A Letter From Sea!

Good morning my beautiful wife,

We are hitting heavy seas still, it has been rough since we pulled out. The waves are crashing up over the flight deck. It looks like an episode of deadliest catch when you go outside. From my berthing I can hear the hull slam down on the back side of the wave and it sounds like thunder rattling through the ship.

The Marines are here, of course, and they just can't handle this. Vomiting in the passageways, for the service with a reputation for being tough, they are a bunch of babies. I am no stranger to the turbulent waters, I walk through the passages, up and down ladders with ease. The only drawback for me is the constant feeling of sleepiness. All the rocking back and forth, just makes me want to crawl into my rack. I sleep great.

Anyway darlin' I better get back to work. I love you, and I hope you have a wonderful day.

XOXO

Russell

Obon Festival 2012

Obon (お盆)  is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist-Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori.

In Sasebo, the ancestors that have died just this past year get a "ship" or "boat" built in their honor. It is carried down the streets of Sasebo and to this park where they set off fireworks everywhere and dance with their floats. They are all decorated with the traditional lanterns, flowers, paper origami and many more items. The bigger the boat the more wealthy and important the family is. This photo of one is a mid sized one.

This is the park where they're all parked. You have to watch where you step because they are lighting off fireworks everywhere!

This was the biggest "boat" of the night! The elephant on the very front is a very popular chain grocery store throughout Japan. We are guessing the person that passed was an owner or founder of the store. YES, those are fire works under the boat that the guys are about to walk over!!!!!

The beautiful Albuquerque Bridge during Obon Festival!

 

The festival ends with Toro Nagashi, or the floating of lanterns. Paper lanterns are illuminated and then floated down rivers symbolically signaling the ancestral spirits' return to the world of the dead.

My dear friend Ema put a lantern in the water for her grandmother that passed away this year. I got an amazing photo of it's bright red heart floating on by.

EarthQuake!!!!!!!!

Okay, okay... So it wasn't that big of a deal. We did in fact have a little tiny earthquake. It was a 4.6 about 60-100 miles away from us and registered as a 1.0 here in Sasebo. I didn't even feel it while I was laying in bed this morning watching a movie. I guess I just thought it was my kitties moving around. Anyways, no damage and I officially survived my first Japanese earthquake!

To check out the stats on this quake and any future one, you can check out this website.

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/