Saturday Morning

I woke up early this morning and watched a little television. Had some coffee too. When the barest glint of sunlight was peeking through the window in the front room, I got up to empty the garbage. The walk from the garage to the street to where I ordinarily deposit the garbage cans is a short one. I got to the end of the driveway, set the can down, and looked around. It was about 6:45am (in the morning Nay, if you’re reading).

This morning, which really wasn’t any different than any other morning, struck me as particularly beautiful. There was something about the way the light was reflecting off the trees, the way the birds were singing, and the complete lack of human activity.

And I took a short mental jaunt back to places I hadn’t been in years, when I was much younger, and things were different. I’m not sure what prompted this little vacation, but it was pretty cool. I only hope that I didn’t frighten the neighbors with the glazed-over eyes.

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Memory Du Jour:
Somewhere in the Caribbean, 1992
I was in the CG at the time, stationed on a ship. We had a boatload of Haitian refugees that we were ferrying to the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba..

I was on the fantail (that’s the back of the boat, landlubbers) of the boat smoking a cig. There were 200 or so Haitians on the flight deck of the ship. I took a drag of the smoke and looked up, right on time to see a Haitian woman hackin’ a big ol’ loogie over the side. The rest went in slow motion. The wind that was whipping down the port side of the ship (left side) floated the slimy globule about 75 feet straight toward me. The loog itself struck me center mass; the middle of my chest. The little loogilettes splattered my face and the rest of my dark blue uniform. I looked up at the woman, who made an apologetic gesture. I casually flicked my cigarette over the side and walked calmly toward the front of the ship. When I was safely under the overhang, I sprinted straight to the head (bathroom) where I stripped nekkid and dove in the shower where I scrubbed off all the cooties.

My next visit, after drying and dressing, was to the corpsman. I asked him all sorts about what kind of diseases I might contract from slimyhatianloogieblobs. The list included tuberculosis and hepatitis. Yee haw. I never came down with anything, but that moment in time is etched upon my brain. I sometimes wonder where that woman is now.

Graphic Du Jour:
On hold until I figure out why the hell I can't upload pictures to Blogger.

Quote of the Day:
"That's called, 'A Charge To Keep,' based upon a religious hymn. The hymn talks about serving God. The president's job is never to promote a religion." —Showing German newspaper reporter Kai Diekmann the Oval Office, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006