Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Sunday, June 09, 2013
Sunday Questions
This is from Sunday Stealing
The Weird Question Meme, Part One
Q. Do you wear slippers?
A. Yes. Well, I call them slippers but they are actually moccasins.
Q. How many pictures are in your living room?
A. You know, I have to go look. Hang on a minute . . . this is what is on my walls in that room: two pictures (one of Hollins University done by P Buckley Moss and another of a rustic scene), a duo of dulcimers, and a shadow box of firefighter memorabilia which also hangs with the iconic photo of the firefighters raising the US flag in New York after the attack on the World Trade Center.
Q. Do you ever watch Brady Bunch reruns?
A. Not very often, no. I can't recall the last time I did.
Q. Are you allergic to anything?
A. Shellfish, citrus fruit (oranges and grapefruit in particular), grasses, trees (oak, pine, etc), flowers (all of them that bloom), animal dander, black pepper, etc.
Q. When was the last time you called in sick?
A. I'm self-employed. I never call in anything, I just do what I want.
Q. Have you ever been in a car accident?
A. Yes. One year I was in three of them, none of them my fault. The scariest was when I was rear-ended on the interstate, simply because of the location. I was on an overpass and there was nowhere to go. The worst was when I nearly totalled my Taurus in the mid-1990s. That one was sort of my fault, but the judge did not convict me for it because there were extenuating circumstances.
Q. What is your favorite snack food?
A. I like chocolate. And potato chips.
Q. Have you ever seen a tornado?
A. When I was in high school, I was with the band and we were in Bristol, TN for a competition. While we were eating in a diner, a tornado came through. We couldn't actually see it but the winds were so bad that we all got up and moved away from the windows. Afterward, we took the bus to the competition site and could see the tornado's path down the side of a small mountain. It tore an outdoor movie theater right in half.
Q. If you won a million dollars, what would you buy first?
A. A new car. I plan to replace my Camry with a Camry, but if I had more funds I might go for an Avalon or a Cadillac. I'd have to drive the cars first to see how I liked them, though.
Q. What time is it right now?
A. It is the right time to make time for all time.
Q. Do you think it's cool for men to wear flip-flops?
A. I can't say that I've ever really thought about it.
Q. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
A. More than 10 and less than 50. I am not going to go count them.
Q. Do you think you are a hypochondriac?
A. Probably. Most people worry about having something at some time or another.
Q. Do you own a dictionary?
A. I own several dictionaries, and a couple of thesauruses.
Q. Where was the last place you went on vacation?
A. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Q. Do you talk about your friends behind their back?
A. I try not to.
Q. Are you actually fat but in complete denial about it?
A. No. I am fat and fully aware of it.
Q. What color is your mouse pad?
A. Yellow.
Q. Does your kitchen have a theme?
A. Does stainless steel count as a theme? If not, then no.
The Weird Question Meme, Part One
Q. Do you wear slippers?
A. Yes. Well, I call them slippers but they are actually moccasins.
Q. How many pictures are in your living room?
A. You know, I have to go look. Hang on a minute . . . this is what is on my walls in that room: two pictures (one of Hollins University done by P Buckley Moss and another of a rustic scene), a duo of dulcimers, and a shadow box of firefighter memorabilia which also hangs with the iconic photo of the firefighters raising the US flag in New York after the attack on the World Trade Center.
Q. Do you ever watch Brady Bunch reruns?
A. Not very often, no. I can't recall the last time I did.
Q. Are you allergic to anything?
A. Shellfish, citrus fruit (oranges and grapefruit in particular), grasses, trees (oak, pine, etc), flowers (all of them that bloom), animal dander, black pepper, etc.
Q. When was the last time you called in sick?
A. I'm self-employed. I never call in anything, I just do what I want.
Q. Have you ever been in a car accident?
A. Yes. One year I was in three of them, none of them my fault. The scariest was when I was rear-ended on the interstate, simply because of the location. I was on an overpass and there was nowhere to go. The worst was when I nearly totalled my Taurus in the mid-1990s. That one was sort of my fault, but the judge did not convict me for it because there were extenuating circumstances.
