Or so I thought....

 "plank owner" is an individual who was a member of the crew of a ship when that ship was placed in commission.


...as I nearly skipped down the pier between the Kearsarge on my right and the Big E, the Enterprise on my left. newly retired my mind was filled with images of over 20 years in the Navy. Not all of it "good time" but a lot of good times, good friends and good shipmates.

 But it was time to get started with my life post Navy. My first priority after seeing that my family was taken care of was education. I had been a weather observer and forecaster since 1973 with a break in there for show business. I decided that going into the clergy was my calling. I was wrong but it gave me a goal. So I enrolled at the local JC working part time at a theater, went on to a B.S. In Counseling At Old Dominion University. Somewhere in there I started working as an alcohol and substance prevention counselor to young sailors.
   As such my job took me all over the area from Norfolk up to DC to facilitate classes for my young shipmates. On occasion I was asked to ride with a ship for a few days or more to conduct classes. So I was set for my return to the Kearsarge in October 2002, 6 years after I retired, 9 years after I was a member of the commissioning crew. In the 6 years I had been gone the ship had undergone little change physically, but the crew had changed immensely. When I left, the Kearsarge was male only, not any more. Now it was a mixed gender crew. My first experience in that environment aboard ship, disrupting the deja vu  feeling.

Man Overboard! Man Overboard! Man overboard on the starboard side! Man the starboard lifeboat Man Overboard!

Well some things hadn't changed. A man overboard drill is standard upon leaving port to make sure that all crew members were aboard. Another thing that had changed was that I was on board as an instructor eating in the officer's wardroom dinner with captain. Not as a mid-management enlisted. I got better food, better accomodations and better treatmen. Plus an old friend from Pearl Harbor was now the Ship's Meteorologist. As a junior officer she had been placed under my tutelage for several months to teach her a few of the finer points of forecasting. It was nice to see her again after all those years. In total I spent almost a month underway with the Kearsarge on that trip. We visited Panama Beach Florida and Corpus Christie Texas. I taught 8 classes to more than 150 sailors. Nothing spectacular but satisfying.

After arrival back in Norfolk, I was gonged off the ship once more "Plankowner, Departing!

Reveille! Reveille! All hands on deck.

Image via Wikipedia

"Sweepers! Sweepers! Man your brooms! Give the ship a clean sweep down fore and aft. Sweep down all ladders and passageways Now Sweepers!"


 Sweepers was a common call over the ships general announcing system, the 1MC. several times a day from reveille at 0600 to lights out at 2200. The favorite being "Liberty Call! Liberty Call! Liberty commences for duty section 1, 3 and 4 to expire at 0730 Tuesday 09 March,  Now Liberty Call!"  One of the least was:


 "This is a drill, this a drill! Fire! Fire! Fire! Class Charlie fire in compartment 2–152–3–L, Duty Section 2 respond, Flying Squad away. This is a drill! This is a drill!" 

So I'm in duty section 2 minding my own business when this call comes out. I immediately tuck my pants into my boots, button the top button of my shirt and put on a flash hood for protection from sparks and or flame, then hurry to my assigned station where I will put on full firefighting equipment take my position on a fire hose and proceed down to where the fire has been reported.


“2–152–3–L” is a compartment located on the second (2) deck with its forward boundary located at frame (152). It is the third (3) compartment to the starboard side of the ship’s centerline at that frame. It is either a living quarters, a medical or dental space or a passageway (L). All that information for a drill but you have to take it seriously. When you're out at sea there aren't many fire trucks around.

In the spring of 1985 the USS Coral Sea is just finishing up air operations for the day  Over the 1MC


"All Hands Brace for Collision," 


At 7:48 pm Thursday, April 11, 1985 USS Coral Sea (CV-43) collided with the Ecuadorean oil tanker Napo about 45 miles southeast of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. . Eleven aircraft airborne at the time of the accident were diverted to the Naval Air Station at Guantanamo Bay. There was a Soviet intelligence gathering ship shadowing Coral Sea, since her embarked Carrier Air Wing 13 (CVW-13) was equipped with the then new F/A-18A Hornet aircraft. There were no injuries to crew members of either ship, but the carrier had a 30-foot hole punched in the bow. The Napo spilled 7600 gallons of oil before making it to Guantanamo Bay for repairs. The Coral Sea limped backed from Cuba at 10 kts or less north to Norfolk Naval Shipyard for repairs. 


 Another time on board the USS Kearsarge operating off the coast of  Bosnia we had been assigned the job of rescuing a downed Air Force Pilot. In the weather office we had been watching conditions carefully for the most opportune time to go in.  I was sound asleep in my rack. sometime after midnight over the 1MC:


"This is the Captain speaking we've located Capt O'Grady and were going in"

A few hours later we got word that the rescue was very successful, Capt O'Grady was aboard and in good health. No one was hurt during the mission though some bullets punctured one of the rescue helicopters. 
  
 My favorite 1MC call came on July 15th 1996 not so coincidentally my birthday. I'd been waiting for a couple of hours for my Division Officer and Chief to Come down to the quarterdeck. I got a bit tired of waiting . Grabbed the 1MC microphone and announced to the whole ship 


"AG1 Retired Departing." 


