Back Home Again

Thursday night we jumped on our jet for a long overnight trip to ND leaving at 10 pm and arriving home at 4:30pm.  A couple days at home and we noticed how much snow was gone.  Great news.  But then we got a winter storm watch, actually a blizzard watch, for tonite and tomorrow.  Possible snow predicted is 10 plus inches.  Welcome home, indeed!

What fun we had with these two rascals.

Each of them have more energy than the two of us put together, and unfortunately they realize it.

Sometimes they play so nicely together.

Like exploring for the first time a belated Christmas present that arrived while we were there.

So nice to go camping in your own living room.

Ellie is all girl.  She like clothes and changes sometimes several times a day.  Here she is all dressed up for a tea with her Mom and Tutu.

On the other hand, Mack likes animals of all kinds.  These fish aren't jumping like it looks but got his attention.

On the other hand, sometimes they act like normal brother and sisters do.

Here they are "posing" for a picture of the two of them as I requested.  Not quite what I had in mind.

In spite of their differences they do genuinely seem to care about each other.  Something we hope will always be the case.

This little hand is waving at Papa from her upstairs bedroom where her mother thinks she is taking a nap.  When I gave her a goodbye hug and told her how much I would miss her, she said: "That's OK, you can come back."  Yes, little one, I hope you are right.

Considering Part-time Work

Since I am retired and there seems to be plenty of part-time jobs in Hawaii, I thought I might consider some of them.  For example this palm tree trimmer.

He takes the bucket to its full height, ties it to the tree, climbs on top of the bucket onto the tree and starts hacking away.

I don't know how he does it but a circle of palm fronds drop from the tree all in one fell swoop.  But since the wind was gusting at 25 mph and I don't like heights, I gave up on that one.

I saw this little building peaking above the trees and with my camera focused on it.  It is a lookout sentinel overlooking the canal into Pearl Harbor.  I could do that except at nearly 70 I doubt that they would take me into the Navy.

How about a Scuba Diver?  The fish are beautiful here.

But there are some bigger fish that don't look quite so cute.

And the shelf drops off quickly to 45 feet in the canal... no thanks.

How about a professional hiker?  I could lead a family like this.

But then again, we were there on a nice day and the trees indicate that the wind does blow up here.

And besides, the rain made the trail so slippery that my partner and I decided not to risk it.

We didn't have the support like the youngsters did.

And look what else we ran into, there are some nasty looking critters with bad eyebrows you could stumble upon.

This little piggy had several other little piggies all wanting a drink.

But that was the least of her problems.  Around her neck was a cable noose.  She had obviously been trapped.  Considering her frame of mind and the fact that she had little ones, I decided to let her be... though I did feel sorry for her and her dilemma.  There was no one around to tell about her bad day.

So maybe I could be a captain of a cargo ship or tug boat.

This guy looks good.  Maybe I could be a captain of my own harbor cruise for a sunset trip around Waikiki.

Or how about... no, never mind.

I guess I will stick to being Papa to these two.  Thumbs up, my Buddy!

This little one is so far advanced to where I was at her age.  Today at lunch her Mommy was reviewing their lesson in home school for the week and the question was: "What is the third law of Thermodynamics."  Let me say, I am not sure why she needs to know this at her age, but nevertheless, that was the question.  Without hesitation she replied: "It is impossible.... to be a giraffe."  Older brother was listening in and had just taken a big swig of milk...which as you might guess didn't go down his throat.  In case you don't know: "The third law of thermodynamics says that it is impossible to reach the temperature of absolute zero."  I like her definition better.

Hickam Field Tour

Friday Rob joined me and other mostly oldsters on a tour of Hickam Field.  Most of us learned from history books that Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941.  That is partially correct.  Also attacked was nearly every military base on the island including Hickam Field.

A local historian and the wife of a retired AF man, Jesse Higa, gave us a 4 hour tour of historic places on the base, mostly in connection to the December 7 attack.  She is a passionate and exceptional tour guide who not only knows critical details about the base but has befriended many Hickam Field survivors who come to visit especially around the anniversary in December.  She has made it her life mission to preserve the history of Hickam Field for future generations.

Here she points out the names of the 189 who died as the result of the attack.  She is writing a book, out in 2016, about these people, capturing for a generation who does not remember the stories of sacrifice that these folk made for our country.

The flag pole, made from Pennsylvania steel, survived the attack and held up Old Glory in the midst of what was described as "Hell in paradise." Some battle scars remain.

