Retired Navy after 23 years. I retired at the age of 40 years old. I've been out longer than I was in. All of the ships I served on have been made into razor blades. I had fun and I lived my life the best I could. Most of my shipmates are gone and I try to stay in touch with the remainder. It continues. Substance abuse counselor, builder of wooden boats, furniture maker, prison non-violence workshop facilitator, life observer, activist, reader, writer, geriatric subject of interest, generous tipper. I stay involved.
Originally posted on Playing Fair and Being Kind:
I’ve been quiet for the past several weeks, relatively speaking. With hurricanes, attendant grief and loss, as well as this latest unimaginable murder of people in Las Vegas I have been overwhelmed. There has been no moment to myself that has not been contaminated with outside violence…
A TINY REGRET Never to be seen again. Some time long ago, while I was driving a deep submersible along the ocean bottom in the Sea of Cortez, I came upon what appeared to be a stone wall. Well past the depth that sunlight penetrates we moved slowly, searching for something to do with biological … More A Tiny Regret
THE 4TH OF JULY (fucking yay) It is the fourth and it is after dark, after nine P.M. I sit and listen to explosions from the Harbor and the noise reverberates around the hills and up the rivers and off the islands and boats filled with glassy-eyed people taking it all in. What is the … More The 4th of July! (an encore)
TIMOTHY Timothy held out the spoon to the large feline sitting on the arm of his chair. The cat briefly turned its head away and then, with an attitude of superiority, leaned ever so slightly toward the offering and took the tiniest nibble. Timothy pulled his hand back and the cat looked annoyed but only … More Buddies
This piece contains so many off-shoot threads that one could spend a day chasing interests. A HORSE IS A HORSE OF COURSE OF COURSE Mister Ed was a favorite character in a weekly T.V. show during the sixties. Reruns for decades put the opening credits’ theme song into everyone’s conscious forever. The plot contained a … More A Horse is a Horse of Course of Course (encore)
I met Danny on the George Washington Carver. We were part of the commissioning crew. The last I saw him was in Pearl Harbor. We had run into each other at the exchange or some such place. It was a great reunion for us. I was a W -4 and Danny was recently selected for … More Memorial Day 2021
For all my shipmates. For all of the salts who tolerated me in my youth. For all the non-qualified pukes who were dumber than a bag of hammers. For all the skippers I sailed under. For all the submarine sailors who proved again and again what it was that saved my rotten ass from leading … More Gratitude
Does anyone else get to this point of frustration? The commissioner of the Boston Police Department is under investigation and today’s paper has this headline, “11 disturbing revelations in the investigative report on suspended BPD commissioner Dennis White”. I pulled it up and suddenly a rush of disgust flooded my body. I couldn’t make myself … More One of Those Final Straws
JOE STASZEWSKI Joe was a shipmate. In fact, he was more than a shipmate, he was a close friend and we often went ashore together during those few years we were aboard Sirago. Our most memorable liberties were in Philadelphia during a shipyard overhaul. We were both underage for bars but Joe never got carded … More Joe Staszewski Was My Friend on My First Submarine (an encore post)
Posted on May 4, 2020 by Gentle George IT’S NEVER TOO LATE It’s never too late but it can be too little. Perhaps, “it’s the thought that counts”, is more fitting here. I did something in 1971 that has bugged me all these years. Last week I found myself in a situation where I could make an amends … More It’s Never Too Late. (an encore post)
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