Thursday, October 28, 2010

Reds, Yellows, and Fighter Jets

The Dogwood and a Single Pear

Burning Bush

Crown of Light

The Last Rose of Summer

The Big Western Maple

The color palette continues to unfold. In my own back yard, out here JOTOLR!  Our big western maple, with leaves 8 inches across, will be solid gold in a few days.  The Burning Bush simply cannot get any brighter, but it does!  The rose arbor over our east door has seven or eight yellow roses risking frost, basking in late summer.  And the dogwood's fervor is stronger with morning light.  What gifts all these are!  Peaceful, right...?  Well...... 

An F16 fighter jet just roared overhead at about 800 feet and scared the absolute daylights out of me and everyone/everything on this farm and surrounds. 

The sound was deafening, frightening until I sorted out what it was.  My heart took a dive!  

You see, we live on VR1751 where low-flying fighter aircraft can virtually ignore all the height regulations and pummel us with their noise and size.  The sound is deafening.  For years, I waged a one-woman campaign against their ability to fly low here, scaring our livestock, ruining our ears.  I wrote senators, congressmen, the White House...you name it.  And for awhile, it worked.  There weren't as many flyovers.  But, apparently, all bets are off, now.  We're "at war" (yeah, right)....so the pilots need the practice.  (Yeah, right.)

Do you know how large the defense budget of this country is?  I wonder how many people we could help with that money....

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful, beautiful colours. I'll have to be satisfied with our more muted versions. We too get some low flying jets, mainly Harriers but they are not too low or too loud, just on their way for some low flying practice over the Welsh mountains and lets face it the UK doesn't have too many aircraft.More often it is the air ambulance helicopter (paid for totally by charity) bringing in some poor soul from a road, sea or moorland accident. I do totally agree with you about the amount of money being spent on killing people rather than helping them but while the arms manufacturers are making money and backing the government that's how it will be.

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  2. You are soooo right, Ruta. We, too, have the rescue helicopters, but they're no problem. Matter of fact, when we hear one close by, we rather worry that someone we know has been hurt. But they do their job swiftly and capably. OTOH, this fighter flyover nonsense is designed, usually, to use up leftover budget before the fiscal year is out, so they can get MORE! They WASTE fuel, in order to get fuel. Sickening. And the noise pollution and exhaust pollution is environmentally damaging ...all for no reason.

    Thanks for your sweets comments on my colors! And your "muted" autumn is wonderful!!

    Elora

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  3. Oh Elora you tease with those fabulous colours! You have captured them so well.
    We too get aircraft noise - mainly from low flying aerial topdressing planes which used to send my high spirited Arab horses silly - we used to stand out in the paddock signalling to move further out in the valley, with the horses gone it's a little less stressful! The noise is so loud you can't hear on the phone when one goes over. Our other aircraft noise is welcome though - we have police drug squad helicopters overhead usually with a full load of marijuana plants they have weeded out of the forests, plantations and orchards around here. Visitors can't believe their eyes when they see one swoop overhead with a full 'crop' swinging beneath!

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  4. Elora, I do hear what you are saying. The pentagon is over-funded and so are the top one percent of the population in this country. We are top heavy. We are slowly slipping into a third rate society. But on the bright side your rose and tree photos are beautiful. Nature gives us balance. -- barbara

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  5. Thanks Julia, Ruta and Barbara for co-miserating with respect to those low-flying aircraft! And, as one might expect, there's the flipside of good, isn't there!

    Elora

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