DC 2 - Carry On

DC2

Wet, gray clouds slide right to reveal a robins-egg sky of blue. The sun shines warm and inviting, busy with the task of vaporizing the rain pooled from the storm. Steam, hot moist air, floats upward like campfire smoke. It is September 10th, 2011, Washington DC. Mixing with the steam and smoke is an odd combination of jubilation and apprehension. Joggers jog, cyclists navigate the overcrowded streets as best they can, the locals head to farmers markets. Life on this sunny September is sweet. But there is that nagging feeling that we are being watched. The big eyes are on us. Radios, cell phones, radar, internet are all powered up. The intelligence community are wearing their game faces. If ever there was a day for special ops, this is it. It has been ten years. There has been noise. There are rumors. America, especially here at its heart, is on high alert. We don't need another reminder of the vulnerability that comes with freedom. Tomorrow we will cross bridges and enter tunnels over and through terrain that could easily be classified as off limits, ground zero. DO NOT ENTER. Danger. But then we would lose. And they will have won. Keeping 3,000 Americans from competing in the Nation's Triathlon would be the equivalent of an unconditional surrender. "Here, my freedom is yours, you win."

And folks that just ain't gonna happen.

Freedom is too important to allow anything to stand between.

Tomorrow we will go out and exercise. We will bike and run. There will be good-natured competition, camaraderie and effort. There will be sacrifice, a little pain and some suffering. A lot of us will remember where we were a decade ago. I will never forget the scratchy voice of the Base CO over the PA on a tiny Navy Support Facility in the Indian Ocean who concluded his all-hands announcement with the chilling words, "This is not a drill, repeat, this is NOT a drill."

Freedom is an exercise. Tomorrow we will exercise our freedom.

My sincere thanks to all those who have made this possible. LIke the Navy slogan pledges: Life, liberty and the pursuit of all who would threaten it.

It is that important. Here's to tomorrow, carry on.

Pix: Boo stands by her man. Big red local pomodori at $1.69 per. RCVman gets a buzz.