I just know they are plotting and planning on how to attack the tree or the presents. All those ribbons and bows…soooo tempting. Just remember you guys, Santa is watching you!
Pearl Harbor
Dec. 7, 1941 The day that will live in Infamy!
‘AIR RAID, PEARL HARBOR- – THIS IS NO DRILL’
Message sent in uncoded , Plain English at 7:55 am on Dec. 7, 1941
My visit to Pearl Harbor was on a much calmer day in Oct 2007. I am sharing my impressions from that visit. This post is a repeat because I don’t think I can say it any better now.
Pearl Harbor
During our first trip to Hawaii we avoided doing tours. We wanted to explore at our own pace. There are pros and cons to this approach. By not having a guide you can end up getting lost, miss out on side trips and miss some of the local lore and flavor that a guide can give you. On the other hand, traveling on your own gives you flexibility. There’s no one telling you to move on to the next event or attraction when you’d like to spend more time somewhere. I’m a fan of exploring on my own but find tours helpful at times. So I guess I’d vote for a mix of both. Pick and choose the tours carefully and explore the rest on your own, that’s my motto!Anyway we decided to use a Tour for Pearl Harbor. It wasn’t that expensive and it meant someone who knew their way around Honolulu would be driving us.
The tour bus picked us up right next to our condo at the Fairway Villa so it was very convenient. It turned out that if we were looking for local color or flavor that we got both with our guide. His name was Kemo and he arrived wearing his native dress, a sarong. I forget which Polynesian Island he said he hailed from, maybe Fiji or Samoa? But he was very personable. On the drive to Pearl Harbor he explained the events that led up to the attack and pointed out the gaps in the mountains that the planes came through that Sunday morning.He did an great job of setting the mood and impressing on us the seriousness of the memorial we were about to visit. Once there, he guided us through the ticketing process before telling us he would meet us back at the bus after we had explored the Memorial.
The Visitor Center has a beautiful garden in the courtyard and the grounds are so lovely and peaceful, it gave me the strangest feeling as I walked around this Island Paradise imagining the horror of the attack. As if to drive home those events, our turn to see the movie was called. The movie is a documentary with real video & audio clips and screaming headlines. For me it was almost overwhelming. I don’t know how others who come here feel but for me there was just an incredible sadness. To think of whole families wiped out because back then brothers or fathers and sons could serve on the same ships. I don’t believe that is allowed anymore precisely because of what happened here.
After the movie we took the launch out to the Arizona Memorial, a gravesite for hundreds of young men. The Arizona Memorial is achingly beautiful, pristine white against the deep blue of the harbor. 
From the Memorial you can look into the clear water and see the outline of the Arizona. Oil still seeps from the Arizona to this day.
On the back of each ticket is the name & photograph of one of the men who died in the attack. Mine was Ensign Frank C. Flaherty of Michigan.
He was aboard the USS Okalahoma and awarded the Medal of Honor. Above and beyond the call of duty…For conspicuous devotion to duty and extraordinary courage and complete disregard for his own life…When it was seen the USS Oklahoma was going to capsize and the order was given to abandon ship, Ensign Flaherty remained in the turret, holding a flashlight so the remainder of the turret crew could see to escape, thereby sacrificing his own life.I did not know Ensign Flaherty or his family but my heart breaks even now as I copy this into this post. And he was only one of the 2,388 military and civilian personnel to give their lives that day.
I know this post is getting kind of long but there is one more item from my Pearl Harbor experience that I would like to share. When we got back to the bus, Kemo asked us if we had ever read a poem called DID YOU KNOW ME THEN? It was written by a park ranger assigned to the Arizona Memorial. I looked for a link to share but couldn’t find one so forgive me for going on and on but I have to share this:
DID YOU KNOW ME THEN
I was born in a small town in the mid-west or was it a large city back east?
I can’t remember anymore.
Did you know me then?
I remember getting the chores done so I could go to the Saturday matinee or was it the baseball game.
I can’t remember anymore.
Did you know me then?
I remember the depression of the 1930’s and Papa working so hard to care for the family,
Anyway he could with odd jobs. I especially remember Mama making ends meet.
