Archive for the 'Books People and History' Category
A Journey of Dreams and Inspiration
Beau January 18th, 2010
It’s often amazing to read about what some people are doing with their lives. I have written of one such person in the past, and I find myself following her progress nearly every day. Her name is Jessica Watson, and at 16years of age she is making the journey of a lifetime. There has been much discussion or even amazement at how someone so young could be on such a journey at all. But I don’t write this to entertain the “Why” or “Why not” of such a trek.
Today I’m simply offering a salute to a fellow adventurer on this great journey of our lives. Sailing the world in a tiny 34 foot sailboat (see what it looks like from the top of the mast!), She has just in the past week accomplished an incredible feat of rounding Cape Horn single-handedly as part of her attempt at a sailing solo circumnavigation of the earth. Just sense the excitement as she shares a little of her experience:
Her parents even made the journey from Australia to the Cape so they could fly over her sailboat in a plane. She is now journeying northeast past the Falkland Islands, continuing and only about half-way around the southern seas of our planet.
One may reflect upon the challenges, strife and human suffering we see throughout the world… but does that diminish the triumph of the human spirit in a different context? As simply as one who reaches out to help others, I believe we can choose to embrace life and each new day as a chance to grow and achieve. We may see human effort and consequence in stark moral terms, and that is our privilege or failing, as the case may be. Sometimes however, others help frame the context of life in ways we may leverage to show us what is possible. To each their own.
For now a young woman has chosen this path for her life. I can find no fault in it… rather it seems to me quite empowering to reflect upon the opportunity and challenges that any of us may accept and accomplish, no matter how mundane or encompassing. She writes of her journey from the heart with such honesty… I find it inspiring, courageous, amazing and even a bit breathtaking to imagine it all. We wish you fair winds and safe passage, and… Godspeed Jessica!
It Wasn’t So Long Ago
Beau December 7th, 2009
I think winter has finally arrived, perhaps a little early. A week ago I was working outside in a t-shirt and yesterday I couldn’t pick up a waterlogged sandbag because it was frozen solid! That’s okay, we did pretty well this fall with a long period of warm weather. I’m thankful to have finished what I could, and lately it has been clean-up time around the property.
Today is Pearl Harbor Day here in America, which for too many people is quickly becoming a forgotten day of remembrance. It seems like a long time ago however, and our Greatest Generation have been leaving us too quickly in recent years. Still there are stories and a sense of awe when you think of what took place, and how America was thrust into the war so quickly afterward.
USS Maryland and capsized USS Oklahoma - U.S. Navy photo
I’m a Navy man, and will probably always remember this day. I lived in Japan for several years. It’s a beautiful country with a proud, wonderful people. I really enjoyed my time there, as did my wife and son – they lived there while I was deployed, just a few years ago really. The young boy was there for much of his first three years and even spoke Japanese for a time (he loves sushi to this day). I worked with the Japanese military first-hand, and grew to respect the people and their nation’s journey- they are great friends and allies.
It wasn’t alway so of course, as with so much of world history. Looking back, I have to admit that Pearl Harbor didn’t mean much to me while growing up. It was the past… twenty or thirty years seems like ancient history to a kid. As I grow older it seems like yesterday.
The navy changed my view of Pearl Harbor, literally, on one particular beautiful, sunny morning. I was returning from deployment to the Persian Gulf on board USS Nimitz in June of 1993. We were stopping in Hawaii for a few days enroute home. I had not been to Hawaii before, and was excited when I realized we would make our way to Pearl. One of the long traditions the navy shares is that upon arrival at a visiting port, it’s appropriate to render honors of various kinds, and to look shipshape… that was especially true while coming into Pearl Harbor (headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet). After cleaning and shining things up for what seems like days on end (and throwing fresh gray paint everywhere) one of the sharpest looking things a ship can do is to have the crew “man the rails.”
We fell out that morning in our “tropical whites” or the nice looking white uniforms that sailors wear (and promptly end up getting grease all over). It doesn’t take the whole crew of more than five thousand on an aircraft carrier to man the rails (or edge of the carrier deck), so the leadership designates who will do so. Many of us volunteer for the opportunity, considering it a privilege. I’ve manned the rails many times before, usually pulling in to some exotic port far across the seas with quite a different mindset. But I never came in to Pearl Harbor standing on the deck of a ship except on that one occasion.
