Day 40: "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy" - President Roosevelt

Posted by: Cris

The fence project saw some progress today and one medium sized obstacle as I stayed home and worked around the house today. But before I knew it , it was 3:30, the girls were getting up from their nap, and I realized all I'd consumed all day was literally 24 ounces of Crystal Light lemonade and 4 Hershey's Kisses. Emilie is rolling her eyes right now, I'm sure, as she knows that when I'm working on a project I always do this where I forget to eat or drink all day, no matter how much she keeps reminding me I need to stop and take time to eat (I get this honestly - and probably genetically - from my dad so what can I do?)

So, since we needed milk (as is basically ALWAYS the case no matter how many gallons I buy), we headed over the hill to the Pearl Harbor Naval Exchange. This time though, I convinced the girls we weren't going to eat at Taco Bell in the foot court. Instead, we went to a place serving more local fare and I completely plowed through a Loco Moco (only the second one I've had since moving back to Hawaii). Now for those uninitiated to the Loco Moco, this might seem to be somewhat of a mystery. But who hasn't thought at some point: "wouldn't it be absolutely incredible to put a steakburger patty and 2 over-easy eggs on top of a pile of rice and cover it with brown gravy?" My response: "Yes it would!"

There is nothing like a good Loco Moco - in fact, my cousin Tim and I are continually comparing notes on various restaurants' versions of Loco Moco to try to find the best ones in Hawaii. Do NOT visit Hawaii without ordering Loco Moco. Though this wasn't the one I had tonight, the one in the picture is one of my top 5 versions of the gourmet cuisine, in this case, served at the Likelike Drive-In.

I was actually glad that today's activities took us over to Pearl Harbor considering that today is December 7th. Since moving to Hawaii, I have become particularly interested in the events of this day in 1941 - Emilie will tell you that nearly every time we'd visit the NEX food court, she'd have to drag me away from the hallway with the newspaper reprints from that day and the days that followed lining the walls, like this one:

I could literally stand and read and re-read every single one of them. Tonight, I tried to stop and read for a second but that hallway is on the way to the bathroom and Juneau REALLY had to go.

It has been really intriguing to me to have, in the past, driven around Pearl Harbor (the base, not the memorial) and Hickam AFB and see the WWII era buildings that were there the day of the attack and haven't been changed at all. In fact, I'm told there are still walls with bullet holes from the Japanese Zero's that were prohibited from being repaired as a historic remembrance.

I'm particularly intrigued when often I am out in the yard (both now and at our previous house here) and think about this map showing the flight paths the Japanese planes took over the island that day:
The red star shows the approximate location of our house (our previous house was also along a flight path just south of "Wheeler Field" on the map)

The pyramid shaped hill and attached land in the distance (just right of the 2 large rock islands) are part of Kaneohe Marine Corp Base (MCBH). It is amazing to think about how that day the view from where I stand on my lanai would have seen bombers flying over on their way to Pearl Harbor as well as those directly attacking MCBH's small airfield.

I have been to the Arizona Memorial many times but the last time I went gives me my best memory of the site:

When my family spent Christmas 2008 here in Hawaii, we went to visit the memorial. My grandpa, a WWII vet himself, spread flowers at the memorial in remembrance of those who lost their lives there that day. This was just a few days before my grandpa passed away here in Hawaii.

Before I finish this post I should stop and apologize to my wife who, if she read all the way to the end, was subjected to something she totally hates - history education lessons that trick you into learning something by masquerading as entertainment. Sorry honey ;)

The girls are super excited for tomorrow to get here - because Aunt Coral arrives!! We can't wait!!!