Aloha 'Oe

 

Aloha 'Oe.  It's a song that will always remind me of Hawaii - and for good reason.  It will always remind me of places where I can relax and chill out, and not just in America's paradise.  But why do I start out with a thought about Hawaii?  Well, I've grown to realize that cruising is my favorite way to disconnect from the outside world for a while, and come out refreshed at the end of my trip.

Today ended a long relaxed weekend with RQS.  I drove her back to Croton-Harmon in the middle of the afternoon, and I killed a little time before returning home due to plumbing repairs that required water being shut off to the building.  By the time I got home, the repairs were complete, and I was able to take care of things at the apartment.

Around 6 pm, I put my dress back on and drove to Wegmans for a shopping trip.  $90 later, I had several bags in my car, and was ready to pack it in for the day.  And yet, my thoughts kept prodding me to do one more thing - plan another trip to Hawaii, and see things I couldn't see the first time around.  For example, it was too windy to visit the USS Arizona memorial when I was there, and it is a site I'd like to see.  Another thing I'd like to do is enjoy the Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  I've seen the Luau on Kauai, and would want a different take on the ceremony.  And then, I'd like to get back to the Halealaka Crater and Volcanoes National Park when it isn't foggy or raining.

As I see it, going back to Hawaii with RQS in tow will be worth it.  The only question will be: How do we afford it?  

Hawaii Vacation - Day 03: Pearl Harbor

 

Sadly, this was as close as I was going to get to the USS Arizona this trip.  The wind was too gusty for the ferries to transport people to the memorial.  Yet, this was an enjoyable excursion.

But first....

Unlike yesterday, it was much harder to find something to eat.  Unless one remembered that there was a Mickey D's about a block away, the only dining options were a sit down "diner" and a coffee shop inside the hotel building.  This meant that I would go hungry and thirsty if the ABC store downstairs didn't open up before 7.  As was my luck, the store opened up at 6:30 am, and I was able to eat the egg sandwich on the bus to Pearl Harbor.

Ever since 9/11, the military insists that a "no bag" policy is observed, save for clear plastic "stadium bags".  I was lucky to know about this, as I bought such a bag before the trip.  Today, I packed much of the stuff I normally keep in my handbag into the stadium bag, and was ready for today's excursion.  First stop was at the visitors center where security "inspected" the bus for contraband before entering the base. And then, it was off to the USS Missouri.

The "Mighty Mo," as the battleship is called, has an interesting history.  It was built at the beginning of WW2, and the war ended with the Japanese government signing a peace treaty on its decks.  The ship was mothballed, only to be reactivated for the Iraq war. Now deactivated again, it has become a living museum.  It was nice to be able to see this ship in person, but felt a little sad that something like this now only serves historical use.

 
Next, it was off to the Pacific Aviation Museum to see all the old military aircraft.  This was interesting, but marred by one incident.  Stuff started spilling out of my stadium bag (I didn't zip it up right) and I dropped a water bottle on the floor.  I'm glad that it was only water!  So I got out of Dodge, and went to another area of the museum where restorations were going on.  And then, it was off to the USS Arizona. (Or, I should say, it was off to try and see the USS Arizona Memorial.)

The USS Arizona has an interesting history, but it is best known for being sunk on 12/07/41.  The Memorial was built above the ship, but not touching it.  The only way to reach the memorial is by ferry, and they weren't running because of gusty winds.  So, I decided to have lunch, then explore the USS Bowfin. 

 

The Bowfin is a typical WW2 submarine.  Having been in one before (in San Francisco), I knew that space would be tight - and it was.  Since I had 3 hours to kill, it made sense to explore the sub, then go back to the tour bus a little early.  This time, the bus was parked way off to the side, and I couldn't find it at first.  At least, I knew enough to ask questions.  I walked over to the bus and relaxed until it was time to leave.

Once back at the hotel, I decided to take a second shower for the day and make myself look pretty.  I was getting together with my late therapist's wife and son, and I wanted to make a good impression on them.  She came at 7 pm, and it was off to dinner.  The conversation could have gone on forever.  But this is typical of people who may never see each other again, but have a common thing or person to talk about. It was nice to find out things about my therapist that I didn't know, including the good and bad things that I would have found out had his demons not got to him when he left his New York support structure.   Also, it was nice to tell the son about his dad, sharing things that he may never have heard from someone who wasn't family.  Hopefully, the son will turn out to be as good a person as his dad was, without the issues his dad had. 

All too soon, it was time to go back to the hotel and pack for the next 7 days on board the cruise ship.  Hopefully, I won't have this much trouble when I have to pack to go home....

Preparing for a Hawaiian Cruise

Thank god for Amazon!  Over the last few weeks, I've been ordering things I'll need for my upcoming Hawaii cruise.  In addition to buying new luggage, I've been buying little things such as water shoes for the time I may be at a beach.  In the above picture, I am showing some of the things I've bought for my upcoming cruise.

