On base

The marine base is small compared to the bases in VA I was on. But the view is amazing. I can't imagine another base more beautiful. Nate and Susan have a beautiful home military in style, but excellent location, close to a beach, lots of kids, huge yard, and a view that sweeps you away. I can't imagine seeing that every morning. We sat outside before the change of command and watched as a rain shower marched across the water toward us, it was like a wall closing in. Amazing.



These trees are in the general's yard. Now I know why they call this the windward side of the island!



The beach behind Nate and susan's house. I don't know a purer color of turquoise and blue! I laid down in the sand with my book and listened to the sound of the waves crashing... And the navy planes circling doing exercises all day (we were right off the flight path). I learned that you have to decide what you want to do at the beach before you pick what beach you are going to. They have beaches for snorkeling, swimming, and relaxing; they have beaches for shell searching and wading; they have beaches for kayaking... The beach below their house is definitely for wading, shells, and laying on the beach. The waves are very choppy and their is a lot of the lava rock that you could hit. But... Still beautiful. The golf course on base has a couple of holes that overlook this beach.



It was a rainy morning but here is the benefit! This rainbow was so well defined, I could even see the purple! And it kept getting closer to the house. I am sure at one point, we were the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!



Alex brought a coconut home from the beach and proceeded to work on it for an hour to crack it, and carve out all of the coconut. Susan, Tara and I went to the commissary to pick up some sushi for dinner (seriously some of the best I have had!). She picks up two coconuts and I ask her what she makes with the coconut... She says, "you saw... They entertain the kids". A woman after my own heart! Now the kids were serious - they managed to make a crack quickly and the water poured out. Capturing it in a cup, we pass it around. I am not ashamed to say, I was expecting an intense explosion of coconut in my mouth. I drank and it was bland. A hint of salt, not a lot of coconut. After the kids pried them open and carved out some coconut, we ate. Again, not what I expected. More flavor, but still mild. I guess you have to shred it, and squeeze it to get the "milk" out. Interesting hour!

We sat outside before dinner with our drinks and it was chilly. The wind was stronger and the clouds kept moving in. Nate comes home and joins us. He talks about his first 6 hours as CO of the 3rd marines. Earlier, we finished lunch at 12:20 and he was heading back to the office for a video teleconference with Okinawa. I asked him about his job - what does your week look like? He said it is mostly very tactical. He has one brigade just back from Afghanistan, one there now and the other brigade is also deployed. He talks about some of the things he has to deal with that are not the fun part. While our jobs may be similar, I realize how much responsibility he has on his shoulders. Not only does he have to worry about logistics of the troops and resources, but he has to get involved with them on a personal level. When you join the marines, it isn't a job, it is your life and a lot of times your life bleeds in to the day job. He has to make sure the 3rd marines are prepared when they are called upon.