Navy Memories: 2018 USS Wm. M. Wood Crew Reunion

Another year, another reunion ended. I saw shipmates and friends (but I repeat myself) for the first time in 43+ years.

Seen while browsing in Fredericksburg, TX after the Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War.

It just struck my fancy, but seems like good advice to those who would critique. :)

Sign in a store window.

An old Spanish mission outside San Antonio.

The Alamo: an old Spanish mission inside San Antonio, and the seat of Texas liberty. 

A random scene from the river cruise...

My shipmate Russ H., with whom I shared an apartment in Elefsis, Greece. We last met in April 1975.

A four-foot-long handmade model of the USS William M. Wood as it was when I sailed on her.

All the shipmates from the various years of the Wood at the Saturday night banquet. I'm the tallish goomer in the back row, left.

And the five shipmates who served together, minus Russ H., who had returned home earlier.
(Me, Ron R., Jim G., John M., and Jerry C.)

More, later, after I've caught up on sleep.

March 4th

It's a busy morning around the ol' homestead. There's a quick run to the local pharmacy and gas station.

My wife is preparing a nice lunch for later.

I've already restrung some audio cables in the living room, as they'd recently become dislodged; a cable chase which was supposed to be self-adhered decided that it didn't want to be. A couple of small screws put paid to that, and now all is neatly hidden again.

A bit later, Older Daughter and I will take a pickup load of old mattresses and sundry to the dump. That gets the garage more-or-less cleaned out, pending the arrival of the local Goodwill folks to take away an old sleeper-sofa which we no longer need.

After that, an old friend will be stopping by to see our new place, and enjoy that lunch I mentioned. I'll probably drag out one of the guitars, and we might sing a bit. Yeah, we're old-fashioned like that.

In the meantime, local cable will be covering the ceremonial start of the Iditarod (yay!) at 10:00. That's about 90 minutes from now.

That takes care of the next six hours or so. After that? My plans don't include the future. :^)


Thanks for stopping by, friends. Have a wonderful and blessed Saturday!

An Early Christmas Present

When I reactivated my Facebook account, earlier this year, I decided to seek out old Navy shipmates and friends.

I was very, very fortunate and found one from boot camp, one from my ship, and one from Adak.

Turns out the fellow from my ship has quite a collection of memorabilia, including the commissioning pennant, from that old destroyer which has been an artificial reef since 1976. And what do I have? An old windbreaker, and a belt buckle.

But Joe took pity on me. Back in '74, he bought an engraved Zippo lighter from the ship's store and sent it to his dad. When his dad passed away, the lighter was returned to him. And then he found out that I had little remember the ship by, other than pictures, a home movie, and the items mentioned above.

He took pity on me, and sent me this:

I don't know that it will mean much to anyone other than another sailor, but this - a tangible reminder of part of my life that meant so much - made my heart swell.

Joe, you've made this old sailor very, VERY happy.

TBT: Bullets, Gunsmoke and Coffee

Here's a blast from 2010:

I met my new friend Jennifer at the Wet Bunny Range for a few hours of sending bullets, large and small, downrange. It was nice to have a shooting buddy for a change, and she's delightful company.

Jennifer making holes in paper

I had spent the summer working on my rifle skills, at the expense of pistol practice, and it showed. The ammo I purchased last week seemed to be reloads, and they were definitely hotter than your UMC hardball ... and a bit smoky, too.

Me playing with Jennifer's revolver

Since I hadn't practiced for awhile, my first several magazines' worth was a bit of spray & pray. My initial groups were about 5" (at 10 yards). Like I said, it wasn't good at all. The quality of the handloads was uneven, and some produced quite a bit more recoil than others. Nevertheless, I had the groups down to 3" after a bit of concentration. Okay, some were 3.5". When I muttered about not being any good today, Jennifer was kind enough to say, "But he's still dead."

Have I mentioned I like her? She's very polite, you see.

Part of the view from the entrance at Borders

Afterward, we stopped at Borders* for coffee and had a nice chat about all matters great and trivial, and then wound up at Sportsman's Warehouse, looking over black powder supplies. She expressed interest in the possibility of building a long-rifle (flintlock, of course) from a kit. Since that's something I've done, she also made me promise to help with hers. Sounds like fun.

