The Blue Angels

It’s not every day that the Blue Angels come to town. It was the weekend for the big, every-once-in-a-while air show in my hometown -- nationally known flyer's from all over and a high profile flying group too.

In 2001 the Blue Angels were scheduled to appear. We went right down to the final week then 9/11 canceled the whole thing. Couldn't expect them to show up that week, and we all understood. But we couldn't help but be disappointed.

Last Saturday was a clear day, blue sky, puffy clouds, a chilly wind, but otherwise pretty good weather. Did I go on Saturday? No, of course not, I decided to wait until Sunday when it would be cold and damp and I could freeze to death while watching the show.

Sunday broke cold and cloudy, as predicted. I already had tickets and was determined not to miss it. It’s April. How cold can it get? Not frigid, but when you set outside in the cold wind for a couple of hours, it begins to chill your bones.

The crowd was smaller than usual. All the warm-blooded chickens were there the day before. Only the die-hards, with more stamina than brains had elected to wait for day that was cold and rainy.

Speaking of rain, we had our pants scared off a couple of times, and not just by the low flying planes. It would sprinkle just enough to make everyone run for umbrellas. That’s was all we needed, pouring rain to go along with the cold weather. But, it was just a little weather joke and shortly after the clouds sneezed on us, the showers stopped.

The planes were fantastic! Any good redneck loves an airshow, and I’m no exception. Lots of whooping and swooping, plenty of noisy and smoke, loops and spirals to keep us cheering, it would have been wonderful even on a warm day. But what made it really fabulous was freezing to death to see it, nothing else could be quite as special as that.

We shivered in the wind, watching, teeth chattering. I gave up taking pictures after a few ground shots, too cold to hold the camera steady. I pulled down my stocking cap and put up the hood on my jacket. My fingers were freezing. I had an extra pair of socks that were turned into a pair of makeshift gloves.

What a great day for an air show!

The announcer kept telling us what a loyal crowd we were to come out in this weather. “Don’t leave; the Blue Angels are still coming up.” Leave? Is he kidding? We are frozen to our chairs! Bi-winged planes doing upside down passes with wing walkers didn't impress us at all. What we were there for was one thing -- to freeze to death waiting for the Blue Angels.

The Blue Angels finally did fly. I don’t know if we saw their full show or not. I doubt it, as I understand they have three shows and the one they fly depends on the weather. With the clouds getting ready to pop at any minute, we were lucky it wasn't canceled...again.

The minute they finished their routine, there was a surge of humanity making a giant exodus for the parking lot. I don’t know why as we were having such a great time and had only spent five hours outside in the cold.

Now I’m seeing reports on T.V. about what a good show it was. I notice, however, that the pictures always show blue sky with puffy white clouds, obviously made at the Saturday show for wimps.

What they need to do is get insulated underwear and an umbrella and come out and freeze to death in the rain like a real fan.