Sunday, March 21, 2021

The Pause That Refreshes


No war stories today, I gave the Muse a 48-hour pass as the weather here in Little Rhody was just too fine to spend time writing about war. Besides which, there is the "where do we go next" aspect to the story that I just haven't worked out yet. (Fear not, if I paint myself into a corner, I can find some semi-clever way out. Or something...)

But I digress, as I said, the weather, note the opening photo, was lovely. Lots of blue was to be seen from the cockpit of Blue. For those who may have forgotten, that is the vehicle which replaced Big Girl last year. Anyhoo, blue, the blue of Narragansett Bay, the blue of a New England sky, and (of course) the blue of my Honda Pilot. (Hey, if I can't be a pilot, I can at least drive a Pilot. Why I didn't name her Anjin-San, I really don't know.)

So what sparked this trip to go "oot and aboot" (as they allegedly say in the Great White Up)? Well, The Missus Herself stopped by the command center/computer room at Chez Sarge in the late morning and suggested an outing. As Blue needed fuel anyway, I decided, let's make it a refueling/pleasure cruise.

It's been a while since milady and Your Humble Scribe have made a visit to Colt State Park on the shores of Narragansett Bay. We often liked to go there and just sit and watch the seagulls, the waves, and other members of our own species enjoying a day on and by the water.

Pleasant it is, pleasant it was.

Though the temperature was a balmy 49°, the wind was, how you say, brisk. So while it looked pretty nice, it was definitely sweater weather. We did see one chap wearing a thick vest and shorts. He tried to make it look like he wasn't cold, but he just couldn't pull it off. The hands in the pockets and the hunching of the shoulders gave it away. Not to mention the shivering, yeah buddy, I saw that.

Did have one distressing fact brought home to me today that as I age, my visual acuity isn't what it used to be. Whereas once upon a time I could discern a mast on the horizon and say, "Why that's a Flight II Arleigh Burke making her way back to base," those days are, sad to say, no more. But the old Mark One Mod One (I've had some work done) eyeballs can still pick out such things that others might not notice.

Like tall spindly things on the horizon which seem to have movement of a rotational variety near the top. Having spotted such a thing I asked The Missus Herself, "Say love, do you see those tall spindly things on the horizon?"

"Where away?" asked the love of my life. (Yes, I paraphrase, she doesn't use nautical expressions as a rule, well, in fact never.)

"Why there m'dear, two points off the starboard bow, right on the horizon!"

"Nope, I see nothing..."

"Stand by!"

Pulling out the trusty cell phone camera, marvel of engineering that it is, I took the following photo (at 30 times magnification).


She looked then shook her head, "Sorry old chap, left me spectacles at home, I see sea, I see sky, and naught else." (Again, no, she doesn't really talk like that. I do, much to her chagrin when we're with company. Other than The WSO and The Naviguesser, who, God love 'em, appreciate my quirks, such as they are. The Nuke? Not so much, she being much like her mother.)

So when we got home, she fetched her glasses and said, "Wow, you could actually see those?"

I answered with a paraphrase of Pattonesque poetry, "Yes, as through a glass, and darkly, but see them I did. Oh look, there's some sort of communications tower as well!"

Yes, Dear Reader she did shake her head and walk away, but after forty-three years she's, as they say, "used to me." (Thank God, as I doubt any other lady on the planet could tolerate my occasional flights of fancy if not outright bouts of lunacy. Oh yes, I have my days...)

So sorry, me lads and lasses, no war stories today. We shall catch up with C Company and their German opponents on Tuesday. Unless Tuna decides he has something to share, for I promised him Tuesday when he took the King's Shilling, just as Juvat owns Mondays. Which is a good thing, gives me a break now and again.

Beans? He jumps in from time to time at random intervals. He's kinda like the weather, only not nearly as predictable.

Speaking of weather, damned lovely it was on Saturday.


Lovely indeed.




42 comments:

  1. Enjoy the day! My time in Newport (some time ago) was an altogether different color.
    Boat Guy

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    1. Nothing like a midwatch on the Quarterdeck in Coddington Cove in January to make you appreciate summer on the Narragansett Bay Op Area. Old Guns

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    2. BG - In the winter there's a lot of gray, water and sky!

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    3. Old Guns - I'm guessing it's a tad brisk...

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  2. Yup, every now and then, you need a day, to look for daffodils.. er, roses.

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    1. Speaking of daffodils, they're coming up quickly.

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  3. I took advantage of Google Streetview to enjoy a leisurely drive through the park.
    It's not the same as being there, but it's better than nothing and it does look very nice.

    We need to get out of the house for a while.

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    1. It's very well maintained for the amount of use it gets.

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    2. I love google maps and street view. I use it heavily before my trips, giving myself some intel before arrival- from the airport exit, to hotel entrance. Not only how to get from one place to another, but how the road looks and the surrounding buildings. Satellite imagery is amazingly useful. By the way Sarge, it looks like you missed a spot while mowing last week.

