PEARL HARBOR LAUNDRY ON THE LINE

Pearl Harbor laundry is the same as any laundry; wet stuff drying on a line.

I saw laundry waving in the wind while touring the Ford Island with a Navy man.

It was on the back porch of officers’ housing with their name and rank posted in front.

A warm breeze furled family business better than any dryer.

It felt like a moment of pure innocence in 2023.

That’s a picture of my family beach laundry flapping on Kauai.

We got up every day, got in the ocean, dried off, and hung towels.

It was repeated for two weeks straight that feels like another lifetime now.

The laundry was the same as the Pearl Harbor laundry on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.

Saturday on the beach, laundry drying on the line overnight.

Except we didn’t get the bombs and bullets and torpedos on Sunday.

Were the young sailors and old salts prepared for December 7th?

Was anyone?

Historical Questions Need Answers

Bill Little is a history man on a mission.

Like all good history men, including your’s truly, he wants to know more about everything.

He knows Ford Island and Pearl Harbor.

From bullet holes in windows left as a reminder, to bullet divots in cement walls, December 7th is still there in its unvarnished state.

From the USS Arizona, USS Utah, and the Mighty Mo, along with the berths of missing ships marked by white buoys, it’s all there.

But what struck me was the laundry flying on a back porch?

Here’s why:

We all come from somewhere else.

Even if you never leave your hometown, you experience it at different ages to the point that it becomes new.

People who move around for one reason or another don’t understand how small town people manage their lives.

We look for the new in old places, places so familiar you could find them blind.

But, like fast paced cities in an ever-changing world, small towns thrive on the same current.

You just have to find it.

Your Pearl Harbor Laundry On The Line

When I joined the Army it wasn’t for adventure, a yearning to serve, or running away from a ruined young life.

I was hell bent on trying out for the All Army Wrestling Team.

What I brought with me was a high school all-American tag and a year of college varsity wrestling.

I showed up to Fort Dix, faced some tough guys, and missed it by that much.

My laundry stunk.

What you do with stinky laundry is wash it over and get it on the line fast.

Quick question: When’s the last time any of you hung laundry instead of tossing it in the dryer?

More than a fun metaphor, hanging laundry feels like meditation.

Each towel gets two clips? Wrong. Every clip except those on the ends have two jobs.

Think of two towels with one clip holding the middle where they meet.

Now think about the life you live. Is there anything doing double duty? Triple duty?

Are your prepared for things coming your way?

Baby Boomer Blogger Says:

Nobody likes a Know It All, especially another Know It All.

I’m a Know It All, but one who knows when to step aside and listen.

The Hawaiian trip that started three years ago and now will never end, introduced me to someone I’d never met: Me with a sun tan, outside, underwater with my wife, kids, their wives and kids.

We were a tight unit who made all of our connections, the main one being with each other.

We had cooks, lifeguards, swimmers, drivers, nannies, mannies, and our collected Pearl Harbor laundry.

Like families hanging sheets and towels out to dry from Hawaii to Hudson Bay we joined in the effort to help each other.

That’s my big take away. Love, cooperation, and timing.

I see the slow movements of sheets waving in the wind on Ford Island and count my blessings.