Q. What is your favorite snack food?
A. I like chocolate. And potato chips.
Q. Have you ever seen a tornado?
A. When I was in high school, I was with the band and we were in Bristol, TN for a competition. While we were eating in a diner, a tornado came through. We couldn't actually see it but the winds were so bad that we all got up and moved away from the windows. Afterward, we took the bus to the competition site and could see the tornado's path down the side of a small mountain. It tore an outdoor movie theater right in half.
Q. If you won a million dollars, what would you buy first?
A. A new car. I plan to replace my Camry with a Camry, but if I had more funds I might go for an Avalon or a Cadillac. I'd have to drive the cars first to see how I liked them, though.
Q. What time is it right now?
A. It is the right time to make time for all time.
Q. Do you think it's cool for men to wear flip-flops?
A. I can't say that I've ever really thought about it.
Q. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
A. More than 10 and less than 50. I am not going to go count them.
Q. Do you think you are a hypochondriac?
A. Probably. Most people worry about having something at some time or another.
Q. Do you own a dictionary?
A. I own several dictionaries, and a couple of thesauruses.
Q. Where was the last place you went on vacation?
A. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Q. Do you talk about your friends behind their back?
A. I try not to.
Q. Are you actually fat but in complete denial about it?
A. No. I am fat and fully aware of it.
Q. What color is your mouse pad?
A. Yellow.
Q. Does your kitchen have a theme?
A. Does stainless steel count as a theme? If not, then no.
Saturday, June 08, 2013
It's My Party!
I have waited 50 years for this day. It's my big, big day. I am officially a half-century old. I understand 50 is the new 40. Let's hope, eh?
Here's a look at Anita through the years . . .
Happy Birthday to me!
Here's a look at Anita through the years . . .
 |
| Age 3 with baby brother |
 |
| Age 5, Kindergarten |
 |
| Age 13, End of School year, 7th Grade |
 |
| Age 9 or 10, Christmas |
 |
| Age 16, playing guitar in a rock band |
 |
| Age 14 or 15, high school band |
 |
| Age 20, not yet married |
 |
| Age 20, my wedding day, with my parents and my brother |
 |
| Age 20, my wedding day, with my handsome and special husband |
 |
| Mid 40s |
 |
| Mid to Late 40s |
 |
| Age 47 with handsome husband |
 |
| Age 48, at my 30th high school reunion |
 |
| Age 48 |
 |
| Age 48 (2012), receiving master's degree from Hollins University |
 |
| Age 49 years, 364 days. I took this yesterday. |
Happy Birthday to me!
Friday, June 07, 2013
A Day in Court
Yesterday my husband and I dressed up in our Sunday best and visited the General District Court.
He had been called to serve as an expert witness in a case that involved a landlord and a tenant. My husband had installed a septic system on the property (that's one of his three jobs, installing septic systems).
The tenant was claiming they did not have to pay rent because the problems with the septic system (and other things) had gone on a long time before it was fixed. The landlord wanted my husband to tell how and when he had repaired the old septic system.
I decided to go along to watch because we have a little house that we rent out, and I wanted to see how things went in the case. Also, I used to cover the courts when I was writing for the newspaper and I always enjoyed the cases, unless they were about rape or child abuse.
General District Court is where the lesser items come before the court, including most issues involving rental property. This is also where speeding tickets, etc., first are heard before a judge. If the issue is appealed, it goes to a higher court, called the Circuit Court. That's in the bigger courthouse in Fincastle.
Security in the courtroom has tightened since I was last there. You have to walk through a metal detector, and you must leave your cellphone in your vehicle. You can't take an umbrella in with you, either. It was pouring rain so we both had umbrellas, and had to leave them in the front.
It had been years since I attended a court hearing in General District Court. One of the things that bothered me was that the deputies politely grilled every person entering to ascertain if they had legitimate business there. I was dismayed at this, for seeing how the country's laws work is important and should not be something to be challenged. You used to be able to do that without worry. Personally, I think everyone should go spend a day in the courtroom to see how the law works.
I guess you can go watch because I did, but it is not comfortable being asked why you are there.
Anyway, we took a seat in the courtroom. After a while, the judge came in. We all stood while he was seated. Immediately the lawyers asked that the witnesses be removed from the courtroom, so my husband was sworn in and then he had to leave.