So it was a good day, with good company. We decided it was the first monthly meeting of the Alaska-Bloggers-Who-Sometimes-Write-About-Guns-and-Who-Have-Friends-and-Acquaintances-in-the-South-and-Midwest. Or something like that.**


*While taking this picture outside of Borders, a guy walked up and asked if I am "one of those Google guys." He thought the panoramic views of the Chugach Mountains would make a great feature. He was right.

**Okay, the name needed a lot of work. We were new at this, 'kay? Besides, Jenny's long since moved far away, and

A Great Evening & a Good Day

Long-time readers will know that we've been on sabbatical from church ministry for some time, now. That was after 20 years of being music ministers and associate pastors.

The couple with whom we were co-associates at the last church have been visiting Anchorage, after 10 years in Florida. We were able to connect with them last night, and it was like no time had passed. The conversation flowed like wine, as the saying goes, and their kids are now old enough to enter in.

So there were eight of us just babbling like magpies for several hours. I'm sure the folks in the coffee shop who were there to simply read were less than thrilled with the hubbub. Gee, that's too bad. :)

It was a really good visit with them.

* * * * *

Our weather is taking a strange turn: AccuHunch thinks we'll have strong winds, slowly increasing throughout the day, and peaking at 65 to 80 mph overnight into tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, tonight's snow forecast will change to rain tomorrow. Then we're to have several periods of rain/freezing rain/wintry mix throughout the coming week, with highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s. Yay.

* * * * *

Today will be a quiet day, we hope, with not much to do other than some laundry. Older Daughter and I will spend some time wandering through Cabela's today, too.

I appreciate all y'all stopping by, friends. Thank you.

Throw-Back Thursday

Not about the long string of vehicles we've owned. That will wait until I've gone through several hundred unsorted photos in storage boxes, looking for random snapshots of this car or that.

I've recently reactivated my Book of Face account, and trimmed the list of contacts considerably. There were several reasons why I shut the thing down, a couple years ago.

One, trying to find something clever, pithy, and brief to say there was sapping my ability to write anything here.

Two, there were so many friends of friends of friends who'd "friended" me to bolster their on-screen numbers ... and I found it tiring, after awhile, to even scan posts from complete strangers about other strangers, and things of no interest.

This time 'round, my list is relatives, people I know now, and - to my delight - some Navy friends from boot camp, A school, and everyplace I was stationed.

Additionally, I don't care whether I post something every day, or even check the account every day. It's just a pastime, ya know?

Freedom includes owning things. But when things own you, that's a form of slavery ... even if self-imposed.

Update

Several of you have e-mailed to ask about Richard, the missing brother-in-law of our old friend.

There's been no word at all, and his family is quite distraught. Prayers are still needed.

Thank you.

A Couple More Things

Primus: all the various photos, pictures, and assorted artwork is now hung, and my wife has pronounced it good.  And as you married fellas can attest, that means she's at peace. Which means I am, too. :)

Secundus: my Navy buddy Petro, inventor of the Wolverine Tree Seats which I featured here many moons ago, just found out that they're going to be featured on Season To Season Outdoors. It's a program on KMOS-TV Channel 6.1.

Petro said, "He wants to feature my seat on his live show this Sunday and use my seat on a filmed turkey hunt next week."

Is that cool, or what?

Friends Old and New, with Coffee on the Side

We made it all the way to 48 degrees this afternoon, with another day of sunshine. Since the forecast yesterday and today was for rain, the two sunny days have been extra-enjoyable. To be fair, I drove to work in a rain/snow mix this morning before 7:00, when the temp was 37, but that ended by sunrise.

The snow has come marching back down the mountainsides again, due to the early rains. It seems that winter is trying to arrive a bit more quickly than usual; this elicits a chorus of both cheers and groans, locally. I still haven't figured out why people who don't like snow stick around the place; this being Alaska, snow is ... inevitable.

