three-lane Death Race Lane where countless other cars are trying to fight straight through you to get to their fast approaching on-ramp for access to the freeway. This results in a hair-raising survival-of-the-fittest battle for position every single time you draw near to any part of any freeway. On top of this, they have these weird hairpin under-the-bridge U-turn lanes that, again, you have to combat-drive your way to get to, slam on your brakes and whip right around it, punch it to match speed with and merge into the traffic of the opposite flowing access lane . . . Probably the most frustrating part of all is that most near-freeway destinations are invariably on the Other Side Of The Freeway you're driving along, and you have to just take a blind guess as to which exit will properly deposit you into the opposite-running access lane (because not all of them do ~ natch) then risk life and limb trying to get there. This often leads to extra miles (and time) wasted in near-misses and double-backs. One time, with every honest effort to follow traffic flow and signs, making all the appropriate turns (thought so), I suddenly found myself driving up an off-ramp! I'd never made such a driving error before in my life. Thankfully Danielle was not with me at the time, or she would have thought BEAST Week was just a quiet picnic in the shade... I was fortunate enough to realize my mistake and ditch to the side of the road before getting annihilated in the onrushing traffic, waiting for some minutes for my breathing and heart rate to stop pegging out, with the occasional wave and knowing smile to concerned drivers indicating I was Facing The Wrong Way! In truth, I consider the fact that I returned my rental car without so much as a door scratch nothing short of a True Miracle of God. Wherever we drove, signs posted over the freeway warned: DRINK DRIVE GO TO JAIL! Considering how convoluted the highways and byways are in San Antonio, it comes as no surprise that people may find it easier to navigate the place while inebriated. It's obviously a persistent enough problem for the city to deem it necessary to post such Friendly Reminders every few miles. Maybe they should have thought up a more helpful prompt, something along the lines of: "DON'T · TRY · USING THE FREEWAYS" .. . So anyway, after dodging death more than once, we eventually found a Joe's Crab Shack for some shrimp to hang around together one last time. [ Not Steak! ] Truthfully, I did not even need to eat anything . . ever . . again . . but she ordered a basket of shrimp, so .. . Seriously though, I sat across from my Golden Girl feeling an immense sense of pride for her accomplishments, seeing all that she has achieved, and how she has faced down all the fears she brought along to Basic Training. (What it's All About) Now she just smiles at me with an quiet air of confidence and a stronger sense of poise than she ever had before. She has always been a strong one .. but now, now she * knows * she can overcome so many of the challenges that may come her way. What an achievement! What a wonder she has become! At long last, we returned to the world famous Skylark Bowling Center, where I waited for her to call back home to talk to her sisters for a moment. Then we said our final goodbyes, but only for now. I hugged her and hugged her.. She only cried a little bit --[ girl ]-- and with that we each stepped in our separate directions.. me to catch a flight heading west to Arizona, and she to catch a flight east in 12 hours, to Fort Meade, Maryland.
New haircut!	Parting shot  ('dorms' in the background)

Now the trip back home began: a pedal-to-the-metal race against imminent death on the 410 loop. Returned the car and dashed for my gate, getting stopped now and again to be Thanked in response to the proud USAF parent pin I sported on my collar. Think about it: San Antonio sees gobs of parents like me wearing this sort of pin, dashing through the airport in similar fashion after a lingering last-minute goodbye to their loved one back on base. They can spot us a mile away, I'm sure. But I was still impressed by how many times perfect strangers offered me a sincere Thank You for my "family's sacrifice and service".. :-)

Parent Lapel Pin

Even on my first flight, while taxiing for take-off, the stewardess making announcements asked everyone to remember those serving in the armed forces, requesting a friendly hand for those service men and woman onboard who were flying with us today. Applause exploded throughout the fuselage, catching me completely off-guard. I am just not used to such brazen displays of patriotism! And once more I found myself awash in multiple "Congratulations!" and repeated Thanks for my graduating family member! I felt like an 'extra' awash in some gung-ho movie scene... quite surreal, but also very very cool! :-)

So .. a layover in Dallas (reading, snacks) and after one more long flight, I arrived by car at my parents' place where my other two daughters were waiting — at 2:30am. By this time it was 4:30am back in San Antonio, and Danielle had been up, packed, and ready for a while to zip to the airport to catch her flight!

At 9:30am, I was awakened by the telephone ringing: Danielle calling from Fort Meade, reporting her safe arrival. And judging from the excited tone in her voice, I already know she will be all right now, especially since BMT is now a thing in her past, and she's half a country away from Lackland! "I love this new base," she gushes. "It's just like a college campus!" She goes into detail describing her initial schedule for Tech School as she will be trained to become a TV/Radio Journalist! What this will really mean in the long run remains to be seen, of course, but for now my daughter is safe, sounds happy, and is assured of God's clear direction in her life! Content now, I collapse back on my bed with the assurance that, for at least a few weeks anyway, I should be able to save some serious $$$ on groceries after our Thanksgiving week together in San Antonio, Texas . . .