Day 157 – The Seabees

History: After the attack at Pearl Harbor, an Admiral was given the go ahead of establishing Naval Construction Battalions at a base located in Davisville, RI. It eventually contained 500 Quonset huts for personnel, some of which are still standing (see pic below). Other bases were thereafter constructed. These men and women of the Navy were responsible for building airstrips, bridges, roads, gasoline storage tanks and Quonset huts for warehouses, hospitals and housing. They often had to take part in fighting as they tried to construct these buildings. They are actually still active today (NMCB) and even have underwater construction teams and are truly an important part of our armed forces.

Today, I was in the nearby town of North Kingstown and I stopped to pick up lunch from a market deli. I drove away and was looking for a place to sit and eat my lunch in my car. I pulled into a parking lot and started to unwrap my lunch (ham and sweet potato Panini-yummy!).  Anyhow, I looked up and saw in the distance a strange statue that looked like a giant bee. Curious and thinking this could quite possibly be a blog intention- after my lunch was done I just had to go see what that was.

I pulled up and saw the large sign that read “Welcome Home of Seabees Museum & Memorial Park – The place where it all started”.  Well, I had no idea what a Seabee was and what exactly was “started” here but I intended to find out. It clearly had something to do with the military so of course I was intrigued. So I proceeded to wander around, checking out the statues, buildings, equipment, plaques and even a Chapel In The Pines. This Memorial Park was so beautiful! The day was gorgeous – there was a slight breeze causing the extremely tall pine trees I was surrounded by to sway and rustle. Crazy thing is, the nearby base must have been running air drills or something cause there were military planes flying overhead at the very time I was wandering around- making it all seem so much more real. I meandered through the area, reading some informative and historical facts about what I was seeing and learned quite a bit.

This intention today is the epitome of this blog: Learning to embrace all moments that present themselves in our lives daily – however unplanned – to just live, learn, love and laugh. I know Heather would be so happy and proud of this life lesson I have learned and wholeheartedly embrace in her memory. #livingeverymoment #HGAL #seizingopportunity