Articles by mgedwards

A few victories for the community

Our community association scored a couple of major victories this week.  If you recall, I took over as head of our association in late September.  We faced a few setbacks.  We haven’t had a cafeteria since last March, one of our coffee vendors left us high and dry, we lost a few board members, and our roof has remained unrepaired since January.  Good weeks seem few and far between for the association.  This week, however, we brought on three new board members, sealed the deal with the new cafeteria vendor, and drew up the contract to sign with the new coffee shop vendor.  We will sign the contract next week.  While the roof is still in work, it’s a great feeling to have worked through these three major issues, not to mention completing the general manager’s new contract.  Work lately has been a struggle as I prepare to move on to yet another area, so it’s been nice to have these victories in hand.  I won’t be truly happy until both th cafeteria and coffee shop open next January and the roof is done.  It’s especially satisfying knowing that tasks that have taken months to complete are finally getting done, and the community at large will benefit once they open.
 
You probably have been in a similar situation at some time.  Perhaps you feel like nothing is going right in one area of your life; say, your at your workplace or in your home life.  However, in another aspect of your life, things are going well in an area that may have recently been problematic.  Although the aspect or aspects that trouble keep your focus, it’s nice to have something to fall back on and savor.  Do you agree?

Pearl Harbor on my mind

Today is Pearl Harbor Day.  On this day 64 years ago, the Japanese launched a military attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, sinking virtually the entire U.S. Pacific fleet.  2,390 people lost their lives in the attack, including 1,777 sailors who were aboard the U.S.S. Arizona.  The battleship, submerged in Pearl Harbor, now serves as a graveyard and a memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives.  Most Americans know the story of Pearl Harbor and the day that "will live in infamy," even those of us who were born long after the attack.  Although surpassed in magnitude by the events of 9/11/2001, the attack on Pearl Harbor still stands as one of the greatest tragedies in U.S. history and as the event that triggered U.S. involvement in World War II.  I still remember visiting Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in 1998.  I was surprised to see so many Japanese tourists visiting the site while I was there.  I believe it’s a testament to how relations have improved between the U.S. and Japan that so many Japanese visit Pearl Harbor on vacation, just as many Americans visit the A-Bomb Dome left standing in remembrance of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945.  Times have changed, thankfully.
 
I pondered the ramifications of Korea’s connection to Pearl Harbor as a former colony of Japan.  Many of the U.S. naval vessels used to liberate Korea from Japan and during the Korean War are or were based at Pearl Harbor Naval Base.  As a Japanese colony, Korea unwillingly supplied materials such as coal and steel to support the wartime Japanese military-industrial complex.  It’s unclear whether any Korean materials made their way into weapons or military vessels and aircraft used to attack Pearl Harbor.  However, a Korean man stationed in Hawai’i at that time could have changed the course of American history.  Haan Kil-soo, an intelligence officer for the Japanese consulate in Honolulu, reportedly warned several U.S. officials of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor shortly before it happened, including Iowa Senator Guy Gillette.  Mr. Haan purportedly mapped out areas of Hawai’i and gave these maps to Japanese officials to help them prepare for the attack.  One can only conjecture as to why Mr. Haan warned U.S. officials of the Japanese’ plans.  Perhaps Korean patriotism played a role, because in 1941 many Koreans living in Hawai’i were hopeful that the Allies would liberate Korea from Japanese rule.  Mr. Haan may have felt likewise.  Perhaps he felt sympathy towards the Americans he knew would be killed in the attack.  Whatever the reason, it seems clear that he did warn U.S. officials of the attack beforehand.  He also went on to live a long life as a Korean American, living in both Korea and in the United States.  One can only conjecture as to why U.S. officials did not heed his warnings.  I will let you, Dear Reader, ponder that.  Suffice it to say, the actions of one Korean man living near Pearl Harbor in 1941 might have dramatically altered U.S. history and perhaps even World War II.

Snow Falls (a poem)

Tepid dawn creeps through icy branches
Rays of sun glint across frozen fields
Frost mystifies the shivering air
Dead grass peers through aged footprints
 
Snow maliciously hides signs of life
Summer fades into distant memory
Soft flakes harden with time and cold
Crimson sunlight brings false comfort
 
Houses seem so warm from out here
A lone child braves the day to play
Missing coverings hidden in storage
Miserable, a pigeon unable to fly away
 
Love alone cannot fights the elements
Pseudo serenity casts a wicked glow
Even the skeletal trees shriek at the wind
Bark and snow provide ill-fitted cover
 
Ice blackened in the asphalt shade
Crusty crunching underfoot sounds electric
Winter so desperate and foresaken
Rise, glorious angel, from your tomb of snow
 
* Inspired by "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe"