More rambling memories.
Continuing with my rambling memories of Homestead Air Force Base, you may wonder why I refer to Homestead Air Force Base as being in Miami, when actually it was located just outside of Homestead, Florida, hence the name Homestead Air Force Base. And I do that for the simple reason that everyone's heard of Miami, but few people have heard of Homestead, so I always say Miami to avoid the confusion of explaining that the town of Homestead is about 40 miles south of Miami. Homestead is closer to the Florida Keys and some of the best fishing in the world than it is to Miami. And speaking of fishing in the Florida Keys, where else in America can you cast your line into the Atlantic Ocean, then turn around and cast your line into the Gulf of Mexico?
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, even though I was in high school, we never had to practice getting under our desks in case of an attack, because with Russian nuclear missiles being in Cuba, the missiles would get to Homestead in a few minutes, so there was no need to give anyone a warning.... Since we would all be dead before we heard the warning.
And I guess just to make sure that the Russian missiles hit Homestead first, the American government moved a bunch more aircraft, and men from the Army, mostly manning ground to air hawk missiles that surrounded Homestead Air Force Base to make us an even bigger, more important target than we were to start with. At least no more insurance salesmen were knocking on doors in Homestead, trying to sell life insurance; those guys disappeared along with everybody else who could leave town..... Yet another little-known fact about Homestead Air Force Base..... Our president at the time was John F. Kennedy, and being a wealthy man, he had a winter home in Palm Beach, Florida. And for several reasons, mostly security, the presidential plane, a modified. Boeing 707 always landed and was temporarily stored at Homestead Air Force Base until time for the president to leave.
My family was living in base housing at that time, so I got to see the president being driven down the street in his Lincoln convertible, the only president I've ever seen in real life. And it wasn't long after that America learned that having a president sitting in the backseat of a convertible was not a great idea.
Theboondork
I went for a walk up a little hill this morning, and when I got to the top of the hill, this was my view.
You can see my teeny tiny home in the center left of the picture.
Most of the hill was easy, but sometimes I had to go through rocky spots where the rocks tried to roll out from under my feet.
Since it's springtime in the desert and pretty warm, I have to keep an eye out for any sneaky snakes slithering around, which is why I usually go for a morning walk when it's still chilly outside, and sneaky Snakes don't like chilly weather. Walking down a dirt road, rattlesnakes wouldn't be a problem because they're easily seen on the road. But walking through terrain like this, you have to be more careful.
Keep in mind that, in all my many years of walking around the desert, I've only seen one rattlesnake.
But the view was worth it.