There are several minor issues one must be aware of when traveling to Hawaii.  Due to the fragile nature of its habitat, they require that only "Reef Safe" Sunscreens are used. In addition, when I go to Pearl Harbor, I'll need the clear "stadium backpack" to hold personal goods, as they do not allow civilians to carry normal purses on the base.  Given that I'll be in an inside cabin, I bought an inexpensive motion sensitive night light for use in the room, and I've bought a plastic luggage tag to help the baggage smashers route my suitcase to my cabin.  And, in case the suitcase gets lost, I will have a Tile Tracker attached to help in locating the bag.  

There are so many things left to be taken care of before the cruise.  For example, I have to schedule a hotel room with 13 day parking with an airport shuttle.  My flight leaves Newark at an ungodly time of the day, and I won't be able to get to the airport in time if I were to drive to the parking lot from home the day I start my travels.  Hopefully, I won't forget anything.  But I know I'll be writing about my trip in this blog....

By the time you read this, the unbelievable may have happened.

If it weren't for the historical plaque and the bench, one might not realize that this well maintained hillside was the site of an event that defined a generation - Woodstock.  Over 500,000 people gathered on farm land owned by Max Yasgur to enjoy music in conditions marginally better than WW1 soldiers "enjoyed" in their trenches. Although the crowd is long gone, this is still a site that Baby Boomers should visit at least once - especially when music is being performed in the "Shed" at the bottom of this hill.

- - - - - -

Each generation has an event that helps define the times in which it lived.  For my parents' generation, Pearl Harbor day would set the path that people of this generation would follow for the rest of their lives.  For my generation, the JFK assassination, the Vietnam War, and Woodstock would define a path for our lives. For our children's generation, 9/11 would be the day that they would lose the collective innocence which presumed that we would be safe in our homeland.  However, 2020 (with a spillover into 2021) will likely set the path for a generation or two to come.

Why do I think the events of the past year are so important?  To answer this question, one must understand how Trump has polarized American society.  He has divided and conquered people, using his supporters as Hitler used his - as a mob which could be used to terrorize those that do not pay him tribute and allegiance. He has hijacked a major political party and made its former elite afraid of losing its remaining power to people favored by its "king". So when given the choice of doing the right thing and deposing this "king" via impeachment and conviction, they failed to do so at the beginning of 2020. Our president wasn't chastened by the rebuke from one chamber of our country's legislature.  Instead he was emboldened.  If he didn't make one mistake, he would have likely won reelection in November.

Of course, his mistake was not taking the coming pandemic seriously.  He focused on being elected, and not doing his job when real work was called from a country's leader.  He was not unique in this regard.  But I care more about what happens in America than in Brazil.  When he should have isolated America from the world, he only decided to act against a single country, China.  When he could have encouraged people to isolate themselves and follow CDC guidelines when they had to go out, he mocked the idea of wearing face masks in public to help stop the spread of the virus. So, when Election Day came around, enough people were disenchanted with this man that they voted the president out of office.

Normally, presidents voted out of office go on to lead a productive retirement.  This is not the case for our soon to be former president.  He allegedly committed enough crimes before he took office and while in office that he stood a good chance of going to prison for the rest of his life. So he allegedly orchestrated several plots to overturn the results of the election, none of which were successful.  But the last event is the one where he may have crossed the one line where even his political supporters may have said he went too far.

On January 6th, the electoral college's ballots were supposed to be opened, tallied in a joint session of congress, and the results of the presidential election announced.  However, like his German idol from the first half of the 20th century, he allegedly decided on staging a "Beer Hall Putsch" to take control of the government using emergency powers.  Luckily, the legislative branch of government was able to complete its task and announce that Biden would be sworn in as president 14 days later.

Within a couple of days, the news reports were making it clear that our president committed an act of sedition by encouraging the "protestors" who took over the capitol building, and this motivated Democratic party to demand that the president be removed from office. (Of course, 6 riot related deaths that day gave the president's critics the extra fuel they needed to act.) By the time the weekend ended, it was clear that the Vice President would be forced to invoke authority given to him under the 25th amendment to remove the president from power, or that the Democrats in the House would impeach the president for a second time.  This wasn't the end of it - the Senate did not want to remove the president by the time the weekend ended. It would only be willing to make sure that this man's trial in the Senate would almost be meaningless, as it would take place after he left office.

So with all that historical context in place, now I get to the meat of things....

There have been only 3 impeachment trials, and none of them has resulted in the removal of a president from office. In less than one day, it seems as if the traditional elite of the GOP has decided to take back their party, and may be giving people in the House and Senate the ability to vote their consciences in regard to the president.  No longer does the Senate trial look like it will be meaningless. Instead, it looks more likely that it will be held before the president was scheduled to leave office.  Although the trial may not accomplish much (he may only lose 2 remaining days of his term), it will show that we have it in us to force people in power to do the right thing - albeit, in this case, a day late and a dollar short.

Why is this important?

For the Transgender community, America has de-fanged a person who has been causing us long term harm. For America as a whole, we have shown that our system was barely strong enough to avoid falling to a wannabe dictator.  We have learned that our democratic institutions depend on the good will of our people, and that we need to take an active interest in them to see that they are always there for us.  In short, we have learned we can no longer take many things for granted.  

And what do I think would have been unbelievable?

I never thought it would be possible to have a president so bad, and that we'd have a serious chance of seeing people of good will depose him using tools given to them in the constitution.

So keep your fingers crossed.  The next few days will be a wild ride.