Papa was stern with the family but, Mama sweet Mama , what an angel she was.
Did you know me then?
I remember the swimming hole that we swam in, the bicycle rides, the picnics.
Did you know me then?
I remember school, Boy, do I remember School. I remember the soda shop and the good times after school.
I remember Mary the girl next door or was it Sue the girl I met at the dance.
I can’t remember anymore.
Did you know me then?
I remember people talking about the war in Europe,
But we’re in America why worry about what’s going on there.
This is America, the land of opportunity. We would never get involved in their problems.
Did you know me then?
I remember my brother Bob and I enlisting in the Navy together.
I remember Mama insisting that we serve on the same ship together, so we could take care of each other.
Did you know us then?
I remember our being assigned to the battleship USS Arizona, she was a beautiful sight to behold.
I remember when we were told we were to be home ported in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu.
Wow! Hula girls, grass skirts, beautiful beaches. Paradise, a dream come true.
Did you know us then?
I remember December 6, we all went to Bloch Arena to watch the battle of the music competition.
The music played by the bands was great.
Did you know us then?
I remember Sunday, December 7, not too much going on, just lying around.
Then that thundering noise that broke the Sunday morning quiet. It sounded like hundreds of aircraft.
I remember the explosion, my breath and whole being taken away from me.
Did you know me then?
I can hear Mama crying, Papa hasn’t cried yet.
I want to tell him “It’s ok to cry , Papa, every tear is a prayer”
We’ve been home ported here for a very long time.
I can see our buddies aboard other ships saluting as they pass by. I hope they see me returning their salute.
Do they know me?
My buddies and I are really at peace now. Pray for us!
Did you know me?
Then if you knew us, remember us always.
John Vierra, Park Ranger, USS Arizona Memorial
Thank you
On Impulse
It wasn’t an impulse buy..you know those things that you pick up in the store that aren’t on your shopping list. They seem to be a good idea at the moment but then you get home and have ‘buyer’s remorse”? No, it was nothing like that.
Rather it was a change of plans on impulse. It was a beautiful day, so nice it was hard to believe it was the middle of November. I was planning to take a drive to Newport, RI for the day to see what sights and scenes I could find for this space but when I saw how nice it was I got the urge to take a drive up to Maine. It’s a bit farther than Newport but still well within the “day trip” category.
I headed out a little after 10 am and gambled that the expressway through Boston would have cleared out by that time. Luckily I was right and I sailed though the former Big Dig with no hesitation!
I had selected York, Maine as my destination, home of Nubble Light. It’s said that Nubble Light is one of the most often photographed light houses on the east coast but I just remember the area from my scuba diving days as being extremely pretty.
I pulled off the Highway into York shortly after noon. It had taken me a little more than 2 hours. As I drove through Boston it got really cloudy but here in Maine the sky was clear and a brilliant blue. So far I had remembered my way pretty well considering it’s been over 30 years since I’ve been here but now as I came off the highway my memory seemed to dissolve.
I had printed out directions before I left the house so after a quick check I found myself meandering from one small road to another. I passed alot of fields and some farm houses and then as I came around a corner I saw the sky stretch out before me. That’s when you know that even though you can’t see the ocean yet, it’s really just ahead. Sure enough, down into a little dip and then up to a stop sign and there was the Atlantic!
The beach stretched out before me and off in the distance was the light house gleaming a bright white in the mid day sun.
I pointed the car along the beach road in the direction of the lighthouse. It looked like everything was closed up tight for the winter.
I found the turn off to Nubble Light. At the end was a fairly large parking area with the metered viewers. There is no access to the lighthouse itself. That sits on an island that is reached by a little cable car. The public is not welcome on the island. Trust me, you don’t need to be on the island to appreciate this quaint little lighthouse.
The parking lot was a busy place with visitors taking pictures with everything but the kitchen sink. It was easy to see how it got it’s reputation as the most photographed light. I decided to wait for sunset so headed back along the beach to see if I could find anyplace for lunch.
I was about to try to retace my steps to the main highway when I spotted a little restaurant that seemed to have a lot of cars in it’s lot. Not surprising being the only open place on the beach.
