Nowstalgia moments

One of my "Nowstalgia" moments was during my time in the Israeli navy.

We would get as little as 3 hours of sleep a night when we were at sea. It was exhausting and I was literally always seasick. (That's for another blog entry.)

As part of the morning ritual when the ship was at sea, the head of the enlisted crew members on the bridge would select a song. They would play the song on the intercom as a way to mark the new day and ease people from sleep. It was often a soothing song without a lot of bass.

During the late night hours, half the crew sleeps their 40 winks and the other half watches things. They switch places after 3 or so hours.

Imagine that you have been getting close to no sleep...that you have either been sitting at the radar console tracking early morning fishing vessels or in the forward compartment trying to sleep while the ship hits the waves.

Suddenly, the air fills with music.

As the song plays, you are allowed to wake up in a leisurely pace. You stretch. You yawn. You relish the moment, because you know that you will have another grueling day and this is the last respite.

Then the day begins.

This was the special routine only while we were at sea. At shore, the intercom had a harsh announcement to get out of bed. But at sea, when life was tougher, they gave us 3-4 minutes of music to get us going.

I miss those minutes. They were special.

Play either of the videos below, but don't watch them. Close your eyes and imagine the swaying of the ship, the yawning crewmates, the wakeup stretches, the motion of the moving ship. Savor the sounds and wake up to a new day.





P.S. As a final note, I should mention that this might have been even better if I could have seen the sunrise at sea while the music played...but I was always busy down in the belly of the ship. Oh well.