Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Warrior Tales

A Veterans Day Reminder

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ARCTIC OCEAN – (From left) Carl Felten, U.S. Coast Guard Ensign Annabelle Gagnon, Merchant Marine Academy Cadet Taylor Crisci, Luc Rainville and Jeremy Wilkinson pull a buoy across the Arctic ice Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, about 350 miles northeast of Barrow, Alaska. The buoy was deployed in the Arctic and contains a series of sensors to measure wind speed and direction, air temperature, barometric pressure and other measurements to study stratified ocean dynamics. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) is underway in the Arctic with about 100 crew members and 30 scientists to deploy sensors, buoys and semi-autonomous submarines to study how environmental factors affect the water below the ice surface for the Office of Naval Research. The Healy, which is homeported in Seattle, is one of two ice breakers in U.S. service and is the only military ship dedicated to conducting research in the Arctic. (NyxoLyno Cangemi/U.S. Coast Guard)

Election Day. Brought to you by the good women, men and military animals of our armed forces, Coast Guard, National Guard, veterans and their families. The first time I voted was by military absentee ballot on a pool table at Fort Carson. Colorado. My Lieutenant had to observe to make sure I complied with the then rules for voting out of state. The Recreation Room seemed the logical place.

For the past twenty years Oregon has had vote-by-mail and I highly recommend it to all the other states. Except Washington and Colorado, they have it too. No online, no clunky machines, mail with a stamp or drop off and a complete vintage paper trail.

This year I even got to track my ballot through the mail using www.ballotscout.org by way of my ballot address bar code. Simple. Effective. Private. And nobody messes with United States Postal Service employees; a lot of veterans work there too.

For those of you who might think twice about getting to a polling place stateside if you need to, don’t. Do it. Vote. The men, women and military animals in these photos are working hard right now around the world to make sure we all keep our right to vote. Use it or lose it.

It’s not like you’re a Marine hiking in Iceland!

Happy Veterans Day on Sunday to all who have served. Thank you for your service to your country.

 

Members of Team Andersen load water purification equipment onto a 36th Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules to be delivered to Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Oct. 28, 2018, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. Service members from Joint Region Marianas and Indo-Pacific Command are providing Department of Defense support to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ civil and local officials as part of the FEMA-supported Typhoon Yutu recovery efforts. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Donald Hudson)
Candidates participating for the Expert Field Medical Badge disassemble and reassemble an M4 rifle as quickly as possible during the standardization phase of EFMB testing on Fort Bragg, N.C., Oct. 30, 2018. The first week of testing introduces the candidates to all the tasks that they’ll be expected to complete to earn the coveted badge. The EFMB was established to showcase and recognize medical Soldiers for their exceptional skill level and competence in the medical field. The testing consists of a written exam, land navigation, three separate combat testing lanes and concludes with a 12-mile ruck march. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Liem Huynh / 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
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NORWEGIAN SEA (Oct. 27, 2018) An F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to the Sunliners of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 81 is prepared for launch aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in support of Exercise Trident Juncture 18. With more than 50,000 participants from 31 allied partners, Trident Juncture 18 is taking place in Norway and the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Thomas Gooley/Released)
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Angela Cardone, a military working dog handler with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, conducts training at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Oct. 19, 2018. Military working dog handlers are military police who are trained to employ a military working dog to conduct searches in open areas, buildings and vehicles. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Seth Rosenberg)
U.S. Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit hike to a cold-weather training site inland, Iceland, Oct. 19, 2018, during Exercise Trident Juncture 18. Trident Juncture training in Iceland promotes key elements of preparing Marines to conduct follow-on training in Norway in the later part of the exercise. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Menelik Collins/Released)

Of Pumpkins, Pachyderms And Mayhem

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Sometimes you just need to self-medicate with candy. Today would be that day. I declare today calorie free for everybody! My big decision is whether to eat a box of Goobers or go Trick or Treating at Mom’s house for chocolate covered biscotti. I will be her only customer and I know what is in her pantry. I have wicked chocolate RECON skills.

