Thumbs Up on 2013

I've never really felt good about 2013 because it's such an awkward number.  2014 sounds better; balanced and even.  Nevertheless, I can say without hesitation that 2013 has been a great year for me.  Here are a few highlights of the year - important things that happened each month.

•  January - car accident.  I slid into a car that was parked in my place which turned out to be a $300 mistake.  Not a good thing to happen but it all worked out.
• February - I went to Australia which is so far away that I skipped Feb. 17 and went right from Feb. 16 into the 18th.
• March - still in Australia, swam the Great Barrier Reef three times and visited Kangaroo Island.  Plus I learned that I would soon have a new role in my life - mother-in-law.
• April - I overcame a longtime fear and assisted someone with an insulin injection.  That was huge for me.
• May - my home was broken into and money was stolen but I learned that I live in a tight knit community and my neighbors look out for me which was worth more than the money I lost.
• June - a red fox came by to bother my chickens; the first of many visits.  I went kayaking on June 2nd never dreaming that this would be my one and only kayak trip of the summer.
• July - The fox killed a chicken. I fell down.  I remember saying, "I think I will sit down for a few minutes."  I never dreamed it would take 111 days, 8 prescriptions for antibiotics, a day in the hospital and an outpatient surgery to recover.  More importantly I became a mother-in-law on a day that was so beautiful I felt like I was in a fairy tale.
• August-the fox continues to bother my chickens so they are confined to their quarters.  I spend a day in the hospital.  I travel to South Carolina for a boot camp graduation.
• September - surgery on my shin.  The fox continues to be a problem.  My solution is to buy a slingshot which turns out to be very effective as I never see the fox again.
• October - On Oct. 26 my shin is healed enough to swim again which feels heavenly and is a reason to celebrate.
• November - we have an art contest on Thanksgiving which turns out to be a practical lesson in politics.
• December - I get a rare opportunity to sail on a Navy aircraft carrier and love every minute of it.

Vermillion Drift

I took William Kent Kruger's mystery novel Vermillion Drift on my trip earlier this month.  I started reading it on the airplane on the way west and it totally held my attention the entire time I read it.  This story is one of a series about a former police detective and his life in a small town in northwestern Minnesota.  The main character is the same, his family is the same, his mentor is the same, most of the people in the book are the same but this time the crime takes place in a mine.  This mine is an underground mine like the one at the Tower Soudan State Park.  Although the story was predictable I still enjoyed it.  This author has at least 10 books about the same character.  I'm not sure I'll read them all but if I need something easy to read to keep my mind occupied, I just might pick up another one.

Ring Ting Tingling Too

I organized a sleigh ride for Saturday night. Saturday was my birthday and more importantly, one of those decade birthdays.  I was honored when 15 people came for a sleigh ride at Bunker Stables.

Mother Nature was kind to me this year.  As I drove away at 8:30 the sign read 33 degrees Fahrenheit.  The weather was balmy for late December. 

When the horses stopped for a rest the kids went sliding down an icy hill on their snow pants.

The horses' names were Pete and Dewey.

I tried to sing but I just couldn't remember all the words. But it was lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.

"Sleigh Ride"

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling
Ring ting tingling too
Come on, it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you

Outside the snow is falling
And friends are calling "Yoo hoo"
Come on, it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you

Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap
Let's go, let's look at the show
We're riding in a wonderland of snow

Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap,
It's grand, just holding your hand.
We're gliding along with a song of a wintry fairy land

Our cheeks are nice and rosy
and comfy cozy are we
We're snuggled up together
Like two birds of a feather would be
Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two
Come on, it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you
It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you

There's a birthday party
At the home of Farmer Gray
It'll be the perfect ending of a perfect day
We'll be singing the songs
We love to sing without a single stop
At the fireplace while we watch the chestnuts pop
Pop! Pop! Pop!

