Ten years after the following event, I filled out a form giving dates and boat. Six months later the XO unceremoniously handed me the Navy Expeditionary Medal. Worth a point or two on a promotion profile - I think. There are lines we cross in our lives. Some are clearly defined and we know when they are crossed.
Some lines mark off national claims to territorial waters and they define hemispheres.
Many rituals of society provide very clear lines - and for good purpose. Historically ships have held elaborate rituals to celebrate the crossing of certain circular measurement lines on the earth. The following is about lines crossed by one submarine and her crew in 1963. Some were measurable on a map - others marked by events such as that precise time in Dallas. Rather, it served as a line, a marker placed between two eras.