6/30/2015 Newport RI, Zoe and Jack

We spent the last 3 weeks of June about 20 minutes north of Newport at Melville Ponds Campground in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.  We were here for a couple of months last Fall and really enjoy this small wooded campground.  John walked down to one of the ponds to fish and got his lure caught in a bush.  Several days later he dons his fishing waiters, climbs in up to his armpits, all for a $5 lure.  

Zoe and Friend Gabe

With the last of her PhD classes over, Zoe has been spending time in the wilderness for pleasure and for wolf research.  Nine mile hikes, overnight backpacking in the woods, looking for animal carcasses as part of wolf tracking (all the while avoiding forest fires), is not my idea of a fun day but she loves it.  She has planted a garden and maybe for the first time in her life

Wolf Pup From Trail Camera

has had ill feelings against an animal.  That being the squirrels, who within hours of planting, have dug up and or eaten much of her toil. Consulting with Aunt Sherrie, who has the most picturesque vegetable garden ever, has resulted in organic remedies which seem to repel but not harm.  Did you know a spray from boiled rhubarb leaves keeps insects off your plants? 

Jack On OCS Obstacle Course

As Vice President of his Company at OCS, Jack earned the privilege of using his cell phone which has been locked up for past 6 weeks.  Although he has little time to chat, it is so good to hear from him now and then.  He is clearly exhausted and has lost his voice from all the yelling they are required to do. The academic phase of OCS ended at week 8 (Jack finished 3rd in his Company) and he has entered the final phase where they start treating them more like human beings (Mom's interpretation, Jack had other words to describe it :)

We Lived In Hawaii in 1999

Although they feed the candidates well, until now they have been denied coffee (caffeine) and deserts (sugar).  Jack says one purpose of this is to give them confidence in how well they can perform under constant high level of stress and lack of sleep without anything but their own physical and mental strength. 

Jack's Destroyer Steaming Out Of Pearl Harbor

The class has been promoted to Candidate Officers (CANDIO) which enables them to receive a care package from home; a.k.a. CANDIO BOX.  Zoe and I each put one together for him using guidelines found on the family OCS class face book page.  What fun it was to gather up some of his favorite things to eat.  Zoe even made energy bars! We included photos depicting the 4 of us when we lived in Hawaii, his friends, his father and both grandfather's naval heritage, and pictures of the Destroyer that he will be stationed on in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii later this year.

Now able to have some free time and  on-base liberty, we see Jack in person and in uniform, for the very first time.  A vision that is seared into our hearts and memory for the rest of our lives.  

Candidate Officer