05/17/2025
A couple times every summer for the last nineteen years a squadron from Ohio flies a couple C-130's up the Allegheny river valley. And every year when this happens, things in our house make a slow rattle, the noise gets louder, I grab any camera within reach, and run as fast as I can to the river to attempt a photo.
Over the years I've tripped and fell in the yard trying to get there (picture a full barrel roll!), I've face planted from slipping while running into the water, I've made it in just enough time to realize I have no SD card in my camera, and I've not even come close dozens of times. It's actually become somewhat of a family joke. ("Oh, there's mom again, running toward the river after her airplanes...")
Tonight, I got on the river for the first time in over two weeks (due to high water). As I pushed off from shore, I looked downriver and was taken aback by the green hillside and the shadow that was cast as the sun was setting. So beautiful. A mayfly hatch was in full swing all around me as I held the camera to my eye. I snapped a photo, then noticed something hovering. Darn mayfly, I thought, as I pulled the camera down and looked at the lens. When I put the camera back up, I heard a familiar rumble...
As I realized I was finally in the exact spot I'd been trying to get to for nineteen years, it's as if I'd forgotten how to use a camera! lol
Although I have a very deep love for solitude and peace in nature, having served in the Navy as an air traffic controller for eight years, the roar of a C-130 twice every summer brings back so many memories and gives me all the feels of those days, and service to country. It's always special to catch 'em coming through, and tonight was no exception.
Thanks to the guys and gals at Youngstown Air Reserve Station for making our night! But seriously, can we just have a heads up on the day/time you'll be swingin' through the river valley to make this a little easier? 😆
