Ships Move

I am not on a carrier right now. I was supposed to be on one for the week, but as our CO told us, "this is a good lesson in the Navy. Stuff happens and ships move." "Stuff happens" may or may not be a loose paraphrase of the actual phrase he used. We are in the Navy, after all.

In addition to ships, we also move. The Sunday before this past Sunday Kelsey and I (and most of my command) ran a half marathon. 

It went well!

There was some collateral damage.

Some other junior officers from my office.

That Monday I had permission to skip work and hang out with an honor flight coming from Indiana. All of the veterans on the flight fought in Vietnam and most had never seen their memorial. They all made fun of us for being staff officers, which was fair coming from them. They seemed to appreciate having folks in uniform to accompany them. The random tourists at the monuments also seemed to be blinded and dazzled by the summer whites to the point that, for perhaps the first time in my life, I had to say "one more person and then no more pictures." 

In another work outing, last Friday we got to put on our civilian clothes and take a tour of the Naval Academy. It was the most beautiful college campus where students aren't allowed to enjoy themselves that I've ever seen. Highlights included watching the lunch formation, which included a bagpipe procession to the tune of the theme from Top Gun. Well done, pipers.

The pipers get a place of honor in the center, as it should be.

More importantly, last weekend we were able to meet up with Courtney and Ashton and Melissa. There will be lots of times that I can be on a ship, but Ashton will not be this cute forever, so that's a fair trade.

And Ashton understands the import of the season.