JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

Just when a person thinks we’re heading for a few weeks of bone- chilling weather, the sun pops out and provides a week of almost spring-time. No sooner had I explained how the weather was following the lunar calendar, and then the sun decides it’s time to follow the Julian calendar and throw those pre-springtime days at us. I doubt if it will stay this way much longer though. Usually what happens is another bone-chilling week or two follows this brief intro to spring. That’s just the way the wind blows on Okinawa.

As I said previously, when a person goes through something as awakening as a death of a person they have known for 30 years it tends to force one to face the realities of life. So if you are not into a female reminiscing about the past important people in her life you may as well just log off now.

In the tradition of “All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” I wish to acknowledge all the men I’ve loved before, because they symbolize different passages of my life.

To my first serious love, Mark Anthony Earle of Mrs. Slaughter’s third grade class in Schertz, Texas. (Sorry, I can’t remember the name of the school.) I’m sorry I accidentally smashed a tuna sandwich in your face in 9th grade at Samuel Clemens High. (You weren’t supposed to turn your face!) By the way, I’m soooo glad Steve made it to where he was going.

To L.B.Rosser II, I can only hope what I heard isn’t true. I will always remember our fifth grade attempt to perform the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” at the annual talent show.

To Kurt Vander Wahl, (I’m not too sure of the spelling.) Hon, I loved you but let’s get real, it was always obvious where and what you were after.

To Clint Gardner, you probably didn’t even know I existed. (After all I was a very skinny and nerdy redhead when that just wasn’t what life for a young male was about.) But I will never forget you and your Kawasaki bike.

Universal City, Texas in the ’60’s

The Okinawan snow season has begun. At least that is what I call it. Although it is nearly spring according to the Julian calendar, the lunar calendar indicates we are just entering into the thralls of winter. The lunar calendar is similar to what Americans think of when we think of Poor Richard’s Almanac. The seasons are based more on the actual weather than on a given date. So what is Okinawan snow you may ask? Okinawan snow is when the North Wind blows and light dewlets of rain scatter in every direction. I call it snow because I think the only reason it isn’t snow is because the temperature isn’t at freezing point.

When I was growing up in the 60’s the common belief was that life is usually a smooth road with a few bumps in it. Lately, I have to disagree with that assessment. More and more it has begun to feel as though life consists mainly of bumps with a few smooth patches in it. Not just because of what is happening in my own life, but the overall world situations seemingly consist of nothing more than bumps. If it’s not one thing it’s another, i.e. world disputes, weather, etc. The world just seems to be moving much more quickly than it used to move. I’m almost 49 and I can remember my father telling me that “time” seems to move more quickly as one gets older. I have to agree with that. One year seems more like six months nowadays. As life changes so should some of the old adages. Take the saying that the only certainties in life are birth, death, and taxes. I think it should be changed to birth, death, taxes, and increased traffic flows.

Note on the blog comments: As I was deleting the blog’s hacker’s comments, I accidentally deleted the authentic comments. However, I was able to retrieve and resubmit the information.

I was doing a Yahoo search on the site and ran across something I’ve never seen before. It doesn’t show up on the regular site. Can any one tell me what this is and how it happens?
this is the item in question

NOTE: The item no longer shows when you click the link. From what info I could gather, I think it was a comment spam.

Sometimes the advice given to us when we are young ends up being the best move we can make as an adult. For instance, I was taught to try and learn something positive from the negative things that happen in my life. The recent passing away of the former guitarist is providing a chance to learn about what behaviors are actually applied in practice by locals, as opposed to the traditions, as far as death rituals. Through this I hope I will make fewer mistakes when it comes my turn to apply the practices

Isn’t life great! At this time eight years ago, I was wondering if I was even going to be able to “wake-up” each day. Now here I am, struggling with all the intricacies of learning the language of computers. Although I just started teaching myself HTML about six months ago, I am now on to XHTML and multifaceted CSS. I love the challenge of everything that is happening in my life. Yeah, it can get to be a pain in the a**. But it sure beats the alternative!

Here it is the end of January. The holiday season is finally coming to an end and Taki and I finally have a chance to look at the events of the past year. A lot happened this year. We said good bye to our beloved pet of thirteen years, Twinkie; a trusted car of seven years; Speedy, and a guitarist who had chosen different path in life, Jimmy. Mother Nature had taken her toll on everyone over the past year. And for the first time in ten years, Live Music Bar JET was forced to have bouncers. I don’t know what has happened with the local scene of young rockers. It seems many of them are determined to prove just how much of an ***hole Americans can be. First it started with physical destruction in the bathrooms. Then it escalated to guys “dancing” and pouring drinks on local customers (which advanced to purposely knocking local customers’ drinks over), guys screaming in the microphones as they “danced” and the band was trying to play, large numbers of people trying to bring in their own beverages, guys grabbing and harassing the regular female customers who were trying to listen to the band, etc. It seems an attitude has developed that just because these people are in the bar, that they should be allowed to do anything they want! I haven’t lived stateside since January 1988 (17 years), but I doubt any of theses behaviors would be put-up with over there. Anyway, we were able to find a good, young pup (Jaco) to join our family; we also found a new vehicle, and we are extremely pleased with the new guitarist, Appin. And so, life goes on!