I try to limit myself to one treat on Halloween, adult size, but maybe I get both today. Because I can. Now to hunt down my Snoopy Halloween plastic treats bucket. Maybe I can talk her out of two biscotti! One for backup.

Let’s be careful out there, to quote the tv show Hill Street Blues. Watch for little and big trick or treaters, keep warm and hug someone you care about – no calories in that!

On to the pumpkin smashing, elephant style at the Oregon Zoo.

Lemurs, Bears, Beavers And Pumpkins?

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Do we all feel like we’re hurtling toward the holiday abyss at increasing velocity? I’ve been running around like a squirrel on Mt. Dew trying to get outside and inside chores done ahead of the rain. It arrived yesterday. Kind of got things finished. Almost.

Just managed to get the six Halloween decorations out Thursday. If I can stay six days ahead of each of the upcoming holidays, my life will be a success.  I’ve learned to lower my standards for the holidays; makes life so much easier.

But one pleasure I can’t refuse is checking out animals at the Oregon Zoo playing with their pumpkins. How cute are these beauties? Love the lemurs! I keep thinking of King Julian in the Madagascar movies.

Have a great, safe, weekend and Happy Quirky Friday!

 

How Cute Is This Pinecone?

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When bad things happen to people and animals in our country, we respond. One fine feathered example is little Pinecone, a baby Screech owl who needed a helping hand after a bad rain storm.

Staff at the Cascades Raptor Center made sure he grew up strong. Now he has a new home at the Oregon Zoo.

How cute is this little guy?

Take care of each other and have a safe weekend. Happy Quirky Friday!

Need An Off-Season?

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How does this look for fun? Being on a ship, without being on a ship. No fishing or diving. Just saying.

Is it just me or is it time for an off-season? From life! Watching two of my three NFL teams get beat this past Sunday, I pondered their talk about the off-season. When do we get an off-season? Between the news, bad weather and the major construction outside my front door, I need to re-stock the chocolate shelf. Might fill up the downstairs shower too. Can’t be too careful.

Here is a look back at Wildfin restaurant from the suspension walkway. Trot off that dessert.

But a lovely escape did happen last week, celebrating my sister’s birthday. We motored across the Columbia River to wonderful Vancouver, Washington to see the new river walk area that opened up.

You can look down at the Columbia River or out at the Interstate Bridge.

Had a lip smacking lunch at the Wildfin restaurant, super tasty. Only been open a week, but the place was jam-packed. Try visiting off-hours between lunch and dinner. The industrial vibe can get a tad noisy when the place is full. But the food is great and the prices reasonable for a river front view.

After lunch we walked outside to experience the over the water suspended walk way along the Columbia River. Very cool. Great view of the Interstate Bridge and the river traffic.

Or you can watch a tugboat push a barge through the open railroad bridge.

They are still finishing final art and landscape installations along the river walk, but you can wander at will and enjoy the view. Mega condos and apartments are also still under construction. Walkers, runners, wanderers and doggies on the prowl were all in evidence.

Or you can help me figure out why somebody parked my yacht on the Oregon side of the river when I was on the Washington side. (I know the proper term is moored, but I love to drive Navy sailors nuts. It’s an Army thing.)

Sometimes a small escape from an ordinary day gives one a whole new perspective. There is another restaurant open, Twigs, so we must go back and explore that one too.

Never underestimate the power of a lunch date escape out-of-town. The sanity you save may be your own!

Looking back at the work in progress on the Vancouver USA River walk. Pretty darn spiffy!

 

Unleash The Hedgehog!

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Obviously I’m not the only one starting early to celebrate Fall. Fufu, the hedgehog from the Oregon Zoo, had herself a wonderful time chowing down on grubs in Fall gourds. How cute is she?

So stock up on supplies of your choice, grubs or pumpkin, and get ready for winter. Don’t let Fufu get all the gourds!

Have a great, safe, weekend and Happy Quirky Friday!