There's a happy feeling
Nothing in the world can buy
When they pass around the chocolate and the pumpkin pie
It'll nearly be like a picture print
By Currier and Ives

These wonderful things are the things
We remember all through our lives

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling
Ring ting tingling too
Come on, it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you

Outside the snow is falling
And friends are calling "Yoo hoo"
Come on, it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you

Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap
Let's go, let's look at the show
We're riding in a wonderland of snow (A wonderland)

Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap,
It's grand, just holding your hand.
We're gliding along with a song of a wintry fairy land

Our cheeks are nice and rosy
and comfy cozy are we
We're snuggled up together
Like two birds of a feather would be
Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two
Come on, it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you
It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you
It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you
It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride
Come on, it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you

 

Flight Behavior

I chose Barbara Kingsolver's new novel Flight Behavior to take on my trip to the west coast.  Being a huge Kingsolver fan, I love her combination of fiction and biology the ecology.  This book was no exception.  Flight Behavior is fiction but it is also a political and scientific commentary on global warming.  Her premise is - What if global warming changed the behavior of our migrating Monarch butterflies?  What if, instead of migrating to the mountains of Mexico, the monarchs stayed in southern Appalachia during the winter?  How would the local community react to being the host of most all the continent's population of monarchs?  These issues are explored along with the marriage of a young, poor married couple whose relationship is faltering.  Every sentence of this novel kept my attention and it was the perfect traveling book (although a paperback version would have been easier to carry around).  I finished it just as my plane started to descend into Minneapolis.  Perfect timing.  Perfect travel book.

Lucky

Today I went swimming after work.  As I walked toward the lap pool I saw a man sitting on the floor by the hot tub surrounded by 2 lifeguards and other club staff.  Almost everyone in the room was staring at the poor guy so I didn't.  I started swimming laps.  Before I finished my first lap I saw a police officer walk by the pool.  To me this was a sign that the ambulance was coming next and I felt bad for the poor guy who was now sitting in a chair.  By the time I was halfway through my 12th lap, the paramedics walked by.  Golly, it took a long time for the ambulance to come.  It takes me about 20 minutes to swim 12 laps.  The poor man left; headed to the hospital in his swim trunks.  All his stuff was probably still in his locker.  I would hate to arrive at the hospital in a wet swim suit.  When I added this incident to the fact that I learned that another man I know has been hospitalized in the cardiac intensive care unit since Dec. 18, I realize how lucky I am not to be in the hospital.  I was in the hospital for one day this year and I didn't feel unlucky that day. Actually I knew I needed to be there and was grateful to be admitted.  When you're really sick, the hospital is the place to be.  Lucky for me, I'm not sick.  I'm not in the hospital.  My health isn't keeping me from doing anything and everything I want to do (except hiking).  Today I am lucky. 

Hyperbole and a Half

I have over indulged this holiday season.  This time it wasn't so much with sweets or food items but in a book.  I got a book  yesterday for Christmas.  It's a book I've wanted for a while.  I started to read it yesterday but then I realized how rude it is to ignore your company while you read the book they gave you.  Instead I brought it with me tonight as I sit and wait for my auto to be maintained.  I  read the whole dang thing snickering quietly because I don't want to draw attention to myself in the waiting room but it's so funny I can't help but snicker.  I don't get what makes it funny because she just writes and draws about ordinary situations like being a child, feeling sad, feeling afraid, bluffing, procrastinating or owning a dog.  Maybe it's the way she states the obvious that causes me to snicker.  I know if I was reading this in private I would be laughing out loud.  Yes, this is a good book.  Allie Brosh is a talented writer.  Her drawing is basic and childish yet conveys emotions and psychological nuances with great skill.  Oh, why did I read this book so fast?  Now it's over.  I think I'll read it again.  There are more snickers in store for me.  I knew it would be good because I've been following her blog for a couple years.  I was right.

Walking In My Winter Underwear

I was a huge fan of Casey Jones as a child.  I watched him every day at noon on his "Lunch With Casey" show.  And here he is in a less than dignified outfit.  They just don't have quality programming like this on television anymore.

My Favorite Carol - Coventry Carol

This music is so haunting, lamenting, and emotional - I just love it.  Enjoy!

The Bridges of Sherburne County - or - The Christmas Bird Count of 2013

A covered bridge over a wetland in Sherburne County.  What do you think?  A Clint Eastwood fan?

This is one of my favorite places in our territory. I think snow next to open water is so pretty.

