visions and plans

My uncle passed away last year: he was in his early 90's. If you asked him he would tell you that he lived a life that he loved. An aeronautical engineer, he was there to help the pilots break the sound barrier, there when the astronauts went to the moon, there when they tested the big bombs on the Bikini islands, there to reconcile with the Japanese, negotiate with the Russians in Huntsville AL...he had a career he loved and had fun doing it. I'm pretty certain he forgot more math than I've ever known and certainly had much better people skills.

He worked on one particular project, in the McDonnell aircraft produced Voodoo family, that he always said really launched his career. While he had photos of family and friends on display in his home, for a while he also had an empty picture frame over the fireplace mantle. Curious about it, I asked him why. He told me he was waiting to locate a photo of the particular version of "his" aircraft and once he had it the photo would go in the frame. Until then, he could see the plane even if no one else could!

So when Homer sent me this photo of a not yet there cheese cave...on the north side of our hill, where the rock line was placed years ago, it made perfect sense to me. Just as I could stand with my uncle and know how much that empty picture frame meant to him, I can stand with Homer and see this too. Visions. Gotta love them. Right there between the two trees.