From November 2008 to December 2013, I had to leave my civilian job as a teacher to serve in the U.S. Navy in San Diego, California. As my response to 9/11 (our generation's Pearl Harbor), I enlisted in the Navy Reserves. It was one of the best decisions of my life. As my 5-years of service on Active Duty were about to conclude, I got nostalgic about my time in San Diego...as some people describe as America's Finest City...and wrote some of my reflections on September 24, 2013 below...
Getting nostalgic about my experiences in San Diego as my Active Duty time with the Navy comes to a close...one thing I will miss is my daily bike commute at 5:40 am which takes me from Coronado via the Coronado Ferry to Naval Base San Diego.
From affluent Coronado (I have lived on the naval base--Naval Air Station North Island) to the 15 minute interlude on the ferry which can sometimes provide a quiet reflective "prayer" time to start the day. After the ferry, my ride to the base takes me pass the USS Midway (Museum) which reminds me of the sacrifices of our service members in general and our sailors who fought at the Battle of Midway (71 years ago) specifically.
Next I get to pass the Convention Center on my right and the Gas Lamp District on my left--two magnets of "out of towners" and 'night life' seekers respectively.
Nearing the end of my commute, I pass the skid row section of San Diego--a place understandably not advertised on post cards decrying San Diego as "Americas Finest City!" Homeless men and women wake up from their slumber only sheltered by cardboard boxes and sleeping bags. I see them so often I have almost become desensitized to their plight (I only feel "good" when I serve meals--not too frequently lately--at Fr. Joe's Village of St. Vincent de Paul).
As I whiz by this shadow side of San Diego, I enter the area of Naval Base San Diego--the largest naval base on the West Coast--and enter the security of work and a place I spend a lot of time and energy.
This commute is only 7 miles but as I reflect on the landscape it takes me through, I realize the scenes which make up a city and a community really depend on where you immerse yourself in and through. This custom made immersion has allowed me to see this city and community at one bookend with some people's version of achievement and success (Coronado), blended in with a place of denial where we avert our eyes from the circumstances and don't look at anyone in the eyes (Skid Row), to the other bookend where we project world power and dominance (Naval Base San Diego).
All in all, the scenes and books that make up this landscape can be be JUDGED, LIKED, or RATED in our minds, on Facebook, or on Yelp respectively for instance...however, when I reflect on it at the end of the day, I see the people of San Diego living life to its fullest and trying to make the best of what they have (to loosely paraphrase John 10:10)...and many people seizing the moment of what life has given them while others falling short...Thank you San Diego for the view of life you have given me even with the mixture of joy and pain! SIDE NOTE: 7 more days before I begin the Demobilization process from the Navy...Happy and Sad Times...Cheers...ET - September 24, 2013
The pier to the ferry at 5:40 am...
As we near the San Diego side, we see some of the navy's projection of force...here the USS Vinson....
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