On Saturday a sibling and I went to the Christmas Bird Count at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.  About 30 people participated.  We were assigned to the southeast slice of the pie with two other woman.  One woman we birded the same section with last year and this time she brought a friend.  These are two expert birders.  They know their birds.  These women are so into birding that they drove from their homes in a northern St. Paul suburb to Holdingford last weekend just to see and take pictures of a snowy owl.  I wish I could have gone with them.  We started birding at 7:30 and finished up at 1 p.m.  We saw 24 species of birds.  Here's the list:  12 crows, 12 robins, 40 blue jays, 38 black capped chickadees, 2 hairy woodpeckers, 11 white breasted nuthatches, 3 downy woodpeckers, 2 red bellied woodpeckers, 14 morning doves, 8 cardinals, 3 mallards, 24 dark eyes juncos, 3 tree sparrows, 52 rock pigeons, 2 red breasted nuthatches, 3 starlings, 1 red shouldered hawk, 4 bald eagles, 28 turkeys, 1 female red winged blackbird (she must have forgot to migrate!), 63 cedar waxwings, 1 pileated woodpecker, and 1 northern flicker.  We drove around the neighborhoods looking first for bird, then bird feeders, and finally bird feeders with food in them.  Lots of people have feeders but only a few kept them full on this day.  We got a little frustrated with the empty feeders.  We even tried to scout out an empty lot where we could put up some feeders and keep them full before next year's Christmas bird count.  We saw one bird that had us stumped for a long time.  We could see it perched on a branch all fluffed out.  We all got out of the vehicle and studied it with our binoculars.  The home owner came out because we made him curious.  He was one of the few that kept his bird feeders full.  The mysterious bird turned out to be an obese extra large blue jay.  The 3 large flocks of cedar waxwings were exciting to see.  One tree had so many waxwngs on a branch that the branch bent down with their weight.  The red winged blackbird was exciting too because it took us a while to figure her out.  We drove through wealthy neighborhoods and less wealthy neighborhoods.  We saw two driveways that were so clear of snow we figured they had to be heated.  Who has heated driveways?  I saw one mansion who installed a covered bridge on their property.  We ended up driving about 55 miles during our count.  We had a great time though and I look forward to doing it again next year.

Pike Place Market

View of Pike Place market - looks like the street is paved in gold cobblestones.

They sell fish at this market.  This is a monkfish.

Eggs are sold here.  Besides chicken eggs, they had quail eggs, emu eggs (dark green) and ostrich eggs (large white on left).  I've never seen emu or ostrich eggs for sale before.

After we got off the USS Nimitz, Offspring #1 and I drove down to Seattle.  I checked into my hotel and we went out for dinner at a pho place.  To avoid the Seattle rush hour we hung out downtown for a couple hours.  We visited Pikes Place market.  Because it was getting close to 6 in the evening the market wasn't as busy and some shops were closed.  There was a lot of fish for sale including crabs, lobster, tuna, and salmon.  As we walked by I glanced behind me and saw a fish go flying through the air over the counter into the arms of a man.  "Did you see that؟" I asked excitedly, "That guy just whipped that fish over the counter!"  I thought that was pretty cool.  We visited all the stores that were open in the market.  Besides fish stores, there were chocolate shops, vinegar shops, coffee shops, and craft shops.  We found a map store and spent an hour in there looking at all the merchandise.  We enjoyed our visit to the Pike Place Market.

Disembark

A tug helps push us to the pier in Everett.

The aircraft elevator comes down from the flight deck to the hangar bay so the gangplank can be put in place.

The sailors are lined up with their sea bags to disembark.  They've been on board for 8 1/2 months so I'm in no hurry.  They deserve to get off first.  Excitement is palpable.

Sailors walking the gangplank hurrying to get to their loved ones.

