We had been working on a little human-interest style features for The Daily listings to see if we could snag some additional clicks on the view-meter. We had some general direction from the Chairman to take a page out of the DEI playbook and open what had been a rambling Cruise Book-style account of old service days at the height of American global influence. And turn it into something that would include more morning clicks.

The way he put it was “Try contrast- old stories beside new sensibilities.”

That accounts for Dierdre’s cook-book entrees, since Management says she can keep the copyright and use the Boomers as a sort or ironic counterpoint to what the Zoom crowd is up to. So, that was the swirl this morning. We did a cookies recipe from American Cookies to give a little publicity to their Tuesday lunacy conducted at the Fair Oaks Mall down Leesburg Pike.

That is double frosting on double cookies, if you had forgotten, and that happens every week. The crowd began to straggle in for leftover cookies, sausage rolls and fresh warm treats from the Main Street Bagel Bakery over in Fairfax City.

Pastor fRank is good about the morning delivery route. It doesn’t end up out here in Fairfax, since he is working Arlington Real Estate developments in between his spells providing council to parishioners and sermons to the pulpit.

There is a fascinating development about the two developments which will transform 20+ story terile office towers into vibrant exciting living for 831 families in studio, one two and three bedroom units looking down at the brown Potomac and the Washington monument across the River.

Which is what brought us from cookies and human interest to the topic that had been bubbling since we decided to make these morning stories interesting. So, with the topics of lunacy and biography matching the chronological timeliness of the Day, we decided to tell Section Leader Miles we would start with a short and respectful treatment of his life on and above the World Ocean looking for those who operate below the surface.

Miles was just at the end of the Draft era when he was a young man in Detroit. That meant either accommodating two years carrying a rifle in Vietnam or creating a way forward that meant learning a life skill with decent lodging provided.

Which is how Miles wound up not as an April Fool, but as a career Naval Aviator. There is some dispute about the differences between the two, but Miles considers himself a bold but safe pilot who commanded a Squadron of multiple four-engined aircraft capable of successfully prosecuting advanced nuclear-powered submarines operating hours away under the waters of the world ocean.

And managing the dozens of pilots. mission support and maintenance people to operate the airplanes as the Commander of PATRON-SIX, the Mad Fixers of the NW Pacific.

Rocket and Splash had a nice parade of slides that explain the differences between the aviation communities required to support a global naval presence, and how missions shape people.

Sadly, that would explain an episode for Patrol, Attack, Fighter, Early Warning and Carrier Onboard Delivery folks. And you can see only the Fools of April would attempt to get into things like that this late in an 800-word Daily.

Rocket summed it up as best he could in one sentence. “Miles used to fly flat over water for hours, while I just pulled the stick back, jammed the throttles and went into the vertical while Splash just reaches down and pulls the lower handle on the ejection seat. Questions?”

There were some looks of general befuddlement around the table depending on which generation was attempting to frame their terms of reference. But that is going to have to wait until tomorrow, you know? We are still trying to figure out how the children of legal or illegal immigrants can achieve citizenship based on a a weekend trip to the US for a long weekend.

It truly is a day for people like us, you know? Welcome to April!

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