I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Peter, Miss D, and Jenny for lunch. It was a delightful chat; Peter and I, being Navy veterans - no matter that it was not the same Navy - had somewhat in common, and swapped a few tales of ... well, let's say "maritime mischief" and leave it at that, 'kay?

The skies are clouding up, this afternoon, and I'm sure there's some sort of precipitation in our future. Since AccuHunch guesses we'll get into the mid-30s again tonight - and colder, later in the week - what we actually receive is anyone's guess.

Light Blogging This Week

MoBro (Missouri Brother, for the uninitiated) arrived safely yesterday afternoon, and we had a good evening talking about his trip & all the places I'd like to take him this week.

The evening sun shining in the windows at 10 p.m. messed with his head, a bit, but it does that to everyone who sees it for the first time. I mentioned that the dusk at 10:45 was about what the "midnight sun" looks like at 2:00 a.m. in June.

He & I will spend a lot of time talking - okay, jabbering - and get a chance to catch up, this week. I'm not sure how much time I'll spend on-line, so the blog may be a bit neglected. There will be pictures next week, to make up for it.

Have a great Monday; thanks for stopping by.

Monday Morning - with Update

And so another week begins - moderately warm (20 degrees - it's all relative, folks) and the possibility of an inch or two of the white stuff. Just about perfect.

My wife starts her new job today, and is stoked about it! I'm guessing that's a good thing.

UPDATE: the first day went very well, and she's pleased as can be. It also seems they will be remodeling shortly, and she'll have her own office - which she's also pleased about.

She and the new boss also get along famously - at least, so far - and she reports it's all good.

Other than keeping tabs on the Iditarod racers as they continue heading northwest, there's not much going on.

I have a tenant who suddenly appears to be a month ahead on rent; not sure how that happened, so that's my morning task. Nothing quite as exciting as going through 8 years of rent receipts looking for a double payment! Yes, that was a bit sarcastic; I'm done now.

My friend Dana, down south in Missouri, will be having shoulder surgery this week. He's due for rotator cuff repair & removal of 5 mm of bone spur. Ouch.

Dana & Sandi-with-an-i run a busy appliance business, and he makes the deliveries. I'm not sure who's going to cover for him while his arm is out of commission, but - knowing him - he's probably wearing a rut in the floor, pacing and fretting about his 'inactivity.'

Get well soon, pal - Alaska awaits!

Update: Sandi-with-an-i says Dana is indeed wearing a hole in the rug. I knew it.

Monday, January 19, 2009

It's raining and 38 degrees <sigh> in Anchorage. It it were snow, we'd have several inches by now. Rats!

The temps are supposed to slide just below freezing tonight, with the rain tapering off by midnight. Of course, Accu-Hunch Weather has been forecasting a rain/snow mix for days now, and we haven't seen that yet.

It will eventually happen, of course, because this is Alaska, so therefore it will be of no credit to Accu-Hunch when it does.

The temps are supposed to be nearly normal for the rest of the week, although still a few degrees above where they should be. It's about time. I was not the most enthusiastic fan of the minus 20 stuff, while it was here for two weeks, but at least it was cold...

A lot of the snow we had (about a foot of compacted snow on the ground) has melted, although there's still some ice in driveways and on parking lots, because of how cold the ground is.

So, we muddle onward and upward (we hope). While it seemed most people were working today - and the bank was open, which surprised me - the phones were extremely quiet. I met with the company's new attorney this afternoon, to go over some contracts. Beyond that, it was an uneventful day, for which I am always grateful.

I had the "when are you going to get a job?" talk with my older girl this afternoon; it seems she was waiting for the holidays to be over. "They're over," I said.

My younger girl is rustlin' up some chicken alfredo over whole-wheat pasta, with with cinnamon croissants. Sounds good to me!

Personal note: we heard from more old friends today - Fred and Jodie, down Florida way - and will be getting caught up with them in days to come.

Sunday Again

They just keep coming around, don't they? I suppose that beats the alternative, though.

We've been out & done some shopping - wife & younger daughter to Sam's Club, and I to Sportsman's Warehouse, which is quickly becoming a favorite haunt. I was very heavily into recreational shooting (which I've been doing since the age of 6, at my father's side) up until about six years ago. That's when we started preparing for our move up here.

