A year of Navy life, come and gone. The induction season for the chief selectees wrapped up on Wednesday with their pinning ceremony. Hopefully this means we'll have our Saturday mornings back to ourselves (and college football!) and our weekdays will return to normal. Zac was pretty busy these last 10 days especially. I went to the pinning ceremony to be supportive. I had it easy - I got to sit down; Zac had to stand there looking stern for more than an hour. I have a weird relationship with the pomp and circumstance of Navy ceremonies. Part of me loves the pageantry and the band (well, especially the band - SOUSA RULES!) but the other part of me is easily irritated with the self-importance of it and finds myself rolling my eyes a lot. At least I had sunglasses on to cover up my occasional lapses of tact.
Because the longest night leads into the pinning ceremony they have the pinning ceremony around noon. Last year that was no big deal because the ceremony was inside. This year they decided to have it on a concrete slab outside on Ford Island.
In 90 degree sun.
After many of the attendees had gotten only a few hours of sleep and questionable nutritional intake in the last 36 hours.
And then they all stand at attention.
For more than an hour.
I actually saw one chief's knees buckle and thankfully they caught him before he fell totally to the ground. Here's a hint - we're in Hawaii. It's &$%@!!*$ hot here. Especially, say, at midday. Even with the tents providing shade, the weather was uncomfortable. Next year I hope they return to the indoor, air conditioned, auditorium to conduct the pinnings. I mean, there were two new chiefs that were pregnant. One of the women was due THAT VERY DAY. On the one hand she looked like she had never been more proud of a career achievement. On the other she looked like she wanted to die. So, again, maybe next year a/c?
This also means that Khaki Ball #3 happens tomorrow night. Last year didn't go well. I was too overwhelmed at the time to enjoy myself. I felt like a fish out of water and was in a generally foul mood the whole time. It's funny how last year at this time I genuinely felt like I was never going to fit in here. Now it's 12 months later and I still don't "fit" what the propaganda says a good Navy wife should be, but I've found a way of coping with it. I've found a fair number of positives that I've gotten better at dwelling on than the multitudes of negatives.
Weird. I've been on this rock in the middle of the Pacific for 12 months now. (I was going to say "damn rock" but I find myself editing for content know that I know family members back home read this for updates.) I guess I can start checking off things that I will miss for the second year in a row now. Good God! It just dawned on me -- I haven't been around snow in a year! The top of Mauna Kea was cold, but no snow. Ugh! I think I'm going to change my desktop background to the snow falling in my Grandpa Clare's backyard and wear my Gopher's hockey jersey during the game on Saturday, no matter how much I sweat in it.
Did I mention that I was not engineered for heat? *sigh* I hope our next duty station in in Alaska.
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