Hundreds of sailors in bright white uniforms filed up on deck about an hour out of port. There we were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, as the deep blue sea changed to beautiful aquamarine with white sands and island green looming ahead. I was standing on the port bow, and as we came in the entrance to the harbor everything was silent. The massive aircraft carrier, laden with aircraft, men and women, moved quietly through the water at a very slow speed. There was no conversation among the troops on deck, and I was struck by how narrow the passage was.
I felt like I could throw a baseball to either shoreline from the deck of the carrier- it was that narrow. And as I looked ahead to how small the harbor and navy shipyard really was, I began to understand how the attack on Pearl Harbor must have been so horrific, and how trying to get some… any… of those ships out through the narrow entrance was a major priority.
As the harbor began to broaden, ahead and to the left I watched as the white memorial to the USS Arizona came into view, just a few hundred yards away, with its flag held high. I remember the warm breeze, blowing gently across the deck, and the only sound that of small waves splashing against the bow. It was peaceful and calm. I wondered about the contrast to so many years before.
As we approached closer the command “Attention!” came over the 5MC on deck, and then “Hand salute!”
USS Ronald Reagan salute to USS Arizona Memorial, November 17, 2008. - U.S. Navy Photo
We stood at attention for a good minute or two, maybe longer. It was hard to imagine what took place there, or that 1,102 men of the 1,177 killed just on the USS Arizona that long ago morning still lay inside the ship, beneath the calm blue waters. It was a solemn, respectful occasion, and an opportunity to better understand what Pearl Harbor meant in our nation’s history.
I didn’t have a picture of that morning, but the one above from the USS Ronald Reagan was taken just over a year ago. I’m glad to see we still man the rails and render honors to the fallen as ships pass by the USS Arizona. I’m glad we still remember the events long ago at Pearl Harbor.
A Voyage Alone Around the World
Beau October 18th, 2009
I believe that if we are truly fortunate and determined, we can experience moments within our lives that are transformational. That we may create opportunities to experience and encounter amazing things… life-changing things, and to lift ourselves up in ways that we’ve only previously imagined. It doesn’t have to be an epic journey, or a singular event. It might be the experience of helping another person truly in need, or sharing the life of a new-born child that might never have come before. Maybe it’s a personal spiritual event that only the individual will ever really know about.
And yet maybe it is indeed an epic journey. For Jessica Watson, today begins an incredible journey that most of us can hardly imagine. At just 16 years old, Jessica is attempting to become the youngest person to ever sail non-stop around the world. She left Syndey Harbour in Australia this morning, beginning what may be an eight month journey… by herself. Can you imagine?
It’s a dream I’ve always had, and yet with nearly five decades behind me I doubt I will experience that dream in my lifetime. I’ve seen the tumult of the seas first hand, but from a far different perspective. Some of which included standing on the deck of a thousand foot long aircraft carrier, watching enormous waves pitch such a ship around, sometimes breaking over the bow more than 60 feet from the ocean’s surface. I’ve flown off such a pitching home, and landed on the same. I remember the ship pitching and rolling so precipitously at times that the enormous propellors, taller than a house, were lifted nearly all out of the waves for brief moments. I’ve watched the smaller frigates and cruisers far astern being tossed like toothpicks (as I merely rolled around on the carrier), and marvelled at the power of nature. I’ve seen Cape Horn and waves that looked like mountains rip catwalks and lifeboats off the side of the ship. I’ve seen storms in the North Pacific toss aircraft over the side. I’ve launched off the bow in an approaching typhoon, riding hell bent toward the waves as the ship pitched up just in time and my craft went airborne. So much more, and yet it’s all so beautiful too.
I remember watching the sun set while waiting to launch off the deck, only to see it rise briefly as I climbed thousands of feet into the sky, and then watching it set once again on the same day. All those years I looked below at the world’s oceans, thousands of miles from anywhere else. It’s a beautiful, tranquil place at times. And a lonely place. I remember flying alone in my small fighter from Iwo Jima toward Tokyo just after sunset one evening. Everything was cloaked in a glowing gray and white, incredibly beautiful to see, and spanning nearly the entire 600 miles of ocean between was another typhoon far below. I looked down from around 39,000 feet at the swirls of white clouds, and traveled over the eye of that storm marveling at the energy of wind and waves that must be taking place so far below on the ocean’s surface.
