Anchors Aweigh!

Oh to go to sea again!

Most people have never had the experience of going to sea on a U.S. Naval vessel.

It's really an exhilarating experience. On the day the ship is scheduled to leave port, there's an extra buzz about as last minute preparations are made. You never know exactly how long you will be at sea so you had better be prepared for a long cruise.

The over the ship's loudspeaker system (1MC), the shrill of the Boatswain's pipe is heard calling for the attention of all the crew. Then a voice comes on the speaker saying, "Now hear this. Attention sea and anchor detail. Report to your stations."

The sea and anchor detail is a group of sailors assigned the duty of raising the anchor or hauling in the lines if leaving from port. It's backbreaking hard work and requires the precision of a ballet.

When a Navy ship leaves port, all hands are expected to be on deck manning the rails. While the sea and anchor details works in their dress uniforms, all others are standing in a line from bow to stern in their dress uniforms. If you are on shore, it's quite a sight to watch as the ship is tugged into the harbor and gets underway under it's own steam.

About ten minutes after leaving port, all hands are expected to go below on the double, change into work uniforms (dungarees and baseball style caps) and report to their normal duty station. The Navy has the most comfortable work uniform of all the services.

The dress uniforms are put away until time to enter port again somewhere in the world. Then the procedure is repeated again as the ship looks extra sharp entering port.

As the ship proceeds out to sea, the water starts to change color. The first thing you notice is the dirty water suddenly looks clear with a light to greenish blue color. Then after about two hours out to sea, the water begins to turn dark blue and gets even clearer.

The ship settles into a rhythm of heaves and yawls as it locks in on cruising speed. Depending on the height of the seas, the ship will point somewhat downward and lean to one side then raise upward and lean to the other side. Up and lean, down and lean, up and lean, down and lean, the rhythm is mesmerizing.

Then there's the first glorious sunset at sea, and a meal that always tastes good because the sea air aids the appetite. Afterward we settle into our "racks" for a good night's rest.

Early the next morning the shrill of the boatswains pipe seems to blow right at your ear as you hear the 1MC crackle and the words, "Now hear this. Reveille, reveille, turn to. Swab down all topside weather decks, polish all topside bright work, sweepers man your brooms." There's work to be done before breakfast. But breakfast is a hearty meal eagerly downed by a famished crew. Oh what the sea air does for your appetite.

After about a day and a half, all sign of the earth is gone. There are no more birds in the air, usually no trash in the water, and only schools of dolphins from time-to-time. For those with allergies and sinus problems, their heads clear and life becomes good again. The smell of land is completely gone.

The sailors settle into a normal routine doing whatever it takes to get the job done. In times of trouble that means lots of extra hours, otherwise, life is good. They watch movies at night, under the stars, projected onto the side of a gun turret. There's the occasional sing along where those with guitars gather.

There are the constant drills practicing for emergencies, combat, or whatever you might face. Sometimes you might sail with an armada and sometimes you might be the only ship on the ocean.

But it's an experience like no other. Navy ships are built to handle the seas both calm and raging. They are equipped for peace and war. There are no frills like on a cruise ship, and quarters are exceptionally tight. But everybody pitches in and does whatever it takes.

When you finally do get to shore again, you walk differently. On board you plant every step solidly against the metal deck to help compensate for the constant motion. And you do it without thinking about it. Once back on shore, you have the tendency to stomp a bit until you get your shore stride back.

Oh to go to sea again. It's an experience like no other!

Ghost Busters

It's been over 15 years since we moved into our house. It was much larger than our previous home with a huge kitchen, four bedrooms, four and a half baths, etc. You get the picture.

The master bedroom is on the ground floor and the remainder are up stairs. We had furniture in the master bedroom and in our youngest daughter's bedroom. My wife claimed the smallest of the bedrooms for a sewing room and the other one was bare.

My wife's cousin had recently moved and downsized. So she offered to give us her mother's bedroom set. Aunt Inez had died several years before. We jumped at the offer and moved all the furniture in and had a true guest bedroom. It is the bedroom directly above the master bedroom.

Our neighborhood is very quiet. You should know that I do not like any sounds in my house that I cannot control. Thus, no chiming clocks or anything else that makes unnecessary noise. Once we had a powered roof vent which was triggered by a thermostat. I made the installers put in a switch so I could cut the motor off if the thing got to making too much noise. It's just an odd pet peeve.

Suddenly, at night we would hear somebody walking on the floor above our bedroom. We could hear the dresser drawers opening and closing. The handles on the dresser are the type that are hinged and you pull them up to use them and let loose when finished and they sort of make a clanking noise.

I would get up to check things out. Nothing. This went on for several nights and then for several weeks and then for a couple of months. My wife would check it, I would check it, we would check together. But we could never find anything.

So we surmised that what we had was a real ghost. Probably the ghost of Aunt Inez. She didn't bother anybody. She just walked around and opened and shut dresser drawers. We decided she was harmless and it would be our little secret. We didn't even tell my wife's cousin.

One day her cousin came to visit. She and my wife were upstairs in the sewing room and her cousin had her purse open. Her cousin left before dark. That night we didn't hear Aunt Inez.

Nor did we hear her during the enusing nights. We figure Aunt Inez must have hitched a ride back to her daughter's house in her daughter's purse. She is probably enjoying being with her daughter. They always had a special mother-daughter bond.

Do I believe in ghosts? I do now.

Love Me Tender

When I was in college, I was the president of the campus Canterbury Club; a religious organization for young Episcopalians. During my first year as president, my sophomore year in school, I attended the Diocesan (statewide) Canterbury Club meeting at Camp Bratten Green just north of Canton.

I was running for state president and was looking for all the votes I could muster. I met a guy from Southwest Jr. College and we meshed very quickly. I asked him if he knew any of the girls. He said his sister who went to MSCW was coming and agreed to introduce me to her.

Well he did. And something happened. It's hard to explain....almost unbelievable. I instantly fell in love with that girl. We had a lot of good fun that weekend and I went back to campus and told my room mate that I had met the girl I want to marry.

Ironically, she went back to the "W" and called her Momma and told her she met the boy she thought she would like to marry.

Long story shortened, we dated for a year, got engaged at the state Canterbury Club the next year. Stayed engaged for 13 months and then married. We've been married 42 years and it seems like maybe ten years.

There are a lot of people who don't believe in love at first sight. I didn't either but I do now.

Oh yes, I won the election and became the State President of the Canterbury Club. But finding that special gal was the biggest win of my life.

Whole Lotta Shaking Going On

I haven't seen much about it in the local paper, but Reno, Nevada has been hit with a series of earthquakes over the last couple of days. The heaviest is a 4.7 but several were over 3.0.

I've never been in an earthquake. One person in Reno described it as exciting. Exciting? Oh yeah, my excitement would probably be three dimensional. Over the past week there have been 1,222 earthquakes logged in the United States and Puerto Rico. Most of the quakes are from central Alaska through the Aleutian Islands and along the west coast of the U.S. and adjoining states.

There have been some small ones in the New Madrid fault along the northwestern border of Tennessee. One near the Tennessee/North Carolina border, one in Illinois and one in NY state.

I've been through tornadoes, hurricanes, hailstorms, and near lightening strikes, but never had the earth shake, rattle, and roll beneath my feet. Here's hoping that's one experience I will never experience.