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17 June, 2001
Well, a lot has happened since our last newsletter.
First the big news. Christopher is riding without training wheels. I can't believe our 3 year and 7 month old child is riding on two wheels and already experimenting with various tricks (i.e. one handed - both legs stuck out). Just yesterday afternoon out of the clear blue Christopher asked me if I would take the training wheels off his bike. I said yes of course and prepared for an afternoon of scrapes and frustration. I grabbed a beach towel, rolled it up and wrapped it around Christopher's torso to give me something to support him with while I run alongside his bike. After the first five steps I realized I noticed he wasn't leaning heavily in either direction - so for the next five steps I reduced the amount of support - then for the next five steps I stopped supporting him altogether. He stopped pedaling and asked me to remove the towel because he wanted to do it himself. I'll be damned if he didn't do it. Right then and there. I figure I coached him for a grand total of 30 seconds before he just took off on his own. Now, it took another hour or so of practice (Daddy's help not required or requested) for him to learn to kick off on his own to get started. By mid-afternoon he was pedaling fast, leaning into tight circles, and leaving four-foot skid marks with his tires to brake to a stop. Thank God Patti got this on video.
Now for a one
paragraph recap of the last two months for those who don't want to read
on. In the first week of May I left Japan for a week of TDY at Fort Meade
followed by a week in Iowa for rest, golf, and visiting with family.
The following week I traveled to Hawaii for a GRUELING week of work.
Of course pleasure mixed with work - especially since Patti and Christopher
arrived in Honolulu on 21 May. The last week of May we spent at on the
island of Kauai at the Coconut Beach Resort.
The time available for social interaction and
even side-bar business discussions was all too brief since I spent the
entire week as the bag handler for the MCOC's Commander, Colonel Mitzel.
So - for those of you I failed to visit I apologize. Those who I did manage
to see can attest they only saw me during lunch or my fifteen minute breaks
from the conference. Of course I managed to arrange for a golf outing
with Buck Hartley and Joe Crabtree ( I wax'd ‘em of course). Actually
my game was off a bit - even more erratic than usual - to the great amusement
of Buck and Joe. On my second evening in Maryland I met with several
members of my MSSI (Masters Program) class at the Outback Steakhouse for
a 10th anniversary gathering. We enjoyed reminiscing and trying to figure
out where the last 10 years went. I also spent an evening at Don
and Teresa's house where Don treated me to BBQ ribs and I treated both
of us to an assortment of microbrews. I'm happy to report the Williams
family is as busy and happy as ever adjusting to life on the east coast.
I also spent an evening walking around the massive new shopping complex
which was recently built one mile north of our home in Hanover - the Arundel
Mills Mall. Originally designed to be the largest mall on the entire
eastern seaboard - local groups lobbied to limit the mega-mall idea - though
what remains is still - by far - the largest shopping complex in the region.
In Iowa I enjoyed visiting my Dad and his new wife Rose Marie, my sister Bonnie and her kids, and my 90-year old Grandmother who doesn't know the word quit. What an inspiration she is - still out pruning the yard and painting the garage to stay busy. Of course I spent most mornings on the local golf course where I managed to tie my career-best score of 81 while beating all comers throughout the week. Actually just when I thought I was golfing well I ran into some of the local high school golf team members who I observed hitting the ball over 300 yards and as straight as an arrow of the box. I enjoyed getting in the 1990 Mustang GT for a spin and also finally succeeded at resetting my body clock after nearly 10 days of struggling with the worst jet lag I have ever experienced.
Unfortunately while I was out enjoying myself, Patti and Christopher were both in Misawa struggling with yearly spring allergies. While the symptoms didn't seem as severe this year - they were persistent - for several weeks - and didn't subside until Patti and Christopher joined me in Hawaii.
