blooming: black-eyed susans.

my dad's retirement party is tomorrow. retirement from Delta Airlines, with whom he's been since Pan Am (his previous employer) went belly up.* FAA regs require commercial airline pilots to retire at 60, regardless of their health. i understand the rationale, of course--we don't want blind, crotchety, rickety pilots flying us around. however, many pilots, my dad included, are in perfect health, and will be for many years inshallah. and with age comes experience and with experience comes good instincts. pilots like my dad are probably some of the most competent guys out there, the ones i definitely want when i get in a big metal tube that flies through the air. perhaps they should be required to starting having more frequent physicals and flying tests, but i don't think they should be required to retire automatically.

*my dad has flown for 5 airlines, all of which went bankrupt. there was a florida regional airline, dolphin; a mid-atlantic commuter, henson; a short-lived venture, presidential; a long-time world leader in the industry, pan am; and one of the biggest u.s. airlines, delta.

we're having famous dave's bar-be-que and a "scrapbook" cake (lots of photos printed in icing on a book-shaped cake) from truli confectionary arts, who did my wedding cake. yum!