Banner In The Wind

     After over years it's really hard to remember details. I do remember that it was Hong Kong, back when it was a British Crown Colony. I remember it being a warm, cloudy, and humid that day. I don't recall the exact date, but I think it was January of 1981. The tropical climate of Hong Kong makes for very nice winters!       The exact details of that day are a blur of activity. You wake up in the morning, shower, get dressed, leave the ship via water taxi, land at the pier, go ashore, exchange money, and then hit the streets.      There is lots to do and see in Hong Kong. Every street was a story waiting to be told. The air was filled with strange languages and strange odors. At markets and street corners, vendors were selling strange foods. At that time, the Navy recruiting commercials proclaimed, "It's not just a job, it's an adventure;." Well, this was the adventure part.      ...

     In the American tradition, you have "The Boogey Man", a mythical figure of uncertain appearance and equally uncertain characteristics. It was used as an implied threat to children to force compliance to a certain behavior or to get them to avoid doing things they shouldn't do.      Parents might say, "Don't go there or the Boogey Man will get you!" As far as I know, no one ever says what the Boogey Man will  do to you. Just the threat of the Boogey Man getting you is enough of an incentive not to do things.      In Mexican culture, we have two scary creatures. The first is "El Cucuy." This creature originated in Spain and Portugal and was known as "El Coco." Like the Boogey Man, El Cucuy is used to scare children into compliance.       There is also a female scary figure in Latin America - "La Llorona" or "Crying Woman."      Legends vary, but generally, she is the ghost of a women who committed a ...