Today is the day the USS Nimitz comes into port.  We've been making circles in the Pacific so we don't come in too early.  Rumor has it the tugboats charge extra on weekends so that is why we left San Diego on a Friday and arrive in Everett on a Monday.  It's hard to believe the cost of a tugboat could influence the trip of such a large and expensive air craft carrier but that is what people are saying.  As soon as I wake up Monday morning, I can tell we're not in the ocean.  My body isn't rocking back and forth in my bed.  I'm still and the boat is still.  I get up early to have breakfast.  No tours are available today so a large crowd gathers in the open door of the hangar bay to see the Puget Sound.  The pines are large out here in the northeast.  Beyond the bay we can see snow capped mountains.  The view is very beautiful.  Excitement and smiles permeate the ship today.  My bags are packed and waiting in my room.  I'm not carrying them around any more than I have to.  As we watch the landscape go by we see a Coast Guard cutter leading us along.  Our group of officers and parents have an early lunch.  At noon we reach the pier but it takes an hour to tie up the Nimitz.  The sailors who manned the rails on the flight deck come down and they are cold!  Some are shivering and I can see their eyes watering.  They were wearing pea coats but their hands are frozen.  I hear gun shots.  A thin line is shot ashore with a gun.  The heavy ropes are pulled across with the thin line.  At a pier the anchor is not used;  a dozen ropes hold us in place.  The first ones off the boat are the seven new fathers who are about to meet their children for the very first time.  Then the flight deck crew leave followed by officers, sailors ranking from E6 through E8.  And then everyone else.  A big roar goes up with all are given leave.  Roses are sold for $3 each so the sailors can hand out flowers at the reunions.  All sailors are required to dress up in uniform to get off the boat.  When Offspring #1 and I get off we see what a big deal this is.  People are holding up signs greeting their loved ones.  The USO and a local VFW have trailers here with tents, coffee and donuts for the families.  One family has a sign with a huge, larger than life face on it.  Offspring #1 recognizes the face on the sign and laughs.  We could take a bus to the parking lot or the NEX (store on the base) but we decide to walk instead.  We walk about a mile.  There is a gate to get to the pier.  We can leave through the gate only in single file which creates a bottleneck on the sidewalk.  A bus might have been faster.  At the store Offspring #1 buys some civilian clothes.  We walk another mile to the parking lot.  The Navy and the patriot guard are there to help start cars that have not been run for 8.5 months.  Some cars need assistance but not ours.  My cruise is over.  I have learned some things.  Sailors on deployment make a huge sacrifice.  They work 18 hours a day 6.5 days a week.  They put service to our nation above their personal needs and the needs of their friends and family.  I knew it was a sacrifice but now I really understand how difficult it can be.  The sailors work hard and they take pride in doing a good job.  The USS Nimitz was well run and very clean.  Morale seemed high.  I learned that I don't get seasick but I do get sea legs.  I feel the motion of the boat even though I'm on solid ground.  Today is actually Saturday and I've been off the boat since 2 o'clock in the afternoon on Monday and I still have sea legs!  Who would have thought sea legs would last 5 days?  Another thing I've learned is that is must be difficult to be a Navy spouse.  Sometimes it is difficult to be married to someone who is around all the time.  And sometimes it is difficult to be married to someone who is not around for 9 months at a time.  But a Navy spouse has to do both.  I think I could do one or the other but both would be very difficult.  I consider myself very lucky to get to go on this tiger cruise.  It was the trip of a lifetime.  Circumstances and health worked out for me.  A friend at work was all set to go on a tiger cruise when H1n1 flu broke out and her trip was cancelled. I was lucky.  I got to be a tiger on the USS Nimitz! 

Last Full Day On The Nimitz

Look at me commandeering the USS Nimitz!

Oh, I had better look where I am going.

The Captain's chair

View from the control tower.

View from vulture's row.

Looking straight up from vulture's row.

Navy guys playing dodge ball.

