Day two of the Hawaii trip was spent at Pearl Harbor...and as a self-titled history buff, it was beyond fascinating to me.
What struck me first was how somber we felt as soon as we got off the bus. There's something about that place that just levels you in terms of your view on life, courage, struggle and war in general.
While I've long known the dates, times, names and events of WWII, seeing the film and listening to the volunteer narrative prior to watching it, really brought it all home. What struck me the most was learning of all the survivors, who, upon their passing asked to be buried with their brothers underwater, back aboard the USS Arizona. I was not aware of that and it really hit hard, knowing that those men spent the rest of their lives as survivors, with what had to be absolutely vivid and horrid memories of that day etched in their minds. Memories of their ship, of how their lives and that of the nation and world, changed that day. Memories of their fellow sailors and Marines that died.
Their last request was to return to the Arizona and their names are etched at the memorial wall too...
After the film, we took the ferry boat to the memorial...it was something to see, all of these people looking around and taking pictures, but not really talking. There wasn't the usual touristy banter going on because the memorial is really an observational stand over a submerged graveyard.
When you look out at the ship below, there is still oil leaking up to the surface...that ship is still "alive" in the sense that you see it and see the little slicks of oil coming up, over 67 years after the fact.
You can also see the USS Missouri anchored just a few hundred yards away. The war with Japan started there and ended aboard the Mighty Mo. Full circle for us to see.
So there you are, in this paradise of a place, knowing that it was hell on earth that day.
If you've never been there, go. It is simply hard to imagine...
JReed...Says Be Well.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Hawaii Travel Log - Day One. So, what do you do?
Well, we flew from Eugene to Seattle, then Seattle to Honolulu on the 21st.
On the flight from SEA to HNL, a very nice and talkative man named Pat sat next to us.
Through the course of conversation, we got around to "So, what do you do?" The inevitable ice breaker topic on planes...we explained what we did, which until this conversation, seemed fairly interesting, then I asked Pat, "So, what do you do?" to which he replied, "I am a medical marijuana grower."
Uhhh, ok. That's a new one on us...it ended up being quite an interesting flight and Pat was, to say the least, chatty. By the 5th hour of the flight, I was ready to not talk or listen anymore to anyone, but I do have to say that Pat was a very nice guy with lots of colorful stories to tell. We saw a few pictures of his greenhouses, saw his license and discussed the difference between State and Federal law. I'm still not sure how it works, but we laughed a lot.
Once on the ground, we made our way via bus to Waikiki and checked in to our hotel. It is warm and sunny here, which makes it seem like a cool place to vacation. Worked nicely for us, being here on vacation and all.
As near as we could tell, wandering around the hotel and surrounding blocks, Korea has evacuated all of its teenagers. I assume there is some national teenager holiday or competition here, at our hotel, that has brought all 985,000 here. To say I am "out of touch" with Korean teenage life is an understatement, but they sure seem to have a nice time together. The boys all wear white shoes and jeans and have ratty/wild dyed-light-brown hair. The girls all wear white shoes and jeans and have ratty/wild dyed-light-brown hair, that is only slightly longer than the boys. And, they all smoke, a lot.
But I do like being around them because I feel like a giant. They are, no kidding, about 58% of my size and I'm not a very big guy. Actually I am a big guy, at least this week, in this hotel lobby.
To end the day, we had a nice sushi dinner, walked the famous Waikiki beach and turned in. Day two promises to be interesting, as we are headed for Pearl Harbor.
JReed...Says Be Well.
On the flight from SEA to HNL, a very nice and talkative man named Pat sat next to us.
Through the course of conversation, we got around to "So, what do you do?" The inevitable ice breaker topic on planes...we explained what we did, which until this conversation, seemed fairly interesting, then I asked Pat, "So, what do you do?" to which he replied, "I am a medical marijuana grower."
Uhhh, ok. That's a new one on us...it ended up being quite an interesting flight and Pat was, to say the least, chatty. By the 5th hour of the flight, I was ready to not talk or listen anymore to anyone, but I do have to say that Pat was a very nice guy with lots of colorful stories to tell. We saw a few pictures of his greenhouses, saw his license and discussed the difference between State and Federal law. I'm still not sure how it works, but we laughed a lot.
Once on the ground, we made our way via bus to Waikiki and checked in to our hotel. It is warm and sunny here, which makes it seem like a cool place to vacation. Worked nicely for us, being here on vacation and all.
