Living Outside The Lines: The Hunt For Red October

I volunteered to spend one of my scheduled days off helping him tackle the sheds which is how I found myself sweat soaked and declaring, “I feel like we’re on the hunt for Red October.”

By, Becky J Miller

Published in 1984, Tom Clancy’s debut novel, The Hunt for Red October became not only a best seller, but a blockbuster movie as well. The cinematic version, released in 1990, starring Sean Connery and Jack Baldwin, with a cameo appearance by James Earl Jones, is dubbed “the best submarine movie of all time.”

Despite having read the book and watched the movie, I don’t remember much about either other than being intrigued by the well-choreographed cat and mouse game orchestrated by the two submarine commanders. So how my own circumstances caused me to blurt out to my husband, “I feel like we are on the Hunt for Blue October” is beyond me. And no, that’s not a typographical error. Although I intended to say, “Hunt for Red October”, “Hunt for Blue October” is the phrase that escaped my lips.

They say reality can be stranger than fiction and well, I think my life might support that theory. There’s just no way I could make this stuff up, who has that kind of time??? Here, let me offer the framework in which I found myself hunting for Red or Blue October, whichever fits.

My husband and I traveled to Kenya in 2015; it was his fifth trip, and my first. We’d planned to return in 2017 to check on the work our missions organization is doing there with widows and orphans, but since I changed jobs in February, we decided it would be best if I stayed behind this trip.

July was always the target travel time, but once the flights were chosen and tickets purchased my husband had an oh $h!t moment when he realized all of his international missions travel gear was haphazardly tucked away somewhere in the sweltering, dark, cavernous interior of one of our two storage sheds. You see, when we relocated in February, we’d anticipated living in a hotel for 30 days, not going on five months!

Because travel and accommodations in developing countries is not always what we are accustomed to, we pack accordingly; no suitcase, only a camping backpack, dri-fit shirts, sturdy hiking boots, convertible canvas pants, lightweight sleeping bag and blow up pillow, CamelBak water bottle, and what I like to call a “man purse”. None of the items are irreplaceable, but we’ve accumulated them over time, and buying everything at once is costly.

Armed with this understanding, my husband headed to the storage sheds one morning while I was at work to try and find his gear. He managed to unlock the doors on both sheds and stand outside peering into the gloom. Overwhelmed with the prospect of the hunt, he closed the door and left.

Since he’ll be gone for two weeks in July and August is off limits for vacation at the college where I work, I’d taken a couple days off for us to “play”. The plan was to hit up the waterpark at Fiesta Texas one day, and the beach the other. Then the crisis struck.

My almost unflappable husband was beyond frustrated with the circumstances in which he found himself, and oddly unable to forge a new course. I volunteered to spend one of my scheduled days off helping him tackle the sheds which is how I found myself sweat soaked and declaring, “I feel like we’re on the hunt for Red October.”

Alec Baldwin was searching for a stealth submarine hiding in deep waters; we were searching for treasures stuffed hastily in unmarked boxes. Close, right? We opted to start with the shed holding fewer boxes because they were easier to access. In less than three hours, we’d found everything he needed, and put both sheds back together again!!

As an added bonus, we rescued several of my swimsuits, a few summer dresses, more shoes, my flat iron, a beach toy, our collapsible canvas chairs, my husband’s sports coat, and his water shoes.  We were back at the hotel in plenty of time for our evening swim and I wasn’t a bit disappointed over the lost Fiesta Texas day.

We found “Red October”, and I got to be the hero of the story. I’d say it was a day well spent!!

Until Next Time,

Becky J Miller ~ Warrior Princess

Becky J Miller is a contributor and is exclusive to SM Corridor News. You can read more of Becky’s columns in Lifestyle.