Perhaps it’s because of what I have, or more importantly- what I have not experienced, that I find her journey all the more amazing. Jessica and her supporters have prepared for this journey for a long time now, and she is an accomplished sailor. Yet the strength and courage that such a journey must take is staggering to me to consider. In an age of digital communications, and where news travels literally at the speed of light, we may too easily take for granted her age or journeys such as this. No matter the technology she may have on board, nothing can change the fact that a young woman, alone, is sailing around the world in a sailboat. She is facing the seas alone, and I pray she will be successful on her long journey. Fair winds Jessica! And following seas where you most need them!
You can read updates about Jessica’s journey at her blog, Youngest Round.
The Priceless Harmonica
Beau September 1st, 2009
Collectibles… what is it about our penchant for collecting things? It starts in youth, innocently enough. Like the young boy, we collect rocks or leaves or something found on our adventures. But it doesn’t stop there- we end up collecting things far into adulthood in one form or another. Come on, admit it… you’ve got a secret stash of coins somewhere, or stamps or maybe baseball cards that you were wise enough (or not) to save from childhood? Or maybe a hoard of leftover beanie-babies from the 90′s… Or what about spoons or thimbles that you see in tourist stores all over the country? Hmmm… plates or dishes? Figurines?
My personal favorite… fishing lures- preferably old ones. Hey, don’t laugh- I was given a prized Winchester fishing lure many years ago, previously found sitting on a shelf in an antique shop for a few bucks. I was surprised to find it’s worth around $300 because the company only made them for a few years in the 1920′s and ’30′s. And antiques? Makes me think of the PBS show… did you see the one about the old carpet worth a half-million dollars?
I’m more of an old book person myself. I’ve got small collection going, with two favorites- a near orginal Self Reliance by Emerson, and a ragged little book from 1825 titled The Works of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. They’re not worth much, except for the value I find in them.
I just love the feel and weight of an old book. The presence it carries from a time no longer with us… the weathered pages, writings by amazing people from history. I think about their lives when I hold an old book, and imagine the future they were looking at… I find notes in margins and wonder who wrote them.
From a collecting perspective, most old books are not very good investments, and they take up a lot of space. Mine will probably be recycled one day to another person who loves old books. Maybe someone generations from now will turn the same pages and it will fire their imagination too.
It still seems we’re always on the lookout for a great collecting opportunity. Personally I like saving money and end up trying to shop frugally or find a deal somewhere. I end up using Amazon.com quite a bit after comparing prices.
Tonight I found a unique item- a genuine Hohner Marine Band Harmonica hand-signed by none other than Bob Dylan!
Hey, that’s cool really- who wouldn’t want something autographed by Robert Allen Zimmerman? I mean Bob Dylan? Take a look at this beauty:
Cool autograph, huh? And how much could it cost anyway?…. Ah, well…. um… here:
Zowie. Don’t get me wrong, I like Bob Dylan. Well, sort of anyway. It wasn’t my generation, and his music is a little different than I’m used to. But honestly some of his stuff is pretty good- strong and heartfelt, and touches something inside of us. He is after all an American legend… Grammys, Academy Award, Rock and Roll and Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, a Pulitzer, the decades of history… Wow. Hey, Mr. Dylan is even going to release a Christmas album this year to benefit charity. That’s cool.
By the way, only 100 of these harmonicas will be produced and signed by Mr. Dylan. Quite a limited edition. Which means that most of us probably will not be collecting this special Harp any time soon. Although you can get seven of them for $25,000? That’s a savings of $10,000 right there man. Ah, nope. Even the free shipping won’t make that one work. Honestly they could be viewed as priceless.
Every now and then the internet gives us some real jewels… pearls of wisdom if you may, and sometimes we come across some really interesting things. As engaging as this musical masterpiece was to ponder, I enjoyed the review and comments it attracted even more- at least as of today you can read this review:
And the comments (if you can read them) were quite instructional too…
One never knows where you’ll find the next million dollar idea or a real value with collectibles. Maybe one of these harmonicas will indeed be worth a fortune in years to come. Personally I think there are better ways to make money.
