A Second Look

There are times when I am at sea I go outside for some fresh air in the evening. When the moon is not out, you can hardly see your hand in front of your face. Some people don't stay outside long enough for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. They miss out on the remarkable celestial show you get when out on the ocean. The entire horizon is uncluttered by land, nothing to block your view. 360 degrees of star gazing pleasure. The first time I waited outside long enough to see "all" the stars, I couldn't beleive my eyes. Constellations you've seen in books, are clear clear as "day". You can actually see the milk of the milky way with out a telescope.
I often wonder, how many times we see something initially, and don't bother to wait and give it a seoond look. It's not dazzling to our senses, it doesn't automatically catch our interest, and so we find it boring and not of use. There are times when I've seen something a million times, and suddenly realize that I haven't been seeing the whole picture. Of course looking twice can also find the ugliness of something as well. Like looking at what you always thought was a pot of gold, and finding out that what is actually there is a pot of..well crap.

Day Three

Rockin and Rollin

We're starting to hit some heavy weather. People who have not been on a ship during rough weather have a hard time understanding how it would be like. Just imagine taking your workplace and then randomly rotating it upwards of 20 degrees either to the left or to the right. Everything must be tied down. Sailors learn this lesson fast. Chairs go sliding across the room, equipment and paper could go flying everywhere. My mouse slid off my desk and on the floor (thank god it didn't break, it's hard to get spare parts here.

Luckily I have never been one to get sea sick. It's a pretty Big annoyance. Typing at the computer and then having to stop to hang on for my life. Walking down passageways are interesting. Everyone looks like a bunch of pin balls being flung from one wall to the next. Our racks (beds) have straps in them to keep us from falling out, I'm sure I'll be using mine tonight.

Day Two

Cinco De Mayo Underway!
I didn't even realize what today was until dinner rolled around. We had probably the best meal I have eaten on the ship. The cooks went all out with a mexican dinner, enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, fresh salsa, guacamole. I ate way to much and I'm sure my stomach will be telling me this as I try to sleep....it was worth it.
Tomorrow is Sunday so we get to sleep in a little bit. It's nice to have one day where we can rest some.

Breakfast: Bagel with Cream Cheese
Lunch: BBQ Pork Sandwich
Dinner: Way too much Mexican food

Day One

We're off to deploy.
It doesn't matter how many times I have done it, this days always brings the jitters. It starts off waking up at home, knowing that I won't see the people I love for quite some time. I finshed packing all my last minute items and load them in the car. By this time Lynette has already loaded the kids and we are ready to go. Off to McDonalds for one last breakfast together. The kids want the Big Local breakfast platter which has eggs, rice, spam and portugese sausage (we are in Hawaii in case you didn't know).
As I am eating I try to pay extra attention to the kids and let them know things are going to be ok. They understand that daddy has been gone before, but never this long. You see, the last time I did this, I had no children. I can see that Lynette is a little bit anxious, but I know she'll take care of everything back home, she always has and I trust her completly.
We finish breakfast and I need to report to the ship. We say our good byes, and I see my family driving away. My heart sinks and I look to the ship and make my approach. Families are gathered around the ship as everyone is saying their goodbyes. Husbands and wives are crying, Wondering if everything is going to go smoothly. Will she be ok back home? How are the kids going to handle this? Will he be safe on the ship? Will he remain faithful? Will she remain faithful? Most of these fears others have don't phase me. I have complete faith in my wife, for you see we Love each other, and true love never fails. I say a quick prayer for my family and all those famlies in the Lake Erie "Ohana".

Dear Lord, please protect all of us as we deploy. Please watch over our families and comfort them while we are gone. Make sure everyone remains safe as we go out to defend our country. Please guide these Sailors to make the right choices while they are in far away lands. Help ensure we have a safe voyage home.

The ship got underway uneventfully and we are out doing what we do best, drilling, training, and telling sea stories. Once we leave the harbor, no more tears for we have a mission to complete and tears seem to be a sign of weakness. We are all stowing away our personal items we have brought aboard, new laptops, ipods, video game systems, candy. I can't beleive I brought this much stuff and that it actually fits in my lockers.

Lunch: Spaghetti
Dinner: Steak and Potatoes

Hawaii Earthquake

Last week we had a series of earthquakes here in Hawaii. I was on my ship that morning (24 hour duty) sitting in my office. Suddenly the whole ship began to shake as if we were running our engines at full power. When you are on a ship you become keenly attuned to all the ambiance noise and movements that happen. Tied to the pier not much is going on, so to feel the ship shake was quite an oddity. We had just come out of a maintenance period in dry dock a few days earlier and I personally thought that maybe we were taking on water or something. It took about 30 mins for the news to hit that we had a major earthquake.
I am still trying to figure out the physics behind feeling the shaking in the water. We do have mooring lines that are attached to the pier, but they are loose enough that they wouldn't have shaken the ship. The earthquake was side to side motion (not up and down) which may have moved the water enough to cause the shaking. I'll just add this to my list of things I have done that most people have not. Felt an earthquake while floating on the water.

Caleb, try eat your tofu

You see, his tofu miso soup was too hot to eat in the beginning. While he was waiting for it to cool down he started to play and forgot about his soup (one of his favorites). That simple phrase coming out of my mouth made me realize how much my life has changed in the last 11 plus years since I moved to Hawaii.

1. Caleb. A fathers concern that his son eats his food before it becomes too cold.

2. Try Eat. The Hawaii Pidgin language is hard to describe. If you think about it too much, it sounds fake. My wife and I don't really speak it too much, but on occasion it slips out. I compare it to someone moving to Texas and using the word "ya'll" by accident.

3. Tofu. Before I moved to Hawaii Tofu was one of those things that health nuts eat. The food in Hawaii is so unique because there are so many different cultures here. People don't eat tofu because it is healthy. They eat it because it tastes good (in that tofu assumes the taste of anything you cook it in. I wonder if you fry tofu in bacon grease, would it taste like bacon?). But since there aren't too many meat and potato places, or Mexican food places, I was forced to eat new food. I love sushi, Korean BBQ, Thai food, etc. I take my shoes off before entering a house. When I go home to Texas I miss eating rice at almost every meal.

I'm not sure we'll stay in Hawaii our whole lives. But I do know that I would make the same choices I did to get here, if given the opportunity.

Caleb and Lynnete Were Hurt

Last Wednesday (8 Feb), Caleb and Lynette were hurt in a freak accident. They were walking to Caleb's school when a tire fell of the axel of a moving boat trailor. Lynette was pushing Noah in a stroller and Caleb was walking right behind them. Lynette saw the tire, pushed Noah out of the way and then went back for Caleb. The tire hit her right leg really hard and then went straight toward Caleb. Two skull fractures, fractured chin, fractured jaw at both mandibles, three lost baby teeth (four after an operation) and a lung contusion. Caleb had to undergo surgery to put plates in his chin, pins in his jaw, and now his jaw is wired shut to allow healing. Caleb was released to go home last night. I'll write more, but wanted to thank all those who were praying for him. We now have to deal with feeding a five year old a diet where he doesn't have to chew (extremely challenging). There are still a few issues with his skull fractures, but the brain membranes were not broken and it appears there was no brain damage. Lynette's right leg is still injured and she has appointments set up to figure out how severe the injury is (no broken bones, but probably some ligament and joint damage). Caleb has recovered remarkable well and we continue to pray for a safe and quick recovery. He should be back in school in about a month.
I'll write more later on the whole event from my perspective. The accident had lots of island wide news coverage. Here's a link to an article in one of our papers.