Long Road

We recently had a Change of Command onboard for our Strike Group Commander. This picture is from their ceremony. It took a lot to get from where we were on Tuesday, February 11th to being able to do this on Monday, February 17th.

As most of you know, the BUSH was a few hours late getting underway for deployment. And it was my fault. Well, kind of. You see, I am responsible for the main engines and the machinery that makes our generators work. Unfortunately, during the cold months in Norfolk, there's this pesky organism called bryozoa. It doesn't grow too much in cold water, but once it gets in a warm environment, it grows exponentially. Bad news for a Main Propulsion Assistant; it clogged up every one of my condensers. It was an absolute herculean effort on the part of my Sailors to secure, remove, clean and restore each one of our machines. But, we got underway, only a few hours late, and are now out on deployment, doing what we're supposed to do.

Sometimes we get tripped up and slowed down by things that are of absolute no control of our own. This experience was an amazing lesson in that for me. If God can use a small microorganism to keep a 100,000-ton aircraft carrier pinned to pier, imagine what He can use to test our resiliency in our lives.

Keep steaming.

- Matt

End on a high note?

I've never been a fan of the phrase "end on a high note". Not much music out there does, and the genres that do, aren't that great. What I want, and I think what most people actually want, is to end on harmonic resolution. Life is a continuous song with so many instruments that fill our daily soundtrack. What feels good, what satisfies, is when the notes in our life compliment; when the dissonance resolves and our song continues.

As I'm getting ready to ship out on deployment, I have come to appreciate the beautiful harmony I have in my life. Deployment is hard. It's exponentially harder if those "notes" in your life don't follow the progression you expect. I've been reading a lot of music theory lately and I came across the following that has really stuck with me. The preceding line was included for music theory context:

"Here second order (Phrygian) resolution is used: one (virtual) fundamental is maintained while the other moves a minor second down. It must be made clear that the successions we have studied are relaxations of local tension and are clearly influenced by the tonal field in which they are situated."

"clearly influenced by the tonal field in which they are situated." So, the resolution we have is product of, and limited to, the tonal field in which we are situated. I have been blessed with a "tonal field" that harmonizes. That has proper intervals and compliments. That, on dissonance, has the capability to beautifully resolve.

Deployment is without a doubt a minor chord. But, all songs that are worth listening to have them, and to hear them, rather, to feel them progress is what lets you know you're alive.

- Matt

One Piece at a Time

Most people probably aren't as big of Johnny Cash fans as I am, but for those that are, remember that song "One Piece at a Time"? For those that don't, the gist is this guy works at a Cadillac factory his whole life and sneaks out one part at a time over the course of his career. By the time he retires, he has an entire car. Well, I'm not building a car, but I felt a little like that guy in the song today; I started bring on my things for deployment today. We have a little while before we leave, so I'm doing one duffel bag a day until we go. Today I brought on a smaller humidor, a box of cigars, liquid for the humidor, propane for my lighter, stationary, and a book that Amy made for me for last deployment. It's a bit of a science in what to bring. It has to be things that I won't use at home between now and deployment. Infrequent use at best. As deployment gets closer, the importance of the item, the frequency of its use goes up: abstract uniform parts, then gym clothes, then my keyboard and guitar and finally socks and deodorant. It's a pretty interesting mental exercise really...