Naval Station Adak, AK

In December 1969 I left the rattlesnakes and prickly pear of South Texas and traded them in for the williwas, whiteouts, and tundra of the Aleutian Islands. (This post is over a month late - December 19th should have marked the 40th anniversary of my arrival in Adak. But this is a fairly slack ship I'm running these days. Sorry 'bout that.)

 

Since I had to leave the Inferno and our wild weekends on Padre Island, I took 30 days leave and visited friends in Coral Gables, FL, Asheville, NC, and Mundelein, IL on my way north. As usual, the family back in Austin got short shrift when it came to my deciding where I was going to spend my leaves. ACCM Kuhn had offered to let me finish my enlistment in Kingsville, but I was young, ready to try something different (and possibly ungrateful). The result of such recklessness was a set of orders to Adak.

When I arrived and checked into the division, the section leader decided to see right off the bat whether I knew how to run a GCA. I also think he wanted to show me that things were going to be a little bit different in the far north. Probably the biggest difference was the amount of traffic. In Kingsville we had had three oversized training squadrons of F-9 Cougars, but in Adak we had a single Patrol Squadron (about 6 or 8) P-3 Orions. They spent such long hours patrolling the North Pacific that our average traffic was only one or two airplanes a day. But I was to find out on that first GCA  run that even one plane a day could be interesting.

So, when that day's P-3 returned to land, Trip (AC1 TJ Triplett) and I hastened to the GCA trailer, grabbed headsets, and sat down to work it in. With little or no difficulty I got the Orion established on course and on glide path for what was essentially a 15 mile straight-in. Piece of cake! Trip had few comments for the first 11 1/2 miles, then said, "Get ready." As my "blip" passed the 3 mile range mark and just before the Orion it represented crossed Zeto Point (a peninsula that crossed the final approach course at 90°), trip told me, "turn him starboard 30°." I had just enough time to say "What?" before I was astonished to see the P-3's echo suddenly veer left, off course by about - let's see - 30°. Trip keyed his microphone, and turned the plane back to the right in time to salvage the approach, then let me finish it up. The point of the exercise was to impress on me that no matter what else was going on, there was a windshear at 3 miles - always - every time - that I could "take to the bank." It worked. I never had a problem with that the rest of the time I was there.

I found these last three pictures (below) online and probably shouldn't post them since they're not mine, but they illustrate my year on the island so well I'll chance it.

 

This first one shows the Reeves Aleutian Airways terminal at the Adak Airport with the DC-6 parked on the ramp. After being on the island for a few months I started working for Reeves in my off time, loading and unloading freight, and reconfiguring the airplanes as the occasion demanded to carry cargo or passengers. On one such occasion I reconfigured the plane for cargo while enroute to Shemya AFB at the end of the Aleutian chain. It occurred to me after a brief stop at Amchitka Island - where the AEC conducted underground nuclear testing - that I had not gotten Navy permission to leave Adak, which made this the only time in my Navy career that I was AWOL. We picked up our cargo at Shemya and I made it back to Adak that afternoon without being found out.

This picture shows the civilian crab boats at Finger Bay. Trip was on his third or fourth Adak tour while I was there, so he was the closest thing to a native there was. He'd been around so long that he'd actually become the agent for the crab fishermen, offering work on the processing boats to wives of sailors stationed on the island. Extra cash for the families of the sailors made converts of many. A serendipitous aspect of Trip's moonlighting was that we often had King Crab on hand for feasts at the GCA unit.

This last picture, shot from the window of an aircraft on approach over Sweeper Cove, shows the ATC Division's party cabin overlooking the Cove (lower right-hand corner on the cliff below the small peninsula). When we partied, we'd spend much of a day drinking Oly (Olympia Beer) and/or Jack Daniels while watching sea otters playing below the cabin's picture window.