Today was Sunday and that means Sunday brunch.  I watched as the officer ward room staff prepared the brunch for the admiral and the ship captain.  A chef and an assistant carried out a hunk of meat so large it took both of them to carry it.  A huge bone protruded out of the end of the 60 pound mountain of meat.  I think it was too big to be a sheep or a goat.  It might have been pig or veal.  Even to the nose of a 20+ year vegetarian, this meat smelled good.  After both guys hefted it out of the pan and onto a serving plate, they arranged cheese cloth to cover the bone and lamps to make the meat look as appetizing as possible.  We cleared out of the dining room so the leadership could enjoy their Sunday brunch in peace.  Later that day I saw the admiral and the captain walking around with their tigers.  I went on a tour of the nuclear power section of the ship.  We didn't get to walk down to actually see the two nuclear reactors that power the ship's propulsion, the ship's energy needs, the steam for the catapults, and the desalination plant.  We did get to go to a nuclear classroom near one of the reactors.  They explained how the two reactors work and how they are prepared to handle any attack on the ship.  The presentation was good and the speaker had a lot of enthusiasm.  But some of his jargon was above my head.  I am sure I missed quite a bit of his content on the physics of nuclear power.  After that I went on a tour of the admiral's bridge, the flight bridge, and Vultures row.  I had already been to vulture's row where I can look over a railing and see the entire flight deck.  To get to the admiral's bridge we took 8 ladders up from the hangar bay.  It's a good thing I've been working out on the stairmaster because I kept up pretty well. The man behind me starting coughing after the first two ladders and I thought he was going to cough up a lung by the time we got there. I had a picture taken of me behind the ship steering wheel.  Looks good but we were on auto control.  We were actually just west of San Francisco and heading north at the time.  Sometimes the tour guide gets the staff who work in the area to talk.  The boatswain's mate, one of the most traditional jobs in the Navy, was a young woman (possibly still a teen) who was very competent in her job but unable to describe what she does for us.  One older woman tiger kept prompting her to show some confidence and tell us more and I could see that her prompts were making things worse.  Some people just don't know when to quit. After that tour I sat with the group in the hangar bay and watched a few minutes of dodge ball. The audience had to pay attention or they might get struck in the head by a stray ball. One of the players was, I knew, a former Navy football player.  He could really whip the ball and dodge the ball.  To begin a match four balls are placed on the center line and the players dash to grab them from the end zone.  With our wild seas today it was impossible to keep four balls from rolling away immediately so a couple sailors held them until the last minute and the sea decided which team got the balls.  Our ship was rolling and pitching quite a bit today and it was impossible to walk a straight line.  I saw lots of people with tiny tan dots behind their ears.  I learned those were prescription scopalamine patches.  I am lucky because I don't get seasick.  I don't mind walking like a drunken sailor and I think the rocking helps me sleep better.  The only time I get a little nervous about the rocking is when I'm about to go down a ladder and don't have my hands on the rail yet and the ship pitches to the side.  Yesterday when I went to a department muster I stood behind a group of 100 sailors standing at attention. They stayed at attention while the department ribbons and awards were handed out which took ten to fifteen minutes. At attention it was obvious that the sailors were leaning to the right, ahead, to the left, and then behind; just like me.  Our dinner was delicious.  Lobster tails and steak were available as well as potatoes, rice, bread, fruit, cakes, pies, pasta, salad bar, broccoli and corn.  Normally if the sailors are served lobster tail and steak bad news follows.  This time bad news did not follow and the great meal was show for the tigers. I know I am lucky to be the tiger of an officer.  The line for dinner for the enlisted sailors and their tigers snaked up the ladder and all the way across the hangar bay.  I imagine they had at least an hour to wait in line for a meal.  While I can relax in the wardroom on cushy chairs, the enlisted tigers relax on folding chairs in front of a big tv screen in the hangar bay.  I have it pretty nice.  Actually I am amazed how nice it is for me.  I've been welcomed, showered with gifts, given nice quarters and tremendous food, and all the tours I've wanted to take.  Plus people help me out whenever I get lost which has been quite a few times now.  By the time I figure my way around this ship it will be time for me to disembark.  I am so lucky to be able to take this tiger tour.  I peeked out the hangar bay door on my way to bed last night.  I could not see the moon but I could see it shining across the sea.  And I saw one star on the horizon.  As I went to sleep we were rocking as badly as we have ever been.  We were warned that a high pressure area off shore would make the water choppy.  I hear that we should enter the bay toward Everett around 2:30 in the morning and then the pitching and rolling will decrease.  When I wake up we won't be rocking and rolling anymore.

Day Two On The Nimitz

This is the focsicle. Two sets of anchor chains get wound up in here..

This is a painting of Chester Nimitz, fleet admiral.  He recovered nicely from running a ship aground on a Philippine sandbar in 1908.  And that is an old fashioned admiral hat on the shelf to the right of the painting.  He didn't wear it as part of his uniform.  It was given to him and is now part of the collection on the ship.

This is a Zodiak - a life boat used to rescue a man or woman overboard.

See how the nuclear power can churn up the water behind the fantail?  We are cruising!

I'm up for breakfast again at 6 a.m.  Today I have eggs, yogurt and french toast.  I was hungry because I haven't eaten since 3:30 the previous afternoon.  This morning I have signed up for a tour of the Intelligence Department.  I go with a group of tigers and sailors to an area usually restricted.  Intelligence sailors describe how they keep track of the various risks like wind, heat, UV rays, waves, swells, etc.  A pilot talks about flying and the tactics they use against the enemy.  Some enemies have moral indignance to the United States but little resources.  He saw one combatant with a shoulder rocket launcher at sea on a jet ski.  Sometimes a fly-by of a F18 is enough to get people to back off.  If not, a close fly-by usually works.  The Unites States and Russia have agreements as to how to behave at sea.  When the Nimitz was deployed in the Red Sea, it was followed by a Russian battle ship.  The Russian battleship kept the Nimitz and it's protector ships company the entire time they were in the Red Sea.  Once the Russian ship crossed the bow of the Nimitz.  That bold action led to state department discussions with the Russians about their behavior.  The deployment was extended 2.5 months because of the time spent in the Red Sea.  Besides not going home the conditions were hard.  US Navy ships are not ususally in the Red Sea.  Getting supplies was not easy.  Fresh food became unavailable.  Anything shipped in was in transit for 10 days so no fresh fruit or vegetables.  All salads became pasta salads.  Frozen spinach and frozen okra were the only vegetables served.  Plus the desalination equipment sprung a leak so water was rationed.  These were tough days for those on the Nimitz.  Later we were led to another area that was so secure we had to turn in our cameras and phones to enter the room.  I listened carefully but most of the talk was explaining the various departments and all the acronyms for each department that I became overwhelmed with information overload. After I hear about ACC, TAC, and TDC my eyes tend to glaze over. Then they made up a scenario of a conflict with Canada.  The president of Canada, Sir Ip of Maple, declared Canada was taking back all property above the 48th parralel.  It was a humorous scenario but it did lay out the kind of report intelligence would give to the admiral.  After lunch I went on another tour.  We started out in the fantail (at the back of the ship).  We toured the jet engine repair shop.  This shop repairs F18 engines.  They can be built from scratch down here.  They test each engine before installing

