I happened to stumble across an article written by my great grandfather, Donald Bryan in 1938. Lately i’ve been uncovering all sorts of goodies from the past, these is just being a few of them.

Donald Charles Seymour Bryan
(April 28, 1899 – April 9, 1942)

________________________________________________________

“BY AIR FROM THE HOLYLAND“
by
LIEUT. COLONEL D.C.S. BRYAN, D.S.O.

To every soldier abroad, leave home is always an adventure. This year I have just been home to England from Palestine, doing the journey both ways by the Italian Airways, “Ala Littoria”.  Today, as always, the big problem of leave is the time factor and the financial considerations, but by Air from Palestine you save 5 to 8 days each way, while in round figures the return journey costs only £55. This includes hotel and meal expenses from Haifa to Athens. There are no tips as on board a ship – no gin! and no smoking! By Air all this is saved.  The only difficulty is the question of kit, 32 lbs is the maximum weight allowed, so buy a light suitcase – stuff it with two suits and some shirts, and use the lack of any other clothing, a good excuse to visit your tailor again.

And now for the flight itself. Up till this year I had never flown before, so anyone in similar circumstances may appreciate my early feelings on being taken out in a tender from Haifa harbour to our flying boat. These boats look like great birds. They are of all metal construction with three engines immediately above the wings, with two tiny cabins, one in each float,very small and extremely hot. The start is terrifying. Suddenly a great roar above and in a moment we are moving down the harbour. The noise is deafening and one can see nothing but spray, while bump! bump! bump! you sway along. I held on tightly, wondering if my face looked like those of my companions – then shut my eyes. Will we ever get off the water is always the first feeling in these planes. and then it is impossible to imagine the relief when suddenly the bumping ceases and you realize you are skywards.

You know what’s wrong with you, Miss Whoever-you-are? You’re chicken, you’ve got no guts. You’re afraid to stick out your chin and say, “Okay, life’s a fact, people do fall in love, people do belong to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real happiness.” You call yourself a free spirit, a “wild thing,” and you’re terrified somebody’s gonna stick you in a cage. Well baby, you’re already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it’s not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It’s wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself.

Navy Update:

I leave for Recruit Training Command in
Great Lakes, Illinois on July 5, 2010

I’ll report to Tampa, FL. Medical Examination Processing Station on the day before I am scheduled to ship, for nine weeks of recruit training. After training, I’ll attend “A” School in Pensacola, FL for about a six-week period. While working on deck, I plan to attend college for my bachelor’s degree. I want to be a Pilot.

My rating is an Aviation Boatswain Mate – Aircraft Handler (ABH).
Aviation Boatswain’s Mates play a major part in launching and recovering naval aircraft quickly and safely from land or ships.

abiding my time

Relatively, the first week of January 2010 I will be sworn into the United States Navy.  On December 15th 2009 I took the The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, and placed above average. On December 17th 2009 i was notified that I would leave that evening for Military Entrance Processing Station, which would take place the following morning. Before departing, my district was notified that the Station was to be closed essentially for the holidays, consequently postponing the process to a later engagement.

“Small rooms.. always pleased to be in small rooms.
What a sad idea palaces are.”

spirituality and the now

“Spirituality is a particular term which actually means dealing with intuition. In the theistic tradition there is a notion of clinging into a word. A certain act is regarded as displeasing to a divine principles. A certain act is regarded as pleasing for the divine…whatever. In the tradition of non-theism, however, it is very direct — that the case history are not particularly important. What is actually important is here and now. Now is definitely now. We try to experience what is available there, on the spot. There is no point in thinking that a past did exist that we could have now. This is now. This very moment. Nothing mystical, just now, very simple, straight forward. And from that nowness, however, arises a sense of intelligence always that you are constantly interacting with reality one by one. Spot by spot. Constantly. We actually experience fantastic precision, always. But we are threatened by the now so we jump to the past or the future. Paying attention to the materials that exist in our life — such rich life that we lead — all these choices takes place all the time, but none of them regarded as bad or good per say — everything we experience are unconditional experience. They don’t come along with a label saying ‘this is regarded as bad’, ‘this is good’. But we experience them but we don’t actually pay heed to them properly. We don’t actually regard that we are going somewhere. We regard that as a hassle. Waiting to be dead. That is a problem. That is not trusting the nowness properly that what is the actual experience now possesses a lot of powerful things. It is so powerful that we can’t face it. Therefore, we have to borrow from the past and invite the future all the time. Maybe that’s why we seek religion. Maybe that’s why we march in the street. Maybe that’s why we complain to society. Maybe that’s why we vote for the presidents. It is quite ironic. Very funny indeed.”

-Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

this is chloe.

“ Human beings are funny. They long to
be with the person they love but refuse
to admit openly. Some are afraid to show
even the slightest sign of affection because
of fear. Fear that their feelings may not be
recognized, or even worst, returned. But one
thing about human beings puzzles me the most
is their conscious effort to be connected with the
object of their affection even if it kills them slowly within.”

— Sigmund Freud