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    3. Same here.

      Mowing? Not yet. 😉

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  4. You are lucky to visit the seashore. Traveller restrictions still apply in Scotland.

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  6. Had the same type of day here that you had Sarge, bright blue but windy which kept a chill all day. At least the last of the snow that fell last Monday and Tuesday finally melted. Time to refuel the steed also, not looking to that since all the increases in gas in the last eight weeks. Charge those batteries Sarge!

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    1. Yes, fuel prices, thanks Xiden.

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    2. Egg prices are double what they were before January 20th.

      And other food prices are rising also.

      I just love funding gender-studies in countries that can afford to build and maintain nuclear weapons.

      Grrrrr.

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    3. Yup, priorities, they're skewed.

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  7. It was nice here yesterday, too... All day in the shop making chips and trying to be accurate.

    Started some kimchi last night. Hope it works out well. Don't buy a box of cabbage. I still have over half of it left. More than a bushel. Gravy sakes.

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    1. Well, we do buy boxes of cabbage, then again, it's a staple here. So we need it.

      For the "casual" kimchi dining experience, yes, 'tis a bit much.

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    2. I work in industrial quantities. I don't want to fiddle with a "and then pack it all in a quart jar, and hold it down with a...." I filled most of a 5 gallon bucket with mine, and when I popped the upper lid today, my son about yakked. He suddenly had all kinds of stories about "kimchi fields" near the DMZ.... world traveler that kid.

      If I had a direct line, I'd have called your missus for the straight poop on making this stuff. I figured it was about time to granulate from kraut to kimchi... Give her a guest post, or send her my way so I can learn from the master... er.... mistress.... wait, neither one sounds quite right. I think, I'll stop right here.

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  8. It looks lovely Sarge - but as you say, cold. I am away this weekend as well, but the weather was certainly worth being out in.

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  9. My Canadian family are more “oat ana boat” 😂😉

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  10. Hey OldAFSarge;

    If you ever "Paint yourself into a corner" with your muse....Just call in an airstrike....that will disrupt things, LOL And check out a post I did a few days ago on my blog, you may find it useful, something I ran across on Quora.

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    1. Airstrike. Food poisoning. Rotate back and hot showers. Or just more clandestine skullduggery between the two Majors vis-a-vis throwing in Der Handtuch. Or mix-n-match! Food poisoning and hot showers while taking prisoners under an alien airstrike! Whoooo!!!!!

      As to the Beans official wardrobe of T-shirt, shorts and sandals, well, this year was surprising as I've actually been cold! Thus sweatpants and sweatshirts and even a winter jacket. Biting winds combined with high humidity just gets too uncomfortable for me.

      Glad you and yours had a chance to get out and see something other than a store or a doctor's office.

      And glad Blue is doing well.

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    2. Well, truth be told, I go to work during the week. The Missus Herself needed the outing more than I.

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    3. (Don McCollor)...Mark Twain in 'Roughing It" describes a romantic serial that he and other reporters wrote taking turns with installments. Each introduced more characters and convoluted subplots. Then one reporter sat down with a bottle of 'Oh Be Joyful' to inspire his muse and resolved everything is his installment, and sent it to be printed. Twain's account of it is hilarious...

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    4. I need to read that, sounds excellent.

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  11. Never been to New England; that is on my bucket list. Had a roommate at Virginia from New Hampshire. Said he was at a bus stop on a miserably cold and windy day - to make conversation with this old man said "Its pretty cold", to which the man replied, "It's a bit shawp".

    I've noticed my eyes changing too. Made an appointment with the eye doctor. Fought bifocals for years but I think there is no more fighting.

    Looked like a beautiful day.

    See how it compares with our Mendocino.

    That's where they filmed Murder She Wrote .

    In all those years with the bodies piling up around Jessica, nobody could figure it out.

    Always wanted to drive down the Maine coast, too.

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    1. It can be nice, it can be nasty. I like the four seasons.

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    2. Seen on a Tee-shirt in Maine: "IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE WINTER YOU DON'T DESERVE THE SUMMER". Old Guns.

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  12. It was quite nice here, too, the last several days. Getting teased by Spring with 60* temps and blue skies.

    BUT...Winter hasn't released it's grasp yet, and it's overcast and drizzly/snowy today, with another inch or so of the white stuff forecast for tonight.

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    1. Ah yes, the Front Range of Colorado and its schizophrenic weather, I remember it well. Miss it at times.

      A foot of snow one day, 70° a couple of days later.

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  13. Twas a beautiful day yesterday down here also. Description to follow tomorrow. Glad you took advantage of the break in the weather. Watch out for those windmill thingees. The breed like crazy and like democrats let you down completely when you need them the most. DAMHIK!

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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