The Last Man Standing

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I think that might actually be me. No, I have not taken up cage fighting or any other extreme sport. I am referring to something that took place about five years ago when I was on, what is known as, a Tiger Cruise.

A Tiger Cruise is an event in which the U.S. Navy allows sailors to bring a family member aboard ship for a few days underway. I am sure it is a gigantic pain in the paperwork for the Navy. For that matter, there was a considerable stack of forms that I had to deal with.

The Tiger Cruise I had the privilege to ride on so happened to be the very last trip home for the USS Enterprise, CVN65. My youngest daughter was a sailor aboard and they were returning from the ship's final mission. The civilians, cleverly code named Tigers, were picked up at a port in Florida and spent three days traveling back to the home port in Virginia. The decommissioning process commenced immediately upon arrival at port.

As a boat builder, I had an absolute blast exploring every permissible space on that ship. It represented fifty years of some pretty major Naval history. It also represented a size “E,” as in Enormous, boat. (Sailors will see what I did there.)

The highlight of my time on board the Enterprise was when I got to take the helm of the ship for about ten minutes. As it happened, we were on the bridge and I was talking with the bosun's mate. When he found out what I did for a living, he suggested I ask the helmsman if I could drive the ship. I'm not sure if he was trying to get me out of his hair, or if he really thought the helmsman would let me take the wheel, but I figured they wouldn't lock me in Leavenworth for asking.

“The bosun's mate said you might let me take the wheel.” My question came out as a statement. The young man stepped aside and said, “Sure.”

I about fell over. I took the wheel and handed the camera to my daughter. My best efforts to look cool and suave came out with me grinning like a monkey in a banana plantation.

Of the, undoubtedly, small list of lifelong civilians that have driven an active duty aircraft carrier, I am one. And since that moment happened late in the Tiger Cruise, mere hours before the ship was deactivated, there is a very high likelihood that I was THE LAST CIVILIAN to take the helm of the Big E while it was in active duty.

Today, February 3rd, 2017, the remaining hulk of the once proud USS Enterprise was formally and finally stricken from the list of ships in the U.S. Navy.

This makes me sad, but my hat is off today to the thousands of men and women who have served on the Enterprise over the years.

Silent Treason

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The night guards were startled by the sudden emerging of a disheveled man from the shadowy doorway. Their pikes snapped into battle position with well-trained precision. It took them a moment to recognize the man and retract their weapons. Lord Evan was normally well-groomed and properly dressed, but at that moment the man standing before them looked as if he had been wrestling all night.

In agitation, the lord snapped, “To the front doors for surprise inspection! Did Captain Bradley not give you the orders?”

The guards exchanged confused glances. “No, sir,” the sergeant responded. He was clearly befuddled by the appearance of the distressed lord. The confused guard involuntarily glanced at the substantial sack partly in the shadows.

The two guards blocking the massive heavily-armored door came to their collective senses, and the sergeant, speaking for both of them, said, “Yes, sir! To the front doors!” Hastily, the two men retreated down the corridor, leaving their distraught master alone.

As the bolt in the lock grated into its place, Lord Evan began to recover from the effects of the potion that had been slipped into his wine. With head pounding, he struggled to free himself from the canvas cocoon that bound him. Sweat burned in his eyes and random memories flitted across his mind. He recalled his wife's words in her delirium. “I fear for you,” was her final parting as the fever claimed her life.

In a panic, the man clumsily fumbled his way out of the sack, only to discover he was behind the door to his own dungeon. In his muddled state, he sat with his back against the great door and wept into his hands.

On the other side of the door, double treason was taking place.

Book 5 in the Kingdom of the Falcon series

Coming Christmas 2017

1 Cup Ice Water

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That sounds like an ingredient in a recipe. The truth is, it was the only ingredient in a recipe for disaster!

Maybe disaster is too strong a word here. But it surely seemed disastrous when it was happening.

It all started out innocently enough. My wife and I were having a relaxing Friday evening date. The plan had been to catch an early-ish supper, then go to the newest Star Wars movie.
Naturally, we were were running late. Late enough that the relaxing part of the evening had been displaced by a frantic rush to town. We decided on the fly to get burgers on the run, so we took a quick detour through a well-known franchise drive-thru.
We don't drink sodas, so we both ordered cups of water with our meals, and that's the part where the situation went south. As I attempted to transfer the first cup of ice water to the cup holder in the car's console, the lid popped off and the whole mess went down into my lap. When the cup went down, I went up into the limited air space of my wife's little Hyundai. I believe I did some impressive contortions that could have won me a position with the Peking Acrobats. Unfortunately, I was not fast enough. Just as a reminder, we are having a cold snap here, and a glass of ice water poured into one's lap and pooling on the seat is not a pleasurable experience.

Meanwhile, as I was getting doused in cold water, the attendant handed me the next cup of water and … no. No, I did not repeat that performance. He must have noticed the subtle look of consternation on my face as it was smashed against the headliner of the car. I declined the water, and he changed his offering to a handful of paper towels.

We swept the ice out the door and blotted what we could of the water, but I was thoroughly soaked. And I was cold. But it was much better than just that. When I got out of the car at the theater, it looked for all the world to see like I had a different kind of disaster altogether. Ruefully I noted that I would have at least been warm under those circumstances.

Thankfully, the place was not crowded and no one was within noticing range. Blue jeans dry slowly, so I was cold during half of the movie. But by the end, I was dry and no one ever even knew. I did, however, take away some deep wisdom from that experience.
First, no one notices or cares about the majority of what you do. And second, the next time we get something at a drive-thru, I'll let my wife drive.  

Captured Sentiments

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Life can be flooded with sentiments, which, at times, are too strong to verbalize. Those emotions are a normal part of life and affections, and are indicative of healthy relationships. That said, at times they can become too intense. Fear not, music and literature can come to your rescue. Often those overwhelming emotions can be assuaged with the right stimulus. You have probably experienced that. You may have, like me, self-prescribed an epic album or favorite book at such times. There is a flip side to that, of course. Ironically, those emotions can be evoked by the same music and literature when encountered by chance in the wild. But I think that is all okay.

Since we are on the subject of literature with evocative sentiments, let me introduce you to Book 2 in the Kingdom of the Falcon series.

Ascent of the Falcon

Ascent of the Falcon