The wake of the USS Nimitz.

it in a plane by running it (on the outside deck of the fantail) for two hours to make sure it runs right.  They keep two engines ready for both kinds of F18's at all times.  When they were in the Red Sea they kept 4 engines of both kinds ready.  After that we toured the museum where some of the property of Nimitz is kept.  Some of his personal letters are there as well as one of those old fashioned admiral hats.  Then we went to the focsicle which is way on the front end of the ship where the anchor chains are kept.  Actually I had already seen the focsicle once when I was lost trying to find my berth.  These tours are really a physical workout for me.  I've been up and down so many ladders today my calves are aching.   After my 3:30 dinner we hung out.  Tonight I have the option of a movie or karoke at 8 o'clock; both options include ice cream. I think I want to go to bed so early because I eat dinner so early.  I decide to take a hot shower and relax a while.  The shower is great and the water is hot and even in temperature.   It's weird to think that my water is heated with nuclear power.  Everything is nuclear powered - the lights, the hot water, even the water is desalinated with nuclear power.  Nuclear power leaves so much more room for supplies than gas.  A ship can go for 50 years without needing to refuel.  There is no need to throttle down the motors to save on gas with nuclear power.  The Nimitz can go full speed ahead without worry.  I haven't thought through my feelings on nuclear power entirely but on this voyage I can see some real benefits to it.

Obituary

Chicken, Meredith The, age 4 1/2 of Ramsey, formerly of Iowa died Friday, December 13, 2013 at home surrounded by her family.  Meredith was a hen, a pet, and an egg layer. Hatched April 1, 2009.  Services have been held.  Proceeded in death by brothers/husbands Dwight and Angelo, sisters Pamela, Phyllis, and Kelly.  Survived by owner Orange-Sue, adopted sisters Nora, Ivy, Marina, and Pearl. She will be missed.

Meredith as a chick.  Bold and orange she was adaptable and smart which is probably why she lived so long.  Like her namesake, Meredith was boy crazy.  She always hung around Dwight and Angelo when possible.  Once the roosters left she became a leader among the hens.  They followed her.  She didn't follow them.

Largest of all the hens she thrived despite adversity.  She was missing in action for ten snowy days in October 2010.  She survived an attack by a gray fox and a red Min-pin in 2011, an embarrassing loss of tail feathers in 2012, and attempted murder by a red fox  in 2013.  Meredith, you were one of a kind.

First Full Day on the Nimitz

The flight deck before the air show.

Standing over an arresting cable.

View of where the planes would come in.

From Vulture's Row, one ladder up from the flight deck, we watched a muster of the flight deck crew.  Purple shirts work with fuel, red shirts work with emergencies, green coordinate landings and take offs, and I can't remember what yellow does.

