Merry Christmas to all from the island of Jost Van Dyke in the Caribbean. A small island with only a handful of residents it features "Foxies" a well known bar frequented by boaters in the area, a police station and a few wooden building offering food and tee shirts. There is electricity and a paved road, but little else. The bay is filled with visiting boats as this is a favorite unspoiled place for boaters to visit. We are at…
The trip from Grand Turk to St. John in the U.S. Virgin islands was unpleasant. Strong winds created large waves and the sea was alive with white caps everywhere. The vessel rolled and pitched as the waves hit her from every angle. Our speed was reduced but it was still necessary to hold on when walking. We were able to eat dinner and make it back to our room holding on to the rails along the wall. Sleep was…
Monday December 22, 2008 we tied to the dock at Grand Turk, Caribbean islands. We sailed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the Seabourn Pride departing Saturday about 5:00 pm on a Christmas in the Caribbean to arrive at this island. The ship was built in 1988 in Germany and is 439 feet long with a 63-foot beam. Her top speed is 18 knots driven by 10,000 horsepower diesel engines. She has room for only 212 passengers and the crew numbers…
I am feeling smug about the fact that we are in Palm Beach Florida reading about the cold and snow storm back home. From our balcony I see people in the ocean swimming and others around the pool. On my computer I’ve watched the video of traffic problems, closures and bad weather. We were supposed to fly out on Friday, but as the reports got worse about what was expected we instead took the red eye at 11:30 at night…
In 1993 Absolutely Nobody died. That is, David Powers died in Oakland, California. You see in 1991 Powers legally changed his name to "Absolutely Nobody" and then ran for Lieutenant Governor of Washington State. His central theme was that the position was unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer money. The one time manager of a Winchell’s doughnut shop was working for a U-Rent when he ran for the office. Powers said that "My friends and I got to talking last…
I’ve just started a book In Harm’s Way a book about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis written by Doug Stanton. The book was made into a movie by the same title. It was directed by Otto Preminger and starred John Wayne, Kirk Douglas and Patricia Neal. The book discusses Kamikaze attacks. For an excellent summary of the history of Kamikaze pilots see Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze The term "kamikaze" can be translated "God wind," "God speed," "light wind," or "Divine wind," but…
On this day,December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor Hawaii and America entered World War II. I remember the day very well. It was a Sunday and I was in grade school. The war is so very real to me because it happened during my childhood and the memories are clear. So many young men and women too, lost their lives. It was such a huge matter that it enveloped the entire country, the people and the news. It…
Everyone has friends that we have neglected and should be in contact with. Dr. Johnson's advice is always valid: "A man sir, should keep his friendship's in repair." As life spins out control faster and faster with jobs, children, television and computers we lose track of our friends. One of the poems that I find very moving about our neglect of friends is the 1900 poem Around the Cornerby Charles Hansen Towne (1877 – 1949) Around the corner I have a friend,In…
I seem to be on some kind of rant about my Catholic Church, but the local diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Northwest Progress, has a two page spread this week about a former Lutheran pastor who is about to be ordained a Catholic priest. No, I’m not upset because the bishop plans to ordain a former Lutheran pastor. Nor am I disturbed because he is married. It is the fact that this married man is allowed to become a priest under…
The Catholic Church has a long tradition of supporting workers' right to organize. Popes have written about the rights of worker unions, bishops councils have proclaimed the fundamental right of workers to organize into unions and the Catholic church has consistently supported the right of workers to organize as a labor union. The Second Vatican Council expressed this right like this: "Among the basic rights of the human person is to be numbered the right of freely founding unions for…
