Logically, I know the horrors that the Soviet Union’s occupation of countries brought. I’ve read about it, I logically know the numbers. But I didn’t grow up with those numbers… for very good reasons, the Holocaust stands tallest in my mind due to the trauma it inflicted on my family. I was, simply put, raised in its shadow.
Standing in Estonia, in front of a memorial park dedicated to those deported by the USSR for use as slave labor and those simply executed, I’m reminded that World War Two was horrifying, and cast countless other shadows as well.
I didn’t realized that this was a memorial to those killed by the “Red Terror” of the USSR, at first. I saw the obelisk from the Reid Promenade, thought it looked interesting, and walked over. I mean, that’s what I’ve been doing this whole trip, and it’s served me pretty well hasn’t it?
Well, it continued serving me well, even if the subject matter was a bit tough.
The memorial was absolutely gorgeous – expansive, thoughtful, and… good. It was just a really great memorial, and I won’t try to describe it any further than that. Instead I’ll step back, and let the photos paint a picture for you.
What I can describe was the quiet of the park, the solemnity, and the sound of birds and wind in the trees… with the faint and distant sound of a lawnmower going off near the other side of the park, keeping the large fields of grass and stands of trees tamed.
Kind of impressive that it took me this long, if you think about it. I mean… my work at Insitu was on full-scale UAVs, but they were still drones, at the end of the day, right? Our CTO did his PhD on the aerodynamic equations around quadcopters, leading to the tech that balances those little toys you see at a gas station, for Pete’s sake!
How have I survived this long without one??
Well…
It’s pretty easy, actually. See, the first step is to not buy a drone. Then… just don’t do anything.
It’s literally the easiest option, and it’s the default setting! Doesn’t require any effort at all, in fact!
But still. Engineer in aerospace. So I finally bought one.
This one is the Autel Nano+, a small little quad copter with a fairly nice camera, some good autopilot options, and decidedly existent collision detection software. It’s small, it’s light, and it’s absolutely not a professional-grade piece of equipment. It’s actually a gram or two too light to count for FAA Part 107 classification. Which is fancy terminology to say that I don’t have to take a class to fly it, nor do I have to register it. Simple, light… I like it.
I’m still getting used to it, I freely admit. Which, I also freely admit, involves repairing it on more than one occasion. Sometimes with help from engineer friends.
But hey – repaired rotor spars build character, right? Right. Please tell me I’m right.
With all that in mind – sit back, relax, and enjoy the trial photography!
It’s been a while since I’ve had an adventure like this, hasn’t it? One big adventure with a few different blog posts dedicated to it? Well… Here we go! Adventure to Seattle, solo-style!
A while back, I was granted citizenship to Austria, through an update to the Austrian Constitution allowing repatriation for descendants of those displaced by war. I compiled paperwork over six months, sent it all in, and then waited almost nine months. Then, out of the blue, I get a package in the mail – a very official package with my “Bescheid” included – my new citizenship!
Now that I have it, though, I need a passport… and the closest consulate is in Seattle. I haven’t been for a few years, and I’ve never had an opportunity to either explore the city on my own or to go backpacking in the Olympic National Forest… which happens to be right across Puget Sound from Seattle…
After backpacking Flapjack Lakes, I was planning on hiking the Quinalt Trail as a short dayhike. Just a quick mile or two, getting to see a different side of the Olympics.
But… I never actually checked distances, or driving times.
When I tossed it into my GPS… Well, the drive was quite a bit long. And Tuesday morning had gone beautifully slowly… Not a bad thing, by any means, but also not great for 7 hours of driving.
Instead, I drove to Aberdeen.
Why Aberdeen, you may ask? Well… I don’t know. I’ve been to Aberdeen in Scotland, it showed up on a map, and… you know what? I didn’t have a reason. It felt right, okay? This trip was about being flexible and doing fun things! Aberdeen seemed fun at the time!
And you know what? It absolutely was!
When I arrived, I did a quick loop through the town looking for anything interesting. When nothing caught my eye, I pulled up a map and tried to find a place to step my toes into the Pacific. Why? More important to ask – why not?
Well, I couldn’t find anywhere to dip my well-walked toes. But I did find a small park, named “Kurt Cobain Memorial Park”. Interesting… after a quick google search, I realized that I was in the hometown of none other than the original grunge artist. The birthplace of Nirvana!
Now, I’m not a huge Nirvana fan… but I do love me some good music, and I adore me some good sculpture gardens! So off I went, and onward did I explore.
It was tiny, but interesting. A small memorial with a few sculptures of note, and a shrine-like-object under the bridge where Kurt camped out before he got his break.
It was… interesting. Poignant, in some ways, thinking that someone who would make such a massive impact on the music of the world had camped out under the bridge I stood under… Definitely made me think about the role of adversity in creation.
Anyways I also ate an amazing hotdog in Aberdeen!
Yeah… bad segue, I know, but I didn’t really know how to move on from there. The rest of the drive went as quickly and smoothly as I could have asked for. The miles ground away under my wheels, and the gasoline burnt (expensively) under the hood as the Mustang carried me back to my lovely little apartment in my lovely little town.