I stayed so I could hear what was going on.
I learned a lot by visiting. I learned about the importance of the lease and the initial inspection, and how necessary it is to keep promises, especially those in writing. Emails, I discovered, are admissible evidence. Being careful what you put in an email is very necessary these days. The same goes for recoverable text messages. It is no longer just hearsay - it's what you did say. And that gives it more weight.
Had the issue merely been one of an unlawful detainer, which is what a landlord files to reclaim possession of a leased property when the rent's not been paid, the case would have been over very quickly. The tenants had not paid the rent and under the law there is no legitimate reason for not paying.
However, the tenants had countersued claiming the property was uninhabitable and they asked the landlord for money, I think. At least that was my impression from the things said in the courtroom. The law has a remedy for tenants if they think things are wrong with the property; they can petition the court and make payments to the court in place of paying the landlord until the issues are resolved. But they can't just not pay. The tenants did not make such a petition.
Anyway, my husband was an expert witness for the landlord in her defense against the tenants.
Unfortunately, I had another appointment late in the day and the hearing went on so long that I had to leave before I heard my husband testify. He said the lawyers asked him about the septic installation, why the old one failed (he had no idea, they could fail for 1,000 reasons), and when he installed the replacement septic system. Once he gave his evidence, the judge told him he could leave.
I looked the case up online last night and the landlord won her unlawful detainer case. She was awarded back rent and interest. The tenant's countersuit was dismissed, which I take to mean they lost.
The thing I like about court is that it deals mostly in facts. They are contested facts, I suppose, and someone must decide who is right and who is wrong. But in many instances you can present things that reveal the truth - receipts,for example, for payment for work done. Or no receipt for nonpayment. That's a pretty incontrovertible fact.
I enjoyed covering court when I was writing for the paper, but no one covers court cases anymore unless they are sensational. I think this is a great failure on the part of the newspapers, and a total injustice to democracy.
Without news about what goes on in the courts, justice is not open and transparent. Certain political sides are able to make things seem worse (or better) than they are because the news is quashed.
I think this hurts the rule of law and the court system, because people don't see how it works. They don't see how the law functions for the mundane things. The workings of the law has to be visible and on display in order to be effective.
It is my opinion that the lack of news coverage has given unwarranted credence to one side of the political fence, the side that doesn't like courts or the law because it does deal in facts. That particular political side does not deal with facts, it relies on emotion and opinion.
We are slowly undermining what is left of our democracy in favor of flashy toys and soundbites. The loss of the media in the day-to-day issues that really matter is just a symptom of our demise. I am 100 percent certain we will regret it all one day.
He had been called to serve as an expert witness in a case that involved a landlord and a tenant. My husband had installed a septic system on the property (that's one of his three jobs, installing septic systems).
The tenant was claiming they did not have to pay rent because the problems with the septic system (and other things) had gone on a long time before it was fixed. The landlord wanted my husband to tell how and when he had repaired the old septic system.
I decided to go along to watch because we have a little house that we rent out, and I wanted to see how things went in the case. Also, I used to cover the courts when I was writing for the newspaper and I always enjoyed the cases, unless they were about rape or child abuse.
General District Court is where the lesser items come before the court, including most issues involving rental property. This is also where speeding tickets, etc., first are heard before a judge. If the issue is appealed, it goes to a higher court, called the Circuit Court. That's in the bigger courthouse in Fincastle.
Security in the courtroom has tightened since I was last there. You have to walk through a metal detector, and you must leave your cellphone in your vehicle. You can't take an umbrella in with you, either. It was pouring rain so we both had umbrellas, and had to leave them in the front.
It had been years since I attended a court hearing in General District Court. One of the things that bothered me was that the deputies politely grilled every person entering to ascertain if they had legitimate business there. I was dismayed at this, for seeing how the country's laws work is important and should not be something to be challenged. You used to be able to do that without worry. Personally, I think everyone should go spend a day in the courtroom to see how the law works.
I guess you can go watch because I did, but it is not comfortable being asked why you are there.
Anyway, we took a seat in the courtroom. After a while, the judge came in. We all stood while he was seated. Immediately the lawyers asked that the witnesses be removed from the courtroom, so my husband was sworn in and then he had to leave.
I stayed so I could hear what was going on.
I learned a lot by visiting. I learned about the importance of the lease and the initial inspection, and how necessary it is to keep promises, especially those in writing. Emails, I discovered, are admissible evidence. Being careful what you put in an email is very necessary these days. The same goes for recoverable text messages. It is no longer just hearsay - it's what you did say. And that gives it more weight.
Had the issue merely been one of an unlawful detainer, which is what a landlord files to reclaim possession of a leased property when the rent's not been paid, the case would have been over very quickly. The tenants had not paid the rent and under the law there is no legitimate reason for not paying.
However, the tenants had countersued claiming the property was uninhabitable and they asked the landlord for money, I think. At least that was my impression from the things said in the courtroom. The law has a remedy for tenants if they think things are wrong with the property; they can petition the court and make payments to the court in place of paying the landlord until the issues are resolved. But they can't just not pay. The tenants did not make such a petition.
Anyway, my husband was an expert witness for the landlord in her defense against the tenants.
Unfortunately, I had another appointment late in the day and the hearing went on so long that I had to leave before I heard my husband testify. He said the lawyers asked him about the septic installation, why the old one failed (he had no idea, they could fail for 1,000 reasons), and when he installed the replacement septic system. Once he gave his evidence, the judge told him he could leave.
I looked the case up online last night and the landlord won her unlawful detainer case. She was awarded back rent and interest. The tenant's countersuit was dismissed, which I take to mean they lost.
The thing I like about court is that it deals mostly in facts. They are contested facts, I suppose, and someone must decide who is right and who is wrong. But in many instances you can present things that reveal the truth - receipts,for example, for payment for work done. Or no receipt for nonpayment. That's a pretty incontrovertible fact.
I enjoyed covering court when I was writing for the paper, but no one covers court cases anymore unless they are sensational. I think this is a great failure on the part of the newspapers, and a total injustice to democracy.
Without news about what goes on in the courts, justice is not open and transparent. Certain political sides are able to make things seem worse (or better) than they are because the news is quashed.
I think this hurts the rule of law and the court system, because people don't see how it works. They don't see how the law functions for the mundane things. The workings of the law has to be visible and on display in order to be effective.
It is my opinion that the lack of news coverage has given unwarranted credence to one side of the political fence, the side that doesn't like courts or the law because it does deal in facts. That particular political side does not deal with facts, it relies on emotion and opinion.
We are slowly undermining what is left of our democracy in favor of flashy toys and soundbites. The loss of the media in the day-to-day issues that really matter is just a symptom of our demise. I am 100 percent certain we will regret it all one day.
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Thursday Thirteen - Life Lessons
Well, I'm not 50 - yet. It's a few days away but I will have hit that hard number by the time next week's TT rolls around.
So what have I learned in 49 years and 363 days of hard living?
1. Age is not just a state of mind. It's also a state of body, and some of us age more quickly than others.
2. People in general are so self-centered that nobody cares what you do so long as it doesn't draw their attention.
3. Love is a many splintered thing.
4. No one can live up to their title or stereotype. Parents, teachers, lawyers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, daughters, sons, good guys, bad guys, everybody else, and especially presidents and politicians will never be what you think they should be when you hear those descriptive words or see them on paper. They will always disappoint you.
5. It is impossible to keep the toilet clean for longer than a few hours.
6. Trust, but verify. I learned this as a journalist and I'm not sure what happened to that important mantra, since today the news consists of opinion and not facts. When I was a young reporter the theory was you needed three sources to be sure of a fact. That doesn't seem to be the case in the mainstream media anymore. But this also matters in everyday life.
7. Some stuff lasts a lot longer than you think it will, and other things do not last as long as they should. In the end it is all stuff and unimportant.
8. Education is one of the few things you will take with you when you die, so get plenty of it.
9. Life is not online. Get off of it and live. It's a nice place to visit sometimes but it ain't worth staying there. And Facebook sucks.
10. Bad days are a state of mind, but getting into a new state can sometimes take a really long time.
11. Tai chi can lower your blood pressure but you have to do it regularly. Exercise is a good thing and should be an important part of your self-care.
