WAKE-UP CALLS: ROOSTERS AND BALLISTIC MISSILES (December 31 - January 28, 2018)

The drive north from Tennessee to Indiana with Autumn and the girls was uneventful as we watched the ground turn from green, to brown, to white.  Our first ten days of 2018 were spent in the Hoosier state visiting with family and friends, and the only real downside was that the January temperatures dipped into the minus numbers, with wind chills in the -20 range.  As we walked down the frozen jet bridge, to board the Delta aircraft heading to Hawaii, there was no doubt that we would enjoy the next 17 days in the tropics.

Our three days on Waikiki Beach, at the Wyndham Royal Gardens, were a perfect reminder as to why we were there.  Temperatures were in the 80s, with nothing but bright blue Hawaiian skies.  We fully enjoyed a day at the PGA Sony Open thanks to PGA Tour pro, Tyler Duncan. Then came January 13th, and the "THIS IS NOT A DRILL. A BALLISTIC MISSILE IS INBOUND TO HAWAII" text message and the "20 MINUTES TO IMPACT" TV scroll!  They were 28 minutes that we will never forget.  We flew from there to the island of Kaua'i that afternoon and the sunrise on January 14th, shown above, may have been the most beautiful dawning of another day that I have ever seen.

Our time on 'the garden isle" was spent, for the most part, at the Wyndham Kaua'i Beach Villas just enjoying the warmth of the sun, the ocean breeze, the rooster's wake-up call, and the beauty that surrounded us. We did manage to spend two days being guides for new friends, Dennis and Denise Linnell.  We met them while in Alaska last fall, as they graciously opened their home to us while in Soldotna for six weeks.  We visited many wonderful sights and traveled every inch of the main road on the island. It was good to, one more time, see Waimea Canyon and all the beautiful beaches.  All in all, it was an awesome time in Hawaii.

REFLECTIONS

Every morning on Kaua'i I got a 4 a.m. wake-up call from one the resident roosters who called our resort home.  It really wasn't very pleasant!  But the biggest "wake-up" call was that morning on O'hau when I thought I might be incinerated in 20 minutes!

I must say that, following a time of looking my mortality in the face, I now, even more than before, have decided to cherish every day.  I will cherish mornings, like the one early in January, where the cold, frigid, wind hurt my skin and the wind chill registered -22, as I made an early morning donut run to Jack's Donuts in Avon, Indiana.  I will cherish days, like today, when the gentle ocean breeze kisses my face with sweet aromas and the warmth of the Kaua'i sun.  I will cherish days when it rains, and days when the sun shines.  Each day will be an added blessing.

When facing a twenty minute deadline on my life, it was good to know that my heart was right.  So you see, for me the BEST IS YET TO COME, be it here or there.

"THIS IS NOT A DRILL....." (Hawaii, January 13, 2018)

I had just finished a pre-dawn walk where I had watched a wonderful sunrise over Diamond Head.  I was sitting on the edge of the bed, in our 23rd floor room at the Wyndham Royal Garden, watching the Michigan and Michigan State basketball game, when my cell phone pinged indicating a text.  I reached for it and sat in unbelief as I read and re-read the message on the screen.."THIS IS NOT A DRILL!  AN INCOMING BALLISTIC MISSILE WILL IMPACT HAWAII......".

"THIS IS NOT A DRILL, THIS IS NOT A DRILL" echoed through my numb mind.  Earlier in the week we had visited with Hawaii resident, Dennis Lynch, who had told us that Hawaii now was holding "Missile Alert Drills" once a month because of its' vulnerability to attack from North Korea.  Now this message shouted...NOT A DRILL".

I shared the message with Sherry as she finished her morning shower, returned to the living area, and read words like these as they scrolled across the television while a now unimportant basketball contest played in the background..."An incoming ballistic missile will impact Hawaii in 20 minutes, take shelter now".

Twenty minutes?  I now had a timeline for my possible earthly end.  Twenty minutes!  I stepped out unto our lanai and scanned a deep blue Waikiki sky from the river to the Pacific Ocean, thinking that perhaps I could catch a glimpse of something.  I can not fully explain my emotions, my feelings.  I don't even remember if I breathed a prayer.  There was a sense of resignation; a feeling that this was it.  I did think about the guy I saw on a street corner, by the beach, with his sign..."The end is near".

By this time Sherry had exited the bathroom, hair wet, and we made our way to the lobby.  In the lobby I saw no crying and fear, just people with confused looks on their faces, and many on their cell phones.  After about another 10 minutes we learned that there was no threat.

A COLD TENNESSEE SASQUATCH HUNT (December 2 - 30, 2017)

Spending December in Tennessee sounded like a good idea when we made reservations over a year ago, but no one told us that an Artic cold spell would plummet the thermometer 20 degrees colder

than usual.  Thus, our four weeks in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee proved to be an unexpected time of staying inside and just enjoying the warmth of the wood burning fire place and good friends.  The Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Glade provides free wood to its guests, and I took good advantage of the benefit.  I would estimate that during our month long stay we burned somewhere between 300 and 400 pieces of wood (I also didn't have it delivered but used the walk to the wood shed and back for exercise).

Some of that time in front of the flickering flames was spent with friends.  Tim and Vicky Gates drove us over from Nashville and spent a couple of nights, Mike and Elisabeth Adams stopped in for a couple of nights on their way to Florida, Bruce and Carol Hardesty drove up from southern Tennessee for a couple of nights, and Ray and Donna Couey drove over for the day (We hadn't spent any time with them for over 40 years).  These opportunities to share our life with others is exactly what we had hoped would happen when we began our retirement journeys a little over a year ago.  Hopefully, others will join us in the days to come.

Finally, our last visitors joined us for five days.  Our daughter Autumn, and our granddaughters, Abigail and Adelyn, slid their way the six hours from Indiana to stay with us.  While we didn't have the chance to do all the outdoor things we would have liked, we did manage to take some short hikes, eat some ice cream, play lots of table games, work on a jigsaw puzzle, watch some TV, and laugh often.

REFLECTIONS




One of the images that will remain with me for my remaining years will be of two young girls striding from tree to tree in the cold Tennessee woods, making grunting noises they imagined sounded like Sasquatch, and peeking out from behind those trees with quizzical looks at the human following them with a camera.

You see, we had sat and watched numerous episodes of a "Searching For Big Foot" marathon and now they were playing the part.  The part of the searched for, but never found creature.  What fun we had on that journey.

It seems to me like many folks spend their time running from tree to tree pretending to be something they are not.  And, as a matter of fact, many of them are on Facebook.  They hide behind this tree and that tree never really allowing themselves to be seen.  It, also, seems to me that there are many people who are constantly searching for something that is elusive, something that is mystical, something that no one else has ever seen.  They look and look and look.  They listen to others' stories and try to find a similar outcome.  Yet, in the end, all they find are sounds in the darkness that leave them unfulfilled and disappointed.


While running from tree to tree in 2018, be yourself.  Enjoy your uniqueness, your adventure.  I don't know what it may be that you are searching for in 2018, but might you find yourself.  Be real and understand that the true search must begin within.