As near as we could tell, wandering around the hotel and surrounding blocks, Korea has evacuated all of its teenagers. I assume there is some national teenager holiday or competition here, at our hotel, that has brought all 985,000 here. To say I am "out of touch" with Korean teenage life is an understatement, but they sure seem to have a nice time together. The boys all wear white shoes and jeans and have ratty/wild dyed-light-brown hair. The girls all wear white shoes and jeans and have ratty/wild dyed-light-brown hair, that is only slightly longer than the boys. And, they all smoke, a lot.
But I do like being around them because I feel like a giant. They are, no kidding, about 58% of my size and I'm not a very big guy. Actually I am a big guy, at least this week, in this hotel lobby.
To end the day, we had a nice sushi dinner, walked the famous Waikiki beach and turned in. Day two promises to be interesting, as we are headed for Pearl Harbor.
JReed...Says Be Well.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Meet Me In The Middle.
Center, middle, medium, moderation. These four words represent one guiding thought process, principle if you want to call it that, in my life.
Center, equidistant from two or more extremes.
How you stay in balance when you stand, the guy that snaps the football to get the play started. I think we all agree that being a "centered" person is best. Nobody likes to be around a person that is extreme in any one way.
Middle, equidistant from two or more extremes.
When you drive down the road, you keep your car in the middle of your lane to avoid collisions, leaving the roadway, signposts and other hazards. Reasonable approach to driving, that the vast majority of the time works out very well. The middle class can be argued as being the single biggest stabilizing factor for any country, politically and economically. By not just having a huge under class with a small top class, a country can enjoy economic growth and opportunity for its citizens. Middle...it is actually where it happens.
Medium, the average of two extremes.
When you are ordering something to eat or drink and you've either never tried it or are just not sure how much you want, you get a medium. Nice safe choice. If you don't specify how you want your steak, it will come out medium. Why? Because it will please the largest number of diners and represents the least risk to the restaurant and chef.
Moderation, not doing, taking, eating, drinking or acting in any extreme manner.
"All things in moderation." It seems to be human nature to react to something bad by stopping it altogether, or to something good by going full tilt with it. Diets are a great example. Carbs aren't bad, but lots of carbs are. Meat isn't bad, but eating huge amounts of it is. Sugar isn't bad, but consuming lots of it certainly is. Heck, you can even take too many vitamins.
I happen to believe that politics and an approach to government and dealing with a large, complex society like ours is no different. All things in moderation is a very good way to enjoy what you want, without creating problems or having to go extreme measures to undo what was done.
I am asking you to meet me in the middle. There is a LOT of room as our country is practically a 50/50 split between the two extremes.
I am willing to bet that there are far more people in this country whose approach to life and their belief systems are somewhere in this vast middle ground. I for one cannot say I support either of our two big political parties completely. I don't agree with every single plank in their platforms but I sure do agree with quite a few in each. So what does that make me? I think it makes me a person with his own thoughts and ideas, that recognizes different situations require different approaches and there is no one blanket school of thought that can handle everything.
I'm not saying that I'm right about everything, but I can say that when I have in fact aligned myself with one party, I immediately start struggling with certain items or beliefs of that party. I've been a Democrat, I've been a Republican, I've gone independent. I can't find a political home. I don't think I'm alone.
Let's start a movement back to the middle.
You don't HAVE to choose one side or the other...think about who it is that is telling you that you have to? Those two sides. They want and need us to pick a side in order to maintain their power and control. It is probably the one thing that they all secretly agree on: Keep them divided and keep the gap close, then we will ALL maintain our power and wealth.
A final thought about that: When there is a coin toss, you're told to pick heads or tails. Pick one side of the coin. You feel like you have a choice, but in fact, even though there are two sides of a coin, in political terms, it is still just two sides of the same coin.
Over time, I'll be posting a lot more about this particular topic because I truly believe that as an approach to politics, particularly in our current "environment" today, it is really the only way to a better life, a better country and a better future.
JReed...Says Be Well.
Center, equidistant from two or more extremes.
How you stay in balance when you stand, the guy that snaps the football to get the play started. I think we all agree that being a "centered" person is best. Nobody likes to be around a person that is extreme in any one way.
Middle, equidistant from two or more extremes.
When you drive down the road, you keep your car in the middle of your lane to avoid collisions, leaving the roadway, signposts and other hazards. Reasonable approach to driving, that the vast majority of the time works out very well. The middle class can be argued as being the single biggest stabilizing factor for any country, politically and economically. By not just having a huge under class with a small top class, a country can enjoy economic growth and opportunity for its citizens. Middle...it is actually where it happens.
