Blue Angels

If you live in Seattle, the Blue Angels a big part of your summer. They come to town for the big Seafair celebration. There is an airshow, flight line visits, parties with the pilots and crew. It's a big deal. Most everyone has a serious opinion on the subject, some love them, love the symbolism, the athleticism of the planes themselves. Many hate the noise and the traffic and the bridge closures.

I have always loved the Blue Angels, it is one of the few happy memories I have of my Dad. When I was a teenager and we were stationed in San Diego he would take me with him to Miramar ( you remember Top Gun right?) We would watch the planes, have lunch with the crews and sometimes get to meet the pilots. For a 14 year old career military kid it was pretty heady stuff. Every year when they come to Seattle I wait for the sound of those big engines, The roar and the whine, the contrails in the sky. When I lived on First Hill they practically flew past my bedroom window. When I worked downtown I could sit at my desk and watch them over Elliott Bay. Three years age when I was having the first of my twice weekly non stress tests waiting for Doodle to be born, they buzzed the hospital windows and I was comforted by the sound and the familiarity of the planes and my babies heartbeat on the monitor.
Lately though I have been having second thoughts. That sound that I so love, is likely the last sound many people hear before the boom and fire that will shatter their world. These are after all, war machines. They serve no other purpose. They cannot be retrofitted to carry humanitarian supplies, they don't perform search and rescue operations. They are in fact propaganda for the U.S. Military machine. Don't get me wrong. I have not turned my back on the men and women who fight for this country. The sacrifices of their families are enormous and I cannot imagine the dedication to service that sends men and women into harms way for the sake of others. It's just that I cannot any longer take pleasure in glorifying the machine that brings such death and suffering to the rest of the world. I will not take my boys to the park to watch these planes fly over head, not while other mothers are running for cover. I will not teach my boys to revere machines of war.

This is one of those things that happens when you are a parent I guess, the re-evaluation of things once important. There are other things for us this summer, we will play in the back yard, visit friends, swim, take food and donations to our friends in the tent city at a local church, we will be good stewards of the land, conserve and use our resources wisely. We are waging Peace this summer.

If you are interested in waging Peace in your community please visit the website of Another Mother for Peace. ( http://www.anothermother.org/) Their very simple mission statement is this:
"War is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things".