The Lobster Cove Restaurant looked small inside until I realized there was an upstairs too. The waitress told me to seat myself so of course I grabbed a tabe by the window so I could watch the ocean over my lunch of scallops and coleslaw…very excellent! The people that were coming in were from all over. I overheard one group telling the waitress they drove up from New Jersey, another couple was speaking french…probably Candians, bienvenue.
Lunch complete I drove back to Sohier Park. That’s the name of the park next to the lighthouse. As I mentioned the light house is on an Island. I think it’s called Cape Neddick. The whole area is lovely. There’s a huge building, probably an Inn sitting on another rocky point near the light house so I amused myself trying to cature the waves crashing on the rocks while I waited for the sun to go down.
The lighthouse is situated so that you are looking east. That put the setting sun behind me. I was hoping some clouds would roll in so that I might get some reflected sunset behind the light house but that was not to be today. I had to settle for a series of pictures of the changing light.
In between I got some sunset shots by turning around and shooting to the west.
Finally as the last of the light was fading I turned my car toward home.
The drive back was not as easy as the drive up. A Patriots Football game at the stadium in Foxboro, a Bruins Hockey game at the Garden in Boston and the early Thanksgiving Travelers clogged all of the road ways in and around Boston. My trip home was over 4 hours compared to the two it took me to get to Maine but it was definietly worth it.
Happy Thanksgiving
I may be taking a break but I wouldn’t dream of missing a chance to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. My friend here wants to remind you all to eat fish for Thanksgiving dinner! 🙂
‘Tis the Season
Well I guess if you can’t beat ’em you join ’em. Thanksgiving is getting closer but still hasn’t arrived yet the carols are winging their way over the airwaves, tree lightnings are taking place nightly, Holiday Parades are stopping traffic and one city is even celebrating the honor of having the first “Mall Santa.”
I guess unless I want to earn the reputation of being Scrooge or the Grinch or just a run of the mill curmudgeon I’d best stop my Bah Humbugging and get with the program. I don’t want the song title to change from Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer to Dusty got Run over by a Reindeer because I couldn’t get in the spirit of the Holiday Season before Thanksgiving.
As I was mulling this decision over I heard on the news that Jordan’s Furniture of Avon, MA (Home of MOM, the Motion Odyssey Movie) had once again set up their Enchanted Village display. This is unique because it is an animated display of antique figures.
Originally commissioned by the Jordan Marsh Company in 1958 the display was a cornerstone of the holidays in the downtown crossing section of Boston right up until 1972 when Jordan Marsh closed the display.
From 1972 until 1990 the display was conspicuously absent but finally after 18 years, the figures were resurrected and the Enchanted Village was once again a part of the Boston Holiday Scene.
But a blissful happy ending was not to be. In 1998 Macy’s purchased Jordan Marsh and the display was sold to the City of Boston for use on City Hall Plaza but due to lack of funding the display was moved to the Hynes Convention Center. By 2006 the city had stopped displaying the Village altogether. It would appear that like so many small villages the Enchanted Village would be doomed to obscurity. In 2009 the Village was put on the auction block. The end was surely in sight!
But like the very best Christmas story or Fairy Tale a savior came riding to the rescue in the person of Elliot Tatelman of Jordan’s Furniture.
The Mantra of all the Jordan’s Furniture stores has always been to provide the customer with entertainment while making shopping in their stores fun.
The remainder of the Enchanted Village could not have found a better home. The 59 surviving mechanical figures have been lovingly restored and are displayed right in the store in Avon each year during the holidays. They even went so far as to install snow machines so that artificial snow drifts down as you stroll through the little Village.
Photographers greet you as you enter and at a 2nd station within the village so that you have the opportunity to purchase a memento of your visit. Traditional recipe Blueberry muffins are available for purchase near the entrance and exit of the display.
The Enchanted Village is free. Yes that’s right FREE! But if you have a little extra to spend you can take in a laser show or an abbreviated 3D experience on MOM featuring the Polar Express. Not a bad way to spend a morning or afternoon to get into the spirit of the holidays.
Ho Ho Ho!!!