I slept pretty well the first night in my lower bunk in my room.  I was up at 6 to meet Offspring #1 outside my door to have breakfast.  He hates to wait in line so we eat all our meals early.  Breakfast at 6, lunch at 10:30 and supper at 3:30.  It's a little early on the last two meals but it works for me except I want to go to sleep at 8.  The food here is delicious.  I had scrambled eggs made to order, french toast and a banana.  Other options are hot and cold cereal, bagels, waffles, bacon, ham, chicken, sausage, potatoes, and 9 different kinds of fresh fruit plus juice, coffee, milk and hot cocoa.  I hung out in the hazmat (hazardous materials) department and got to meet some of the people who work there.  Most are male.  I think I saw 3 females out of the 15 people in the group.  Everyone was pretty happy with the results of the hazmat inspection in San Diego the day before.  With a good inspection behind them and the end of a 9 month deployment coming soon all were jolly.  We spent the morning walking around the ship.  I'm trying to get my bearings.  Hazmat is in the stern.  My berth is in the bow.  My berth is on level 02 (2 ladders up from the hangar bay).  The officer's lunch room is on level 2 (one ladder down from the hangar bay).  I'm glad I'm an officer tiger because the line for the enlisted and their tigers stretches up the ladder and all the way across the hangar bay.  After lunch we went up on the flight deck for an air show.  We go up a series of ladders and take a door to the outside where we stand on a metal platform.  Under my feet I can see the ocean going by.  Then we ascent a series of six narrow stairs that have no risers.  I can see the ocean inbetween each step.  It's scary! I am hanging on tight to the handrails.   At the last step is a big ledge to step over with no handrail. I think this is called the catwalk. Legs, don't fail me now.  I'm more comfortable as we move away from the edge.  The flight deck is skid resistant although there are round holes every 6 feet or so with a five star metal bracket inside each hole.  These are for tying down the planes.  I try not to fall in one.  We're still in southern California (I think - we can't see any land at all) but the wind is brisk and I'm cold up there.  I wear ear plugs.  We find a place near the bow to watch the airshow.  Three helicopters are pacing off the port side.  A F18 flies by and shoots straight up in the air.  Another F18 comes by the other side and goes so fast it causes a sonic boom. I can actually see the sonic booms disturb the air around the jet.  Wow.  Before I'm done absorbing that another F18 comes across the top of the ship and scares me half to death.  I never heard it coming until it was right over my head.  They are loud and close.  Normally aircraft can't go below 500 feet but out here in the Pacific Ocean no rules like that apply.  Then the F18's do a series of touch and go manuevers on the flight deck.  Holy Shamoley.  To see a F18 land and then turn on the afterburners and take off again only 30 feet away from me is so freaking scary I can't help but back up a few feet (as if that would help).  They're big.  They're fast.   They're loud.  And they're so close to me!  It's hard for me to describe what a sensory overload this airshow is. I know that a close fly-by is used to scare the enemy and I know it sure as heck would work on me.  When the airshow is over we step over the big ledge again onto the platform, down the open steps and back into the ship where I feel safer.  After an early supper we hang out until it's time for me to hear the admiral speak.  I must have read the schedule wrong because it was a Washington State Patrol officer speaking about driving safety.  He's worried about all these Navy peope back on the road after not driving for 9 months.  He shows us a gory series of car crashes on power point and he follows that with a terrifying film of semi-truck crashes caught on film.  After that I made my way to my berth by myself!  I am proud of myself for managing this because it wasn't easy.  I took several wrong turns.  And I didn't have my berth number with me to ask for help.  I know I was looking for the blue floor tile that indicates officer territory.  When I follow Offspring #1 I don't really pay attention to what the doors look like because I'm behind him.  I see one door that says Officer but it also says restricted access.  I reach for the handle but think better of it.  Restricted Access sounds like I shouldn't go in there.  Some doors say "No Tigers Allowed."  I know I shouldn't go in those (except I can ignore the one that goes to Hazmat).  I decide to try the restricted access door.  Bingo!  I see blue floors! I find my room and feel pretty darn proud of myself.  Tonight the waves are larger and I can feel the pitch and roll of the ship.  Like a baby being rocked in a cradle, I sleep great.

Boarding the USS Nimitz

I have a nice berth with only two beds.  A lieutenant commander's room is nicer than most.  Others share a room with 8 people or even 80 people.

The gray wool blankets are warm but itchy.

A sign in the officer berthing hallway.

The female officer's head (bathroom)

Today is the big day I've been waiting for - the first day of my tiger cruise on the USS Nimitz.  I woke up at 5. I wanted to see the Nimitz as it sailed into the big harbor of San Diego.  But I missed it because the ship came in at the same time that the sun came up.  Offspring #1 didn't think he'd be able to meet me until 3 pm at the earliest and late evening at the latest.  I hung out at my hotel until check out time.  Burdened as I was with a bulging back pack and a tote bag, I didn't want to walk around all day.  I decided to spend the day in Little Italy.  Turned out I made a good choice.  Little Italy was only six blocks from where I was staying.  The Italian shops and restaurants were pleasant and they had outdoor seating where I could sit and watch the people and the pigeons.  I really enjoyed just relaxing in the sunshine and watching the neighborhood.  From where I sat on the corner I could see the sign over the road proclaiming this to be Little Italy and I could see down the side street into the harbor.  Statues of a nutcracker adorned every corner.  A potted evergreen was decorated for the season and limes grew in planters on the street.I spent the whole day there.  In the late afternoon Offspring #1 met me and we ate at an Italian place.  Then we walked about a mile to downtown San Diego to meet some friends of his at a bar that specialized in craft beers.  I enjoyed meeting his friend who had three tigers with him; his parent