Whoever buys these things is blowing a lot of cash in the wind so to speak, so I hope it’s worth it. Or maybe not, but at least that it’s worth it to them.
Like my old books, at least it might hold a special place in someone’s home and heart and that’s all that really matters I suppose.
But I think the commenters above put the whole collecting thing in a perspective worth sharing. It’s really just stuff.
Independent Thoughts
Beau July 3rd, 2009
A beautiful finish to the week- and a chance to get much accomplished. I was on the tractor yesterday thinking of how much we celebrate and take for granted on such holiday weekends as this. So many of us will gather with friends and family, and enjoy good food and special times. As it should be. What a proud day in our nation’s history- we have much to be thankful for.
On July 4th, 1776, the delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence. Most of us knew that, but we don’t often think about the price those men and their families paid for doing so. Or why they voted for independence in the first place.
There were many reasons leading to the desire to be an independent nation. I remember the story of the Boston Tea Party as a child for example. In 1773 angry colonists dressed as Mohawk Indians and dumped over 40 tons of taxed British tea into the Boston Harbor. This in response to the Tea Act- levying taxes on colonists by an unelected legislature far across the Atlantic Ocean. In response, Boston Harbor was shut down completely by the British, stopping all commerce and hurting businesses and families.
That was one of the Coercive acts that led to the first Continental Congress meeting in 1774. It’s hard to even relate to events so long ago, until we feel or see how our lives may be touched in similar ways. Those who serve this great nation at home and abroad feel deeply about their service in much the same way as those patriots of long ago- they are serving because they believe in America.
Those who believe strongly in limited government and fiscal responsibility also feel deeply about things, for example to what degree our government should be involved today in our lives in terms of laws and taxation. And others believe that government should have a much larger role to play. Sometimes it leaves you wondering- here in Missouri for example, there are a host of auto workers who just produced the last Dodge Ram pick-up truck at a plant near St. Louis, Missouri. The plant is being closed down, presumably for good. And while these fine men and women are out of jobs- they watched as tax dollars were spent bailing out the auto companies- and those tax dollars in essence have been funneled to another auto plant in a different country to produce the same vehicles. Competitiveness is one thing- but it doesn’t seem appropriate that taxpayers have been asked to support jobs to make American cars and trucks in another country, while leaving our own citizens without jobs at home.
Some have even chosen July 4th this year as TEA Party Day- representing a remembrance and organized form of protest over how much spending and taxation we may see in the years ahead. We see California beginning to write IOU’s because they can’t figure out a state budget. Other states struggle with the same debate over increasing taxes, or reducing spending, and these issues are integral to the lives and fortunes of the people who live there.
We live in a great country- where we can freely discuss, debate and organize over issues people believe are important. We may not always agree- but the pendulum still swings. Have a great weekend!
Memories of Spring, Rare Plants and Rare People
Beau April 1st, 2009
On this first day of April I finally feel like spring is here. The days are warming up and flowers and leaves are coming out everywhere- and the birds! When you walk out the door at sunrise, the singing is amazing. Cardinals, Phoebes, Towhees, Sparrows, Bluebirds… it’s a wild cacophony of twittering and song. Well, twittering means something else to most people these days… but for me it’s the birds.
It is a lovely time of year though. It reminds me so much of exploring the forests when I was younger. I remember a spring in the early 1980′s when I really learned about the plants and wildflowers throughout the Ozarks. I was taking a botany class in college, and wouldn’t you know it- most of what we had to do was hike and walk around looking for plants to identify. My kind of class! One time we were hiking throughout the northwestern Arkansas Ozarks and the professor had us gather around to examine a plant. He gingerly held something up and asked if we knew what it was… no one answered. He handed it to one of the guys, and said “Feel the little hairs on the stem, and tell me what you think…” Within a few moments the young gent dropped the stinging nettle yelling “Owww!” It only stings and itches for a short time, but we thought that was pretty funny- and I never forgot the plant.