The base eventually closed; the Navy moved out and turned over all its assets on the island to some commission hoping to establish an economy that could support commercial enterprises. I check back online occasionally to see if there's still life on Adak and, though I have no desire to return for a visit, look back on my year there with a certain amount of fondness.

Random Portraits

Well, it occurred to me that these aren't really random portraits, since I've taken them from a group of preselected photographs that I, for one reason or another, thought had merit. Let's just say that they are uncategorized, in the sense that some of the other posts are siblings, or cousins, or brothers-in-law. But rather than change the title of the post - and the preceding posts which shared the title - let's just redefine the term "Random Portraits" for our purposes to mean a subset of pictures from my "Favorite Portraits" folder that may be, but are not necessarily, in a roughly chronological order - which allows me to simply choose the next three or four for a post, skipping one or two occasionally to keep from having one subject for the whole group.

Does any of this make any sense? Does anyone care? Never mind. Those are rhetorical questions.

This was Lauren at home in Arlington at Thanksgiving in 2002. She's grown up so much in the last seven years it's hard to remember her at this age.

This picture of Gillian and her thoroughbred Summer was snapped in the spring of 2002 at Summer's second home just across the Cobb/Paulding County line. It was a lovely farm that this photographer appreciated, but that wasn't quite as convenient as her first home, just over the hill from Gillian's. What strikes me most about this picture is how tall Gillian had become since she acquired Summer.

I like this picture of Natalie, taken in May 2002 during our family reunion at the Crooked Hole Ranch in south Texas. I used the picture when I created a birthday card for her 10th birthday.

This one of Mary was taken during that same reunion weekend, but this one is poolside at the Inn on the River. I like the lighting in this one. The direct sunlight hasn't blown out the shot - and Mary kept her eyes open, which isn't always the case.

Guadalupe River State Park - II

This is one of my favorite pictures from this series. It exemplifies my impression of a "typical" Texas River. The Guadalupe, the Frio, the Sabinal - each is shallow, cool, and inviting, but you'd not be terribly surprised to find a dry or nearly dry riverbed in its stead. After all, this is Texas. But by the same token, a broader, deeper river would never provide such a feeling of relief on finding it flowing, and would seldom induce you to kick off your shoes and go wading for a while.

The marvelous root systems of these cypress trees look like something a Disney animator would come up with. Your eyes are drawn to them immediately, searching for any sign of movement, lest you become ensnared by some great tree with a grudge. And, of course, there could be snakes. . .

I like this one too - it's all about texture. It makes me want to pull out my carving knives and chisels and make huge heaps of wood chips. It makes me want to wander through the woods and find the perfect walking stick.

When we moved to Texas from Virginia in 1963, it seemed that as soon as you transitioned from city streets to a ranch road or farm to market road, every bend in the road was marked by an armadillo carcass. They were everywhere. More than 40 years later, you hardly see them anywhere, even as roadkill. This great example makes me think of the old Austin, in the 60's and 70's - the Armadillo World Headquarters, Sixth Street, all the rest - so different from anywhere else I'd ever been.

Ready For Spring??? Absolutely!

Well, this week didn't do much for my average in picking football games. Both TCU and Georgia Tech came up on the short ends of their respective games but that gave me some hope that Texas would surprise most of the country in Thursday night's Championship game with Alabama. The first five plays, before Colt was knocked out of the game, provided a glimpse of what might have been. The surprise to everyone, I think, was the generally excellent defensive play of the Longhorns, and the fact that Garrett Gilbert managed to get fairly comfortable for a good portion of the second half. But that's alright; the 'Horns will get after it next year.

*****

We never did get any rain this week, still, the clouds moved out today allowing our spirits to rise a bit. But it's three o'clock in the afternoon and the temperature is only 36°, and that's way too cold. Consequently, I'll take this opportunity to do what I can to hurry the seasons along into Spring.

I don't think there's any better way to do that than with variety and color. I don't know offhand whether these pictures were taken in the Spring or the Summer, but I know it wasn't Winter! This hibiscus is one of the many residents of Karen's garden.

