Not overrated

 

I met this women, and I find her pretentious, judgemental, and rude. She said to me, "Hawaii is sooooooo overrated." It wasn't about being in a location, it was about being with my daughter. And oh yea, we got to visit Pearl Harbor with the USS Missouri, USS Bowfin, Pacific Aviation Museum. It's sad, because I like her spending time with her partner, but I'll never go to their place again likely.

 Admiral Nimitz, Commander Pacifc Fleet

 

    Photograph taken by a ship baker, seconds before the Zero hit the USS Missouri. Significant this ship is in so many ways. Pearl Harbor, her "final" resting home, is where the war with Japan began, and on her deck is where it ended. 

    Significant for me as well. My grandpa, James Hancock Miller was a CPO and a gunner aboard the USS Norton Sound. He fought in the battle of Guam and was struck by a Jap grenade. Japanese grenades were not as powerful as American ones as reported in literature I have read about the battle of Attu. My grandpa was placed in the deceased pile, and when someone went to collect his boots (boots are valuable!), he lifted his head and said, "I am not done with those yet." 

      Aboard his ship, he slept in a hammock in his turret. His bunk was far below deck and he was afraid of not getting to his post fast enough. The gun was one of the highest on the ship and was designed to go 360 degrees, but the Caption reportedly had to flip a switch to let it spin freely as you could shoot the ship if you spun the gun around. Well, a kamikaze Zero dove towards the ship and grandpa shot him down, saving everyone. The Jap survived and as a token of appreciation for saving their asses, the crew gave the Jap rifle to him. The captain asked him how he shot the plane down as it was back towards that ship and he should;t have been able to shoot that direction. Grandpa replied matter of factually, "I disengaged it (the switch)." I believe he was awarded the Purple Heart.
       I never got to talk to him about any of this. I knew he was in the Navy, but it somehow never dawned on me about the time frame of his service. Duh. My aunts graciously told me his story. 

This is important

Being with Abigail. 

Life is crazy. Between work and meetings I barely get to spend time with her except when I am dead dog tired. I am getting old. I am! I have aged a lot, and realize if we are going to do fun things together, considering my getting older and she is "great to be 8", then now is the time. Going away for a week to Waikiki is our most fun time together. Pearl Harbor, zoo, aquarium, beach, sand sun, fun! No waking up early and running around like a chicken without my head all day! We even had time to talk about how I can be her receptionist at her vet clinic (she is going to be a veterinarian) when I get older. I told her how I old I would be by the time she would own her own clinic, and I said I hoped I would still be around, and she shed a tear, gave me a hug, and said "I hope so too".

I'm a little behind....We've only had the best time of our life and such, so more soon.

Abigail and I went to junk beach, where an Old World War 2 dump washes ashore, and we collected a lot of the pieces of pottery and white rocks of limestone to make a circle for Basil's grave. It was looking too Muddy. we Thought the white would make it look prettier. I think maybe we'll collect some beach glass. On top in the shades of brown, white and green.

Basil

  

"Me and my dad were playing a video game and I was going to go to my mom. When I got there I starting looking for my missing cat and then my mom said my cat died. I cried and then my mom showed my where my cat died (was buried). I cry sometimes."

 

  

Chapter 2 My new Cat "I wit (went) to the animal shelter. I want a cat and I looked for a cat. I saw Wink. Me and my mom agreed to git Wink and we can git it today! I was so eisidid (excited). When we got home he showed himself around. He slept on my pellow (pillow) the first night and I had to lay on a pollow under that."

CG visit

 I went on a class field trip with Abby to the CG base. We got to see a C-130 (airplane, fat like an over stuffed cat), a Jay Hawk (helicopter) and a Dolphin (can land on some ships).

 We got to go swimming and eat pizza and ice cream too! I totally crashed out after and slept HARD for an hour. I have been sick....One of my group members was sick and she puked. I helped her and got vomit on me and totally did not care. I'm a mom.

 You want to keep you hands on the inside so you don't break your fingers as the basket hits the helicopter.

Only context in which I would ever want to be in a rescue basket.

Qunukamken - I love you

Green

The one thing I like about Kodiak in the winter is how green the forest is, just teaming and buzzing with life. Moss and Sitka spruce that don't loose their needles.

A lot of other places in the winter is pretty grey. All the trees leafless.

 Hands are handy

 Kodiak weather tracking. I do NOT recall that many sunny days. I love how on the 18th the cat's paw stretches towards the sky. On the 22nd the cat is grumpy about the rain.

cats everywhere

presentation

 I gave a presentation about Kodiak's World War 2 sites. Abby told a story about how she can relate to the harsh conditions soldiers had to face. She rehearsed her story a few times in the days preceding. SHe spoke loudly and clearly. I'm very proud of her.

Marnie's Road

It's my favorite thus far, so I named it after me. Not much on it, the dam being the most remarkable.

 It's a short section, a few hundred feet

 Just big enough for a bear, but the bear by-passes it going perpendicular to it.

 Did you know pull-tabs were invented in Dayton?

 I was going to give the GPS coordinates, but there's no signal and my camera just didn't record it. after a revisit I think I might Claim more than the short section aS I continued on and it seems to stay pretty cool. directions are take the cantonment 2 Road across from the artillery road, take a right at the fork, take a left at the next fork and an immediate left.