Ring Out the Old....Ring In the New!

The year 2014 is behind me. I have not been writing too much. What is there to write about? The blog originally started as travelogue when my job took me to exotic places but for the past six years, it's been the same places year in and out. If it isn't the Main or Northwest Hawaiian Islands, it's American Samoa or Guam/Saipan. Also time has been going by faster than usual. I was thinking about the winter I worked in San Francisco and it occurred to me that it was two years ago! Maybe I need to take an exotic trip to India or China and find a spot where the writer's block disappear and conditions swing me back to writing. Seattle for me was a writer's paradise due to it's gray climate, abundant coffee stands, bookstores and neighborhood bar and grilles. The rain added to the surroundings trickling down during cool autumn or winter evenings. When the mood struck to write, the old stereo would vocalize smooth jazz that added color to the background. One New Years Day to my horror I put in my earplugs from the old Walkman CD/radio set to the frequency of the station and blasted into my ears loud rock music! The format had changed and the jazz genre had disappeared! If not for that station I would not have seen Billy Preston perform at Jazz Alley. Unfortunately he passed away six months after that concert.

When I first move to Honolulu, there was a jazz station and that too disappeared a year later! However, I find it difficult and a bit distracting to do serious writing here. Hawaii is more surf, sun and beach. Bookstores are scarce as well as mom and pop coffee stands. But I like it here not for the same reasons I liked other places where I lived. On the Windward Side it is hard to find a good neighborhood bar and grille that caters to locals instead of tourists. There are four pubs in Kaneohe and I rarely venture into Kailua since it has become a tourist destination and a traffic nightmare. Each of the Kaneohe pubs has a common problem, lack of parking. One mom and pop coffee stand located in the mall that the wife and I patronize regularly. Starbucks is boycotted ever since Howard Schultz sold the Seattle Supersonics to Clay Bennett who converted them to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Of course I don't think he would not miss not getting my $5 for a cup of latte which I buy from local or non-Starbucks sources. I “heart” Hawaii and hope my stay here is longer where I can finish up my plans towards retirement. I lived in Seattle and San Diego each for 14 years, Japan for twelve years and on and off at different locations and as I always said, need some stability instead of moving all the time. I thought for sure that I would be staying in Washington and retire from there but it was not to be.

I tried to do some writing at sea but the mindset is geared towards getting the cruise over with and coming home. I can look into the archives, change the dates and the reader would not know that the article was written several years ago. I would not do that of course but I haven't been back in the South Pacific for nearly three years or visited exotic places since the days of the Ka'imimoana.

This past year, I had some pleasant memories. My son came on home leave from the Navy after being away from home for two and a half years! I took five days off in August and spent time together before heading out to sea again and he reporting to his first duty station. I saw him in California again when we went to visit my family for Christmas. I have not seen my daughter and grandsons for three and a half years! One of these times that streak will end! The wife and I along with the stepson and his girlfriend went to California for Christmas vacation. There will come a time not too far off that the kids will be coming here for Christmas.

I also lost a good friend and a co-worker in 2014 due to an automobile accident in the North Shores. When I first heard it I did not believe it! We laid a reef in the ocean as we departed Saipan for Northern Marianas last July. He left NOAA in March of last year after receiving a better offer from the University. If he were to stay with us I know he have enjoyed the Fisheries Project immensely as he would be doing his job fishing with the science party for research. Rest In Peace Rob, I still have a difficult time to believe that you are no longer with us. Just last year this time we were laughing and conversing about your new venture with the University and post graduate plans to be Oceanographic Technology Engineer.

Better update this blog! I go back to work on January 8 and it is catch up time! I see overtime on the horizon!