Hawaii. Well - what can we say except that we had a great time? Our week in Oahu was largely spent at the local hotel pool and getting caught up on shopping. We stayed at the Ala Moana Hotel which is near the mall and famous park of the same name. Patti and I had both toured Honolulu and much of Oahu before so we kept a lid on the sight-seeing and focused on relaxation. On Saturday, 26 May we departed for Kauai with long-time friends Jim and Robin Daley who had arranged the trip for us. They joined us for the long weekend in Kauai. Jim and I golfed at a Nicklaus-designed course - Kiele Lagoons - on Sunday. The course is as beautiful as it is treacherous. I knocked a bunch out of bounds and posted a score I'm not talking about - but I blame the beautiful scenery for my distraction.
Two things took us by surprise about Kauai - the fact that thousands of chickens run wild all over the entire island - and the relative high heat and humidity - at least compared to what we had been used to on Oahu. When the trade winds blew - which thankfully was most of the time - the heat and humidity was moderated to the point where the weather was pleasant. When the trade winds didn't blow - as they did on Wednesday - it was stifling outdoors. We really limited our outdoor time that day. Christopher spent 2-4 hours each day in water of some kind - usually at the hotel pool which had a wonderful kiddie section - or at one of the many local beaches we visited that week. We visited Waimea Canyon, Poipu Beach, Lydgate Park and Beach, and enjoyed many local restaurants and shops. Of course we signed up for the local Luau which we enjoyed on the night before we returned to Oahu. All three of us really enjoyed the evening. The food was great - featuring pulled pork and the local infamously tasteless starch dish (poi), and the show was entertaining - though as anticipated - it was a bit hokey. A bit like watching a Disney dancing troupe. The dancers and singers were clearly talented and worked hard to keep us entertained. Of course - Christopher worked hard to keep our dining neighbors entertained as well. Earlier in the week Robin (Daley) taught Christopher to do a Hula dance and after the Luau (and for several days thereafter- Christopher kept us entertained with his own rendition of macho hula dancing.
On Friday 1 June we flew back to Honolulu to spend a couple more days with Jim and Robin before catching our Monday flight back to Misawa via Tokyo. Originally we planned to stay in a Waikiki hotel for those days but Jim and Robin insisted we stay with them and we're glad we did - we had a great time. Of course Jim and I golfed again. At this point I realized my golf game had abandoned me in Hawaii so the only reason I continued to play was to lose money to Jim. Jim and Robin took us snorkeling on the North shore of Oahu where I had an encounter of the first kind with a large sea turtle. The waters and the surf were great. It was difficult to leave.
The ride home was unfortunately - eventful. We boarded the plan at Honolulu only to be asked to deplane 30 minutes later due to a problem with the brakes. We finally departed two hours later and did not do anything to make the time up enroute. When we finally neared Tokyo's Narita airport we circled for awhile until the pilot told us we would be diverting to another Tokyo airport - Haneda - due to an "incident" causing the closure of Narita's lone runway. We were pleased to go to Haneda anyway since Haneda is the airport we needed to get to Misawa. Unfortunately they would not let us deplane in Haneda so we waited on the ground for nearly four hours until they refueled us for the flight back to Narita which had reopened after two hours. Needless to say, we missed our flight to Misawa that night and stayed in a nice hotel near Narita. The next day we caught a mid-morning flight to Misawa.
The weather in Misawa the past two weeks has ranged from cold and wet to wet and cold. We were expecting warmer weather by now based on the past two springs we experienced - but apparently this is a typical Misawa spring. The last two days mercifully warmed up a bit and we are enjoying the great outdoors at every opportunity. Patti signed up to climb Mount Fuji in late July with some friends. Good Luck - I'm still recovering from my climb up Fuji from last summer. We hope to travel locally a lot this summer and we are already planning for a September visit by Dad and Rose Marie. Lots of neighbors and friends PCSing this summer (PCS is military lingo for moving). We're sad to see them depart and we're excited about seeing another three Japan summers before departing ourselves.
Have
a great summer!
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