Medium, the average of two extremes.
When you are ordering something to eat or drink and you've either never tried it or are just not sure how much you want, you get a medium. Nice safe choice. If you don't specify how you want your steak, it will come out medium. Why? Because it will please the largest number of diners and represents the least risk to the restaurant and chef.
Moderation, not doing, taking, eating, drinking or acting in any extreme manner.
"All things in moderation." It seems to be human nature to react to something bad by stopping it altogether, or to something good by going full tilt with it. Diets are a great example. Carbs aren't bad, but lots of carbs are. Meat isn't bad, but eating huge amounts of it is. Sugar isn't bad, but consuming lots of it certainly is. Heck, you can even take too many vitamins.
I happen to believe that politics and an approach to government and dealing with a large, complex society like ours is no different. All things in moderation is a very good way to enjoy what you want, without creating problems or having to go extreme measures to undo what was done.
I am asking you to meet me in the middle. There is a LOT of room as our country is practically a 50/50 split between the two extremes.
I am willing to bet that there are far more people in this country whose approach to life and their belief systems are somewhere in this vast middle ground. I for one cannot say I support either of our two big political parties completely. I don't agree with every single plank in their platforms but I sure do agree with quite a few in each. So what does that make me? I think it makes me a person with his own thoughts and ideas, that recognizes different situations require different approaches and there is no one blanket school of thought that can handle everything.
I'm not saying that I'm right about everything, but I can say that when I have in fact aligned myself with one party, I immediately start struggling with certain items or beliefs of that party. I've been a Democrat, I've been a Republican, I've gone independent. I can't find a political home. I don't think I'm alone.
Let's start a movement back to the middle.
You don't HAVE to choose one side or the other...think about who it is that is telling you that you have to? Those two sides. They want and need us to pick a side in order to maintain their power and control. It is probably the one thing that they all secretly agree on: Keep them divided and keep the gap close, then we will ALL maintain our power and wealth.
A final thought about that: When there is a coin toss, you're told to pick heads or tails. Pick one side of the coin. You feel like you have a choice, but in fact, even though there are two sides of a coin, in political terms, it is still just two sides of the same coin.
Over time, I'll be posting a lot more about this particular topic because I truly believe that as an approach to politics, particularly in our current "environment" today, it is really the only way to a better life, a better country and a better future.
JReed...Says Be Well.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Travel Log - The Beginning.
Lot's of people have travel goals and I am no different. My first, and still biggest, travel goals is to get to all 50 states. I have reached 46 of them and have plans this month to get to Hawaii and Alaska. That leaves only 2 remaining...Arkansas and Vermont.
With a huge, interesting and diverse world to see, why make the 50 states the first priority? Several reasons. This is my country and I want to see it and meet people from all over. That will allow me to really form an opinion on different states, regions, etc from experience, not from just what I see on the news or read on the Internet. I want to be able to tell my children from first hand experience some facts and thoughts on their country and set a positive example on the importance of perspective.
I am happy to say that even at 8 and 7 years old, my two children are in the double digit range of states visited. It is my goal to impart on them a sense of travel for experience and also for the same sense of what people are like, first hand, that I am seeking for myself.
I look forward to reporting from the road, taking lots of pictures, meeting lots of people and getting a real sense of what is going on, from the source, not from the Internet or the news. Not that I will stop taking info from those sources, I will just supplement them with my own real-life experiences.
If you're in to travel, if you have recommendations of things to see, places to go, or even places and things to avoid, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading.
JReed...Says Be Well.
With a huge, interesting and diverse world to see, why make the 50 states the first priority? Several reasons. This is my country and I want to see it and meet people from all over. That will allow me to really form an opinion on different states, regions, etc from experience, not from just what I see on the news or read on the Internet. I want to be able to tell my children from first hand experience some facts and thoughts on their country and set a positive example on the importance of perspective.
I am happy to say that even at 8 and 7 years old, my two children are in the double digit range of states visited. It is my goal to impart on them a sense of travel for experience and also for the same sense of what people are like, first hand, that I am seeking for myself.
I look forward to reporting from the road, taking lots of pictures, meeting lots of people and getting a real sense of what is going on, from the source, not from the Internet or the news. Not that I will stop taking info from those sources, I will just supplement them with my own real-life experiences.
If you're in to travel, if you have recommendations of things to see, places to go, or even places and things to avoid, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading.
JReed...Says Be Well.
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