On another trip to some beautiful highland slopes above a river, we wandered along below a bluff admiring the landscape. One of my classmates found a neat little bush with white flowers, and was about to pull some off… “Don’t touch that plant!!!” the professor screamed, as we all jumped wondering what was the matter. He ran up and we gathered around as he excitedly described that the plant, Alabama Snow-wreath, was very rare and only found in a few places across the southern states.
Alabama Snow-wreath (Neviusia alabamensis A. Gray) GFDL Kurt Steuber
He knew of only two places it was growing at the time, one of them where we stood. There were just a few bushes in a small circle, covered with white flowers. The plant is still classified as threatened and is very rare, but has also been found in Missouri and a few other southern states. Oddly, some have propagated the plant for gardens as it’s similar to spirea, but it’s still very uncommon. I remember admiring the wispy white flower heads and standing in awe that the plant I was seeing only grew in a few places in the entire world. As startled as I was by the professor’s response at first, I had to wonder how many other plant and animal species across the globe had a similar distinction. The more I learned about plants and wildlife, the more I appreciated his convictions. Perhaps that awakened the realization that the world is much smaller than it seems.
The journeys I would later make throughout the world became an exploration of nature too, and proved just how small the world really is- even while at times I felt torn watching the machinations of mankind against the backdrop of world politics. I felt a greater responsibility than being a mere instrument of political will, and sought balance within myself through the years. Nothing was ever as black and white as it seemed, but I am thankful for having made the journey.
Spring was never quite the same for me after those early days in school however. Instead, the season after winter became a quiet revelation of the wonders of the natural world, instilling a sense of appreciation and mystery that has always remained. How can one describe the joy and excitement of finding a new flower, plant or bird in a place you haven’t seen before? Not everyone appreciates that mystery and beauty… to some it’s the same old thing. But to those of us who feel the pulse of nature quicken in our hearts, it is everything.
A year or so after that botany field trip I was somehow chosen to pick up none other than Jean-Michel Cousteau at the airport one day, to bring him to the school for a speaking presentation on the environment. I barely remember the event or what he did after I brought him to the school. I do remember waiting at the little airport, wondering how I could be picking up the son of the famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau… the man I grew up watching on television and dreaming of the adventures and explorations he made throughout the world.
I wish I could even remember our conversation as we drove for a half hour to the school campus. It was unremarkable, and he was tired from his journey. I was young and wanted to make a good impression… mostly by not having an accident while driving the van on the way to the school! I do remember that I tried to share a bit of the beauty of spring that year- he agreed, brightening a bit and saying something like, “Ah, oui! Yaas, ze vorld iz a beootiful place, non?” I remember wishing I could see the places he had seen, and travel to faraway lands. Eventually I would, but in such a different way! His life of course has become a celebration of environmental awareness and education, especially in terms of water and ocean issues- and a testament to his father’s life and research.
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Speaking of water and another spring ritual, our Koi Carp have become active once again in the pond. They’re not true Nishikigoi or Japanese Koi, but rather a hybrid carp of sorts grown here in America. But they’re placid fish, cruising around the pond, and I enjoy seeing them. In November or December they seem to disappear- and all winter long I wonder if they are doing okay, especially under the ice. They go into a near hibernation or stasis of sorts in winter, finding a deeper, muddy place to wait out the cold months. In mid-to-late March they reappear near the shorelines, and begin cruising around in the shallow warmer waters.
Those in our pond are very large fish now- between 2-3 feet long. Most are orange and black in coloration- but this one is a mottled white. We call the very orange ones “Orangey” and the ones with a large black spot, “Spot.” Very orginal, huh?! I haven’t been able to get close enough to tell them apart, but this year I’ll try to get more pictures like this. We may call this one Motley or Patch… That’s the tip of a bluestem plant in the foreground- the fish probably weighs 20-30 pounds or more.
We had five at one point- beginning with three about 8-12 inches long, and stocking two smaller ones about 6-8 inches long a year later. One of those disappeared, and we’ve seen the same four large Koi Carp together now for the past couple of years. I don’t feed them- they help control the vegetation and subsist on a natural diet. Thus far they seem to be doing just fine, and based on their life cycle, may still be here long after we are gone.
