So many of my friends spouses were deployed with this girl for 193 days … or something like that! Obviously this means that I am also taking photos for them. Well I took a few more too! About 30Gb worth actually … I think that might be the most I have ever taken in a day.
To see if I captured your photo click here:
Another day another deployment. Saying Goodbye is never fun but it’s a way of life being a Navy wife. It’s not Goodbye just another See you later! May they have “Fair winds and following seas!”
Sailors use this term synonymously with the points of sail below a beam reach, since the wind direction is generally the same as the sea direction. Therefore, the phrase “Fair winds and following seas,” implies that a vessel will have good winds, and not have to pound into the waves. The phrase is now used as a popular toast or salutation between mariners. It is also used during ceremonies, such as the beginning of a voyage, a ship’s commissioning, a retirement, funeral et cetera.
Following seas, combined with high winds (especially from the stern, or from behind the boat), can be dangerous and cause a boat to yaw (turn sideways) and swamp or plow under the wave ahead, if the winds and sea are too strong or violent. The original term may have been “Fair winds and a fallowing sea” where fallow means inactive. However, in the mariners’ traditional toast or blessing a “following sea”, combined with a “fair wind”, to a sailor, implies that the winds are comfortable, the sailboat is “running”, i.e. sailing with the wind on its stern, and the seas are comfortably rolling in the same direction as the boat is heading, so that the boat seems to be skimming easily on the surface of the water.
One of the hardest parts about being a military wife is not knowing when you husband will be home. It always a celebration when they do come home and we can go down to the dock to welcome them in! Earlier this month we were able to welcome them home after being gone for what felt like years! It might have been freezing and the crack of dawn but it was totally worth it. If only to bond with some other spouses who know exactly how I felt.
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