Roswell and Jim Hamblin

I drove on secondary roads to and spent the night in Roswell, New Mexico.  I have family history in Roswell.  My father went to the New Mexico Military Institute the last two years of High School.  The story is that his father sent him there to avoid the draft until he could enter the service as an officer.  I suppose it worked because he graduated from NMMI and joined the service as a second lieutenant.  That evening I wandered around the campus and chatted with a couple of the cadets.  They were very polite and formal.  I was struck by the diversity.  There were young men and women, black and white, American and several from Mexico and possibly the middle east.  Very different from the cadets of my fathers era.
I got up before dawn the next morning to watch flag raising.  I was moved watching the young cadets walk the quad to the flagpole.  Every turn exactly 90 degrees, just like my dad described.  I even found a few locations where I'd seen pics of my dad wearing the NMMI uniform.  Very Cool.

After Flag raising I drove to Ruidoso New Mexico where I hooked up with Jim Hamblin.  Jim was my Baldwin Rep after Ronnie.  He has made a new life for himself preaching the gospel to the Mescalero Apache.  Its a far cry from Factory Rep but I think he has found his true calling.  We had a  long breakfast and the best coffee of the trip.  Our conversation ranged far and wide.  Our lives have gone in radically different directions but our relationship hasn't changed at all.  I always felt like Jim had my back and it was really special to see him.