221223 Nice Weather Today

This picture is Waikiki beach.

The temperature here today is a pleasant -6 degrees Fahrenheit.

The temp in McMurdo, Antarctica is a very crisp -24F, so with that in mind, enjoy our warmer climate today. I hope you folks who are always dreaming of a white Christmas will enjoy this white Christmas that is coming up in two days. It will, thanks to your wishes, be a balmy 32 degrees with snow and ice.

As for me, I’m thinking Florida sounds nice at the moment. Florida with its sunny beaches and warm clear waters. I’m thinking Hawaii might be nicer. Thanks to my uncle Sam I was in Hawaii, on Waikiki beach in 1964 and staying at Fort DeRussy for 50 cents a night, right on the beach. That was really tough duty. It was right close to the Royal Hawaiian hotel, where overnight rates were much, much higher per night. The snorkeling was fantastic there. There were hundreds of fish just swimming along minding their own business. The colors were fantastic, but I had no idea what the names of those fish were. They could have been Macaruchy Hatcha or Fred, it didn’t matter to me because I was enjoying seeing them.

The next year I was at Wake Island, a far cry from Hawaii. You could see nearly everything there was to see from one spot. We had a party for our air crew at the Drifters Reef bar and grill. We fished off the bridge connecting Wake to Peale island. It was for fun because we had no idea what fish they were, besides there was barbeque on the open grill along with all the beer one could want. This was the Drifters Reef bar on Wake Island in 1965.

This was the bridge we fished from on Wake.

This is one of the bunkers the marines and civilian contractors used when the Japanese bombed the island in 1942. The island stayed in Japanese hands until the end of the war. The American aircraft carriers occasionally dropped a few bombs on the island as they passed by on their way to other Japanese held islands.