These tiny whatever-they-are grew wild around the spring house at Joe's cottage up in Yancey County, NC. At least I assume they are wild.

I'm not absolutely sure, but I think these are known as Sweet William or, if you were on the other side in the American Revolution, Stinking Billy. Now, lest you think I'm the only one whose mind runs to trivia, I didn't read that anywhere - Karen told me. I also think these particular flowers were hers.

The lovely azaleas above were sort of mine, though I didn't grow them. My next door neighbor in Kennesaw planted several of these bushes across our property line to hide a couple of unsightly boxes one of the utility companies saddled us with.

Back by the pool in Karen's yard I found these guys especially appealing - mainly, due to the fact that I could use the sky as a background without actually having to get down on the ground to shoot the picture.

Across the pool, I found these little pastel whatevers and decided they were something I'd never seen before. I still don't know what they are, but they're pretty - and it was warm when I took the picture.

This thing, except for the little bit of damage on the right, looks like I remember a pansy. Only it seems much thinner and more delicate than those I remember. Again, I think it's Karen's.

And, last but not least, I shot these little guys at the edge of my patio in Kennesaw. The largest of these is slightly less than half an inch in diameter and I almost missed them altogether. This time I know it was early Spring, because I had just gotten my new camera, unpacked it, and gone out to sit in the sun and shoot everything of any interest in the backyard.

I hope, wherever you are, these pictures helped you forget how cold it is. I know it's helped me.

Guadalupe River State Park - I

I've been feeling a bit under the weather last couple of days. Nothing major, just an annoying cough and feeling stuffed up in the morning. That seemed to be a good reason to camp out on the couch with warm blanket, a book, and some lemonade - not having had the foresight to lay in some Jack Daniels. I must admit I haven't gotten very far in the book yet, with bowl games scheduled for nearly every waking moment. So far, seven of "my" teams won and seven lost. I've got two more games before the BCS championship, so I'm hoping that the Ramblin' Wreck and the Horn Frogs both win to bring my average up above .500. Then, of course, on Thursday night the Longhorns will play Alabama. I'm okay with the fact that few give us any chance for a win. I'm hoping that we've lulled the Crimson Tide into a false sense of security. In any case, I can't wait for the game. I can't take it any longer!

So today, with no college games, I'll push out this post while watching the Cowboys and Eagles decide who's going to represent the NFC East.

*****

These pictures were taken 31 December 2005. Gillian was spending the Christmas holidays with me and we had driven down to San Antonio for Ellen's and Stan's New Year's Eve party. I had been talking to Ellen about their occasional campouts at Guadalupe River State Park. When she mentioned it was, for all practical purposes, "just up Blanco Road", Gillian and I decided we'd drive up and see what we could see.

The first thing I noticed about the area were the monotones, any autumn colors having long since faded. My initial impression was that there would be nothing to take pictures of. Then, I somehow managed to shift my attitude and was able to see all kinds of things to shoot.

The trees on the river bank, I believe, are bald cypress - at least, that's the closest thing I can find in my Peterson's Field Guide to Eastern Trees. You might not want one dropping its needles on your lawn, but every one seems to have its own character, and beside the river there are more than enough view points to keep the photographer busy all afternoon.

The water was shallow and the water's surface served up reflections attenuated by a light breeze. With the Longhorns going to the championship game against USC in the Rose Bowl in a few days, I remembered thinking the needles being shed by these trees were nearly, if not actually, burnt orange. (Okay, at least concede that they're "rust colored" - that's close enough to burnt orange for me.)

All these pictures were taken along a quarter-mile section of river bank, with the sun alternately shining or hiding behind broken clouds. Towards the end of that quarter-mile section, I came upon several much older, larger trees with lots of the character I mentioned earlier. And as I panned farther to the right, I started picking up reflections of the sky which I hadn't seen before, but which added some great contrasts - in value and color - which I found interesting.