The drive to Alaska required us to spend four days and nights in Canada, which was a nice experience whereby we met some delightful people. However, their gun laws, being so much more restrictive, made me wary of trying to transport an entire gun safe & contents across the border. Rather than go through all the paperwork hoops, I decided to sell or give away all of my guns, ammo, and other supplies.

What with one thing or another, I never got around to starting up again until this past Christmas. Now I get to re-supply, which is fun for me.

The weather here is just below zero, and Accu-Hunch is still guessing we'll get as high as 15 today, with light snow moving in ... perhaps to the tune of a few inches by tomorrow. Nothing major, but the north wind is rather raw. After the last two weeks, we've acclimated somewhat to the severe cold, and don't need terribly heavy coats. Any exposed skin, however, still pays the price.

So I picked up a shoulder rig and some safety glasses. With the weather returning to normal, I can finally schedule a visit to the local range & see how my new pistol behaves.

I've had some nice conversations with my old friend in Missouri - the one who was best man at our wedding, lo these many moons ago - and it seems he & his new wife want to come see us. That will be nice.

Not so many folks want to visit here in the winter, thinking that it's perpetual night, and frigid. Well, they're wrong: it's not dark. After the last two weeks, however, I'm not so sure they're wrong about the frigid part.

The perception that we have ice and snow year-round is false, of course. You've seen lots of pictures of the greenery which I've posted. Our summers are rather short, but very green and lush due to the long days (22 hours of sunlight in June). And we don't live in an igloo. Nor do we have a pet moose or polar bear. And when we run low on gas, we don't tap into the pipeline. It doesn't have gasoline in it, anyway ...

So we're happy to hear that someone wants to visit while it's white outside. It will be nice to get reacquainted with Dana, and get to know Sandi-with-an-i. (She made sure to mention that to me, so I'm reproducing it here.)

It's starting to look grey and snowy out there, so I'm going to wrap this up & try to do something productive with my afternoon.

Don't be a stranger - come on back!

Brrr

Our weather: It's 6 degrees this morning, with winds varying from 10 to 15 mph. My original intention was to drive to the Rabbit Creek range & do some recreational plinking. I received a new pistol for Christmas (thanks, Honey!) and would love to start breaking it in.

I have to ask myself whether I really want to stand outside & risk frostbite on my fingers ... and yes, I do (except for the frostbite part). However, I will let discretion have its way, and wait until next weekend when it is supposed to be 10 degrees warmer. There is a huge difference between 6 and 15, in terms of comfort & how long one can remain more or less sedentary while shooting. C'est la vie.

I may still go to the range - I have plenty of warm clothes, and a desire to punch holes in a paper target. It would be nice to find an indoor range that's less than 40 miles away.

More weather: My friend Doug in Missouri told me with was over 60 at his place yesterday. That's just too warm, and it's not right that it should be that warm in late December. There's always a risk, too, of violent thunderstorms (read flash flooding and tornados) when temps are all over the place, like that.

Of course, by relocating to Alaska, we've traded thunderstorms, flooding, and tornados for blizzards, earthquakes, and the occasional volcanic eruption. I personally believe we got the better deal, although your opinion may differ.

In other news: As a result of the snowfall on Christmas day, there were over 70 accidents, including a lot of ditch-divers, yesterday. Winds along Turnagain Arm were gusting to 75 mph, which doesn't aid in traction when the roads are already slippery.

I hope you have a great day - stay warm if the weather isn't, and let me hear from you.

Not Again!?!

Here we go again ... 6 degrees with freezing fog. I'm not complaining about the temps; I couldn't care less how cold it happens to be. That darn frost, though ... arrrgh!

A friend in Missouri sent me a book yesterday: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. I sat down with it at bedtime last night (I have a bad habit of reading when I should be sleeping, then 'paying' for it the next day) and cruised through the first 90 pages.

It took me a couple of chapters to get into the rhythm of it, but I'm liking it so far. Thanks, Dana.