This morning I flew some friends into Flying Cloud Airport to check out a school nearby for their daughter. From McCook we cruised at 9,000 feet in perfectly smooth cool air, 60 degrees outside and comfortable inside. Total time enroute two hours and 40 minutes. Ron kept commenting that it sure beat an eleven hour drive. Why yes, that is why I fly!

As always when airborne, I marvel at the countryside unfolding below. Today I was again amazed at the hundreds of miles of corn and soybeans stretching horizon to horizon below me.

I note that in Minnesota there appear to be many more active farm houses per section than in Southwestern Nebraska, an indication that perhaps the ground is rich and water more plentiful. The growing season this far north is much shorter than at home but I understand they raise good crops, definitely competition for our own Nebraska farmers.

Judging from the green below and noting all the pasture ponds and natural lakes in the sand hills full of water it appears to be a good year for rainfall.

Sunday afternoon I had the privilege of flying a new Citabria from McCook to the Rapid City, S.D. area and return. It was the hottest day of the year in McCook but again a nice cool 66 degrees at 8,500 feet and cooler at 11,500 feet when the boss flew back. Right around McCook I note that the pastures are turning their normal summertime brown; becoming dormant due to lack of moisture. I was pleasantly surprised though to see that all is green from about Hayes Center on northwest across the sand hills until crossing the Nebraska border just west of White Clay.

White Clay, famous for its beer sales of course, is located just inches south of the Nebraska border, a short walk from the dry Sioux Indian Reservation. I also note that the wheat harvest has been mostly completed all across Nebraska and it is just starting good in South Dakota.

What a beautiful country we live in!

Some things are meant to be shared! Recently Ann and I spent three days in a hotel located right on the River Walk in San Antonio, Texas. It was a business flight and obviously the flight crew has to sleep somewhere. Why not enjoy a location where early each morning one can step out onto a walking path that is the fulfillment of a civic leader's dream?

In San Antonio, all locations, in the downtown area, are measured from the Alamo and we were therefore only two blocks from the epicenter. It may be heresy to admit but for this Nebraska "flat lander" the present day Alamo isn't much to look at.

The original Alamo was built from adobe and that is one tough project to preserve from the weather. Most of the building is the original and retains the look of the original Spanish Mission Church. An original barracks has been preserved behind the iconic Alamo façade we know so well, but then the ubiquitous gift shop is there, too.

I have no doubt that every young Texan is schooled that the Alamo, the battle and the place are the ultimate symbol of Texan independence. The facts really aren't as important as the strong sense of patriotism, "this is ours and we are proud of it! Remember the Alamo."

It is a small matter that General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, commander of Mexican army, who actually won the battle of the Alamo gets short shrift. Although the Alamo fell in the early morning hours of March 6, 1836, the death of the Alamo defenders has come to symbolize courage and sacrifice for the cause of liberty.

The heroic characters of James Bowie, David Crockett, and William B. Travis are forever stamped into the memories of youthful Texans as true Texas heroes.

I always have a little sense of wonder about how the current crop of U.S. citizens of Mexican descent really feel about the ceaseless devotion to the dead white heroes uplifted at the Alamo Shrine when the real winners of the battle were their own ancestors. No matter, all of us take pride of the independent spirit represented by the Alamo and then too the surrounding carefully groomed grounds are a pleasant place to spend time and allow the ambience of the place to permeate one's soul.

The crown jewel of San Antonio is their River Walk. The original city grew up along the banks of the San Antonio River but there developed a problem. The river on occasion flooded and apparently, standing water throughout your downtown area seems to be distasteful. The solution: dig a huge underground tunnel beneath the entire city, a siphon to divert the flood water, and then carefully regulate the flow through the original river course. Over the years walking paths have been developed along both sides of the river, deep and wide enough to accommodate a constant string of tourist-carrying boats, water taxis and even dinner boats complete with white linen covered tables and hostesses serving the diners.

All manner of restaurants, pubs, bars, coffee houses, you name it, have grown up along side the walking paths and up the banks of the river.

Especially in the evenings, it gets hot in south Texas; the air in the shade along the flowing stream is cooler and more pleasant and people by the thousands, old, young, many families together mingle and flow obviously enjoying being alive and outside.

The Spanish influence in dress, food and music is obvious throughout. The whole place is carefully coiffed, kept as clean as Disney and well policed so the sense of security and safety is pervasive. It is a wonderful place to visit!

That's the way I see it.