Nutcrackers adorn every street corner in Little Italy.

s and his philosophy professor.  At about 7 we hired a SUV taxi to drive us to the North Island Naval Base.  To get there we had to drive over the high Coronado Bridge that I saw the day before.  I checked in at the tiger booth.  Somehow I expected this part to be more difficult than it was.  All I had to do was show them my identification.  They handed me a name badge on a lanyard and told me to wear it at all times on the ship.  They gave me an envelope and a gift souvenir backpack full of gifts including a Nimitz hat, a Nimitz water bottle, a Nimitz pin and a Nimitz patch.  The ship looked huge to me.  We walked up a ladder to get to the gangplank.  Cranes were offloading pallets and forklifts were offloading pallets.  The hangar bay, usually crowded with planes, was mostly empty.  I waited while Offspring #1 got my room assignment.  I was assigned the room of a lieutenant commander.  I share the room with Offspring #1's friend's mother who I just had dinner with.  With only two bunks this was a plush berth.  Offspring #1 has 7 people in his room.  He showed me where the head (bathroom) was and I was ready to retire for the evening.  I'm meeting him at six for breakfast. 

San Diego Harbor

The statue based on a photograph called Unconditional Surrender - art or kitsch?

The USS Midway - a floating museum.

Barnacles show when the tide is low.

Enlisted berths

Junior Officer berths

That statue again as seen from the flight deck of the USS Midway

Flight deck of the USS Midway

The wheel!

Government building along Pacific Coast Highway

Here I am in San Diego with nothing to do today.  I sleep in but it's really not sleeping in because of the two hour time change.  I stroll down Harbor Drive wondering if I should take in the Marine Museum or the USS Midway Museum.  I walk by both of them and sit by a statue of a sailor kissing a nurse to rest and make a decision.  I enjoy people watching by the statue.  Many couples have their picture taken as they reenact the pose of the sailor and the nurse.  A large number of Japanese speaking tourists are here.  One young Japanese woman seems to be staring at me as I rest on a bench.  After 10 minutes, she sits next to me on the bench and a man takes our photo.  What the heck?  Whose photo album will I be in?  After a while I stroll to the other side of Tuna Park where the wind is not as brisk.  I sit what I hope is a safe distance away from a homeless person.  Homeless people take all the best benches around here.  I listen to him and his friends talk about fishing, taxes, the best crystal meth, bales of marijuana floating in the ocean free for the taking as long as the helicopters don't catch you, living in Mexico, living in Alaska, Obamacare, and traffic tickets.  After listening to them for a while I thought I would get in shape for my next adventure by touring the USS Midway Museum.  This decommissioned aircraft carrier has been a museum for about 10 years.  I picked up a museum audio tour player and started walking around.  I walked through the berth areas for enlisted and junior officers.  Wow, tight quarters.  The only ones who don't sleep in berths are the captain and the admiral.  They had brass beds.  I toured the flight deck where I saw planes, jets and helicopters.  They say a flight deck is one of the most dangerous work places and I can believe that.  I stopped at a museum cafe for lunch and another rest.  I had lunch outside at a table with a great view of the kissing statue and the San Diego harbor.  California Gulls, many pigeons, cormorants, and Pacific egrets were moving around.  The hallways on the USS Midway had small doorways that I had to step over at very frequent intervals.  I'm short enough that I don't have to worry about bumping my head on the doors. Some of the stairs were so steep and so cramped that I had to lean forward so my face was near the stairs to avoid bumping my head.  The museum is crowded with friendly docents and helpers.  After four hours of touring the museum I felt like I was prepared for my tiger tour of the USS Nimitz tomorrow.  Besides, I won't want to overdo it today and be in pain tomorrow.  I left the museum and walked home along the Pacific Coast Highway, lined with palm trees.  The corners here are a little scary.  There are few curb cuts for wheelchairs or strollers.  And the curbs are so high it's hard for me to step up and down.  What scares me though are the drains.  The openings for rain water are big enough for a human to be swept down.  Downtown San Diego is beautiful and I felt safe walking around today.  It was a welcome relief from the frozen land at home.