Jamming will begin presently...

...as soon as the tech crew finishes jury-rigging the bandstand.

I don't know what the problem is, but the solution, clearly, is duct tape.

Leon Harris and Bill Sterck apply the Universal Solution

We have a quorum

MUs continue to roll in. I am informed by Bob Leketa that we are at strength to begin playing in the lounge tonight, or perhaps as early as 1600.

It is hard to believe that this--

-- will soon be the site of a riotous musical bacchanal.

We're picking up steam

Officers at work

The pianist has pounded out a Bb for tuning, the drummer is adjusting his cymbals, the bass player is plugging in to his amplifier and the saxes are shuffling through the music on their stands. It’s the first rehearsal of an NMA reunion.

You may wonder: how does all this equipment get here? Elves, probably. Maybe magic elephants haul this stuff from Virginia Beach on their backs. When they reach the hotel, the Amazing Kreskin closes his eyes, puts his fingers on his temples, and bass drums and string basses levitate off the elephants’ backs and float into the hotel.

Well, not exactly. The job of getting musical gear from Virginia Beach, halfway across the country and into a hotel is done by the NMA’s officers. These are not white-shoe, wardroom officers; these are amplifier-toting, piano-carrying, bass drum-schlepping officers. They do a lot of dirty work we never see.

All's quiet on the quarterdeck

The registration room is the quarterdeck of an NMA reunion. It is where newcomers get their first impression of our association's get-togethers, and where seasoned members look to see who has signed in.



Mariners of old knew that it's always quietest right before the storm. Deb Holl knows this, too. She's methodically battening down the hatches before the deluge of MUs begins.

One day to downbeat

Random stuff pours from my head. I'll do better after coffee.

--Although the NMA reunion begins tomorrow, shipmates have been filing in to the San Antonio Doubletree Hotel already. Yesterday brought Doyle Church, John Branam, Leon Harris, Ambrose O'Donnell and Rabbit Simmons.

--I saw Charlie Sweet on the list of folks who've registered for the reunion. Charlie and Doyle Church were my first unit leaders. I learned a lot from them. A first class petty officer was a pretty important guy to me in those days.