Walked off the brow, saluted the Ensign and made my way down the pier for the last time. Or so I thought.

Signs of Spring

March Wind

March wind is a jolly fellow;

He likes to joke and play.

He turns umbrellas inside out

And blows men's hats away.

He calls the pussy willows

And whispers in each ear,

"Wake up you lazy little seeds,

Don't you know that spring is here.

What the Robin Told

The wind

told the grasses,

And the grasses

told the trees.

The trees

told the bushes,

And the bushes

told the bees.

The bees

told the robin,

And the robin

sang out clear

Wake up!

Wake up!

Spring is here!

I don't know who wrote these poems. No credit is given on the website I got them from.

 For weeks I've been expecting the daffodils. Friday afternoon I go out to do a bit yardwork and I'm surprised by this batch of crocus'. I don't remember seeing them last year, though Shari says they were there. A year ago I was concentrating on healing and may have missed what was right in front of me. This year I'm stopping to smell the roses which haven't bloomed yet.

Saturday Masters - Emmylou Harris and friends-Day of the Dude

Hey in case you all aren’t yet privy to the new shit, let us enlighten you up: This coming Saturday March 6th is our annual “high” holy day, The Day of the Dude. Dudeists all over the world are celebrating by going bowling, drinking white russians, watching The Big Lebowski, or doing absolutely nothing at all. Join them and us!

Pas de Deux

Shall we waltz;

in time to the

breaking waves

Shall we tap

our toes on the stars

perhaps an old softshoe

on the clouds above

or minuet into the sky

In Response to Kass on Place as a Touchstone

Evening walks on the beach with Shari and Sam, also sometimes Cameryn. Soon it will be warm enough and as the days get longer it gets easier to find the sunsets. Oceanview, the OV , my neighborhood here in Norfolk has become my home.

  I scratch my head at that. I had always planned to move back to LA. I still talk about it, but it's here in the Norfolk/Virginia beach area where I bought my house, Where I joined the PTA, Where I graduated from college. 

It's where I have a community, the first in my life of traveling from place to place, spanning the globe. 

  So I guess Kass, that this is where I grew up, Where I embraced responsibility. 

A Dudeist Priest's search for enlightment

No Saturday Masters today. 
See yesterdays tribute to Johnny's 78th

Taking it easy is hard work!

Now, it’s a basic tenet of the Dudeist ethos to just say “Fuck it,” or “Yeah, well, that’s just, like, you’re opinion, man,” when someone micturates upon our faith. But we’re talking about unchecked theological aggression here, drawing a line in the spiritual sand, Dude. Across this line you do not—also, Dude, “faith” is not the preferred nomenclature—“worldview,” please. - By Rev. Dwayne Eutsey Arch Dudeship

 A steady diet of White Russians isn't working.
Image and recipe by NPR

1 glass tumbler (filled with ice)

1 shot (free pour) Smirnoff Vodka

2 shots (free pour) Kahlua

Top off with half and half

Go outside and take a nap 

                                                                          

                                                                                                                                 From Menage a Moi

I Got out of the hammock after a couple hours in the sun; stepped right into a pile of dog crap.

Probably forgot to feed her again

 "well, sometimes you shit on the dog, sometimes the dog shits on you" 

 So I needed to take it easy after that ordeal.

Dude! when did I get so fat!
Must of been the half and half...

 As you see the rug is missing and the sofa. Fucking Nihilists.

So now I'm search of something to tie the room together. When you think about it, isn't that what life is all about anyway?

I like to think that  Donny's (shame about Donny) last words to Walter Sobchak were "I am the Walrus."  In this, Walter is out of his element, not seeing the spiritual connection between a mankind and the oneness of life. There at the end Donny saw this with great clarity as did John Lennon before him. isn't that the essence of Dudeism. Just sit and the world comes to you.

                                                                     

                                                                               

                                                                               

Slacker (courtesy Norfolk PD)   "If you will it Dude, it is no dream"

Chris, Bernie and I'm not in the picture.

In response to Kass' challenge I offer this photo.
This is my oldest son Chris with his GrandDad, my step Dad, Bernie.  Chris looks to be about 7 so I'm guessing the picture was taken at Christmas 1989.

 This picture reminds me that I don't see my family often. Chris is in Florida with his wife Sarah and my grandaughter Alyssa, Bernie is with my mother in California. And I wonder what the hell I'm still doing in Norfolk.






My relationship with Chris is one I wish I could do over.  In retrospect I should've fought a little harder for custody when his mother and I separated. But if  I'm honest with myself I know I would have made a lousy single dad. As a result we haven't spent much time in one another's company over the years. A few days here and there as I criss-crossed the world. A few months when he was 16-17 and in my custody here in Norfolk where he hated living. Even now we don't speak as much as we could or should. But at least we are in touch.

I'm going to let a video speak about Bernie for me. This was shot by his son Eric the day after Bernie was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer.                                                                               

Johnny Cash 78th Birthday

Johnny Cash via last.fm

Happy Birthday Johnny.