https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVRXn5Qjqs0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6McV4L_K7xAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awi6A9eLZ3k"A solo flight in a P-38L on a breezy summer day,
Up out of Santa Rosa, and up over Bodega Bay.
Broken white cumulus cauliflower clouds gently floated by,
And this day I will always remember, until the day I die.
Music, I wanted music, so I turned on commercial radio,
And what a surprise-the station I got, was XEMO, in Mexico.
Instead of the usual Latin fare, to my amazement and delight,
Sounded the thrilling Blue Danube Waltz, crowning my favorite flight.
From my earliest years I loved music, the Victrola in our house
Was sheer magic to me, especially the waltzes of Johan Strauss.
That beautiful city, Vienna, often chided for her naughty faults,
Was the world's capitol of music, and she gave us the Viennese waltz.
Lured by the mood and the rhythm, the lilting three-quarter time,
I waltzed above and below each cloud, in smooth descent and climb.
I looped and rolled and Immelmanned, wing-overs and chandelles,
Sweet lazy eights and rallentandos lent their soaring spells.
Suddenly the music stopped, and staccato Spanish was spoken,
I turned it off, tuned in on my base, for now the spell was broken.
Coming in to land, I felt a strange bitter-sweet confusion.
Did this fabulous flight really happen, was this just a dreamy illusion?
Feet on the ground, I pondered. Was this ecstasy real or false?
This I know: The Lightning, clouds, and I, all fused into the Viennese waltz.
Few days of my life have been perfect, but this unforgettable day,
I relive the P-38 waltz with the clouds, up over Bodega Bay."
Rest in Peace ...
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