12. The reflection of yourself in the mirror only reveals the truth if you open your eyes.
13. Of course the tree makes a sound in the forest when it falls and no one is there to listen. Of course it does.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 297th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
So what have I learned in 49 years and 363 days of hard living?
1. Age is not just a state of mind. It's also a state of body, and some of us age more quickly than others.
2. People in general are so self-centered that nobody cares what you do so long as it doesn't draw their attention.
3. Love is a many splintered thing.
4. No one can live up to their title or stereotype. Parents, teachers, lawyers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, daughters, sons, good guys, bad guys, everybody else, and especially presidents and politicians will never be what you think they should be when you hear those descriptive words or see them on paper. They will always disappoint you.
5. It is impossible to keep the toilet clean for longer than a few hours.
6. Trust, but verify. I learned this as a journalist and I'm not sure what happened to that important mantra, since today the news consists of opinion and not facts. When I was a young reporter the theory was you needed three sources to be sure of a fact. That doesn't seem to be the case in the mainstream media anymore. But this also matters in everyday life.
7. Some stuff lasts a lot longer than you think it will, and other things do not last as long as they should. In the end it is all stuff and unimportant.
8. Education is one of the few things you will take with you when you die, so get plenty of it.
9. Life is not online. Get off of it and live. It's a nice place to visit sometimes but it ain't worth staying there. And Facebook sucks.
10. Bad days are a state of mind, but getting into a new state can sometimes take a really long time.
11. Tai chi can lower your blood pressure but you have to do it regularly. Exercise is a good thing and should be an important part of your self-care.
12. The reflection of yourself in the mirror only reveals the truth if you open your eyes.
13. Of course the tree makes a sound in the forest when it falls and no one is there to listen. Of course it does.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 297th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Happy Birthday to My Bro
Today is my brother's birthday!
He is three years younger than I am. The above photo is of him with a big fish he caught at the pond in Salem.
This is my brother at my wedding. That was 30 years ago.
This is my brother last week doing the "dad's dance" at his daughter's recital.
Our birthday's are close together. Mine is coming up soon.
Happy Birthday! You're just getting older. Ha!
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
A Thing of Beauty
This is an orange-red rose that my friend gave me about a dozen years ago. It always blooms right around my birthday.
I have always considered this rose a fulfillment of a promise my mother made me just before she died. She said that if there was an afterlife, she would send me something orange. It was our secret. The following year my friend gave me this rose for my birthday, and it bloomed out orange. It has grown a little darker in color over the years but it retains its orangy beginnings.
Sunday, June 02, 2013
It's Dance Recital Time
This is the weekend my niece, Zoe', steps it up and spends a long time at the Civic Center doing the dance recital.
The opening number had a jungle theme.
This is Zoe'. She is supposed to be a monkey.
Here she is doing her monkey dance.
Unfortunately the audience is not supposed to be taking pictures; no flash photography allowed. So I had to resort to photos without flash in a darkened auditorium.
It is fun to watch these girls do this stuff.
Little tiny girls in particular . . .
are just too cute for words.
Hit it girls!
My brother participated in the "dad's dance".
The dads all played photographers who were chasing models.
This is Zoe (in the rear with the headband) as a model in this routine.
Zoe broke her foot earlier in the year so she did not get to practice as much as normal. I could not tell that she suffered any for this, though. She has definitely grown in her dance routines; I can see the improvement from year to year.
Saturday, June 01, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Thursday Thirteen
Thirteen things that happened 50 years ago (1963).
1. The Civil Rights Movement in the US was heating up as Martin Luther King marched on Washington DC on August 28, 1963. That same year, black college students staged sit-ins at restaurants and other venues in the South. Many were arrested. Others were doused with water from fire hoses during marches and demonstrations. Alabama governor, George Wallace, elected to office in 1963, stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama in defiance of federal court order that allowed blacks entrance to the university in order to keep blacks from entering the school. He was eventually ordered by a National Guard commander to step aside. Cross-burnings were also frequent. An explosion at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, killed four young black girls and injured 22 others. The bombs were planted by members of the KKK.
2. President John F. Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963. Vice President Lyndon Johnson became the 36th US president the same day.