One story she told was of a survivor of Hickam Field who donated two thousand dollars toward the memorial erected under the flag pole and wanted to come back to see how his money was spent.  Unfortunately he was never able to make the trip.  Finally his wife notified the historian that he was coming back and to meet him at the airline cargo area.  He had passed away and his widow was now honoring his request.  The historian notified the base commander who said he would take care of the details.  And he did.  The old hero's hearse was met at the Hickam gate and escorted by the military police around the circle drive that surrounds the flagpole.  Riding in the hearse was the widow and our historian who said that when they got to the flagpole 800 AF personnel and families were waiting for them standing at attention while the body of the fallen survivor was driven around the flagpole not once but twice... because he had often reminded her that he had given two thousand dollars toward the memorial.

Next we stopped by the three story building that was a dorm of 3000 men on December 7 and took direct hits.  It now houses the Pacific Air Force office and still bears the scars from shrapnel very visibly on its outside walls.

Near a door to the outside of the one-time barracks is a staircase leading to the second story that still shows two bullet holes in its risers.

Inside the PACAF building it a memorial case holding one of the three significant flags of our nation's history.  One is the flag from Fort Sumpter (think Francis Scott Key); another is the flag over Iwo Jima; and this one which flew proudly in spite of attempts to shoot it down on December 7, 1941.  Sadly it needs restoration and a preservation case and may be recalled to the Smithsonian unless the $100,000 can be raised to preserve it and put it in a proper display.  I wonder if there are still any patriotic Americans who will step forward to do that. The AF can't solicit funds so private individuals must step forward if it is to be preserved.

Part of the base along the canal is old Fort Kamehameha.  It is not used for housing any longer but testifies to an earlier age of military presence.  It was still housing personnel on Rob's first Hawaii deployment.  The AF has taken the attitude of benign neglect presumably so that they don't have to spend money to preserve it since funds for historic purposes are long gone.

This building is and was a fire station and suffered severe damage because the enemy thought that it was the flight operations building.  We heard some harrowing stories of heroism by those trying to protect the water supply to fight the fires.

I have walked past this beautiful lawn adjoining the old hospital many times not knowing that the bodies of the scores of those who died were laid next to each other on this grass until it was full of the deceased.  One story was about a Mother who received a telegram on Christmas Eve notifying her that her son had been killed on December 7.  It took that long to identify him... the historian showed us a copy of that telegram.  Imagine receiving such news on Christmas Eve not knowing if your son was alive or dead for over three weeks.

The water tower, now renamed Freedom Tower, escaped damage because the enemy thought it to be a religious object.

I love this old chapel in the Fort Kamehameha section of the base.  There were candelabra for candles to illuminate it... and it is made out of wood!

Adjacent to Hickam Field is Pearl Harbor naval base.  While we were not allowed to take pictures on most of the base, we were able to photograph this tribute to the Battleship Nevada which was moored at this spot when the attack occurred.

Over the years I have had relatives in the navy and from our home town who no doubt passed through this Naval Base made so famous because of the attack.  Of all the movies about the attack the historian felt Tora Tora Tora was most accurate.  That is good because it was one of my favorites.

While at old Fort Kamehameha I was reminded that the price of vigilance continues as an F-22 passed by Old Glory and the POW flag on it's final approach to Hickam Field.

Hangin' in Hawaii

I love hearing the birds in Hawaii.  Birds haven't come back to North Dakota yet.  I call these two 'love birds' though they are really the "Common Waxbill."  Notice that some trees are without leaves at the end of Hawaiian winter.

Always some instructions from a patient Mommy especially on a train ride.

Some kind of bloomin' thing.

No bark like this on trees where I come from.  

And these trees are tall too.

Multitasking... rest and refreshment.  Females learn to multitask very early.

But this boy is focused on one thing...doing what we guys do best... having a sandwich on a Sandwich Island... now that makes sense to me.

Hats are required when we are outside but not because it is cold.  These two think it is cold when it drops below 70 degrees.

Big Wheel made for two.  And I thought he would never grow enough to reach those pedals when he got it in Little Rock.

Dinner on the Lanai with a visitor from the mainland.  This pilot, Art, our nephew, was on his way around the world literally.  He stopped here from Memphis, then Anchorage, South Korea, China, Germany and home again to Memphis.  He works for Fed Ex so this was no vacation for him.  I told him about my Great Uncle Anton.  He prided himself in never having left Hardin County his entire life.  My generation really expanded our horizons.  We actually took a class trip to Lake of the Ozarks {:>).

 

Blocks have always been good for building things... that is until one decides the tower is tall enough.  Some toys like blocks along with books and legos have been around for a long time and provide hours of fun.  We had the first two but Lincoln logs and erector sets were our legos.

But around here books are still a favorite.  And now older brother can even read to little sister which is great when both are in just the right mood and the moon is in the right phase... and they can agree on the same book...get it?