3. The Mercury Atlas 9 rocket with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board took off from Launch Pad 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 5, 1963. Mercury Atlas 9 was the final manned space mission of the U.S. Mercury program, successfully completing 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
4. Twenty-six-year-old Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel in space, going up on June 16, 1963, in the Russian spacecraft, Vostok 6.
5. Iron Man and the X-Men both debuted in Marvel Comics. The first episode of Dr. Who was shown on British TV.
6. The Beatles released their first album, Please Please Me.
7. Coca-Cola introduced Tab, its first diet drink. Studebaker ceased production of its cars.
8. The first push-button (touch tone) telephone became available to ATT customers.
9. Cassette tapes were introduced in Europe; they came to the US a year later.
10. Pop Tarts were invented, not by Kellogg's, but by Post. Post called them "Country Squares" and a year later Kellogg's introduced the Pop Tart. Country Squares did not take off but Pop Tarts did.
11. In 1963, the year end close of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 762. The average cost of a new house was $12,650.00. The average income per year $5,807.00. Gas cost per gallon was $0.29 (twenty-nine cents). The average cost of a new car was $3,233.00. A loaf of bread cost $0.22 (twenty-two cents). A bedroom air conditioner cost $149.95.
12. The US Postal Service implemented Zip Codes.
13. I was born in June. Yep, I'll hit the big 5-0 soon.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 296th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
1. The Civil Rights Movement in the US was heating up as Martin Luther King marched on Washington DC on August 28, 1963. That same year, black college students staged sit-ins at restaurants and other venues in the South. Many were arrested. Others were doused with water from fire hoses during marches and demonstrations. Alabama governor, George Wallace, elected to office in 1963, stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama in defiance of federal court order that allowed blacks entrance to the university in order to keep blacks from entering the school. He was eventually ordered by a National Guard commander to step aside. Cross-burnings were also frequent. An explosion at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, killed four young black girls and injured 22 others. The bombs were planted by members of the KKK.
2. President John F. Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963. Vice President Lyndon Johnson became the 36th US president the same day.
3. The Mercury Atlas 9 rocket with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board took off from Launch Pad 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 5, 1963. Mercury Atlas 9 was the final manned space mission of the U.S. Mercury program, successfully completing 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
4. Twenty-six-year-old Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel in space, going up on June 16, 1963, in the Russian spacecraft, Vostok 6.
5. Iron Man and the X-Men both debuted in Marvel Comics. The first episode of Dr. Who was shown on British TV.
6. The Beatles released their first album, Please Please Me.
7. Coca-Cola introduced Tab, its first diet drink. Studebaker ceased production of its cars.
8. The first push-button (touch tone) telephone became available to ATT customers.
9. Cassette tapes were introduced in Europe; they came to the US a year later.
10. Pop Tarts were invented, not by Kellogg's, but by Post. Post called them "Country Squares" and a year later Kellogg's introduced the Pop Tart. Country Squares did not take off but Pop Tarts did.
11. In 1963, the year end close of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 762. The average cost of a new house was $12,650.00. The average income per year $5,807.00. Gas cost per gallon was $0.29 (twenty-nine cents). The average cost of a new car was $3,233.00. A loaf of bread cost $0.22 (twenty-two cents). A bedroom air conditioner cost $149.95.
12. The US Postal Service implemented Zip Codes.
13. I was born in June. Yep, I'll hit the big 5-0 soon.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 296th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Gettin' My Buzz On
My neighbor with the chickens also plays host to honey bees.
She has five hives.
The honey bees love sunshine.
They also like to take a drink of water every now and then.
My friend says only old honey bees go after water. They actually put water in their little pollen pounches and return it to the hive!
I guess this would not be an old honey bee, then. He's drinking nectar or whatever it is they do when their head is stuffed in a flower.
Fascinating little creatures.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Memorial Day 2013
"It sure takes a lot of rough knocks and fall downs for a man to learn how to live and get along. And about the time you learn how to live and what is important in this old world, you are about ready to leave it and pass on to a higher plane of life as God has chosen for you. And each of us no matter how great or small leaves behind a part of our self in one form or another. I want to leave a good image of myself to all of my kids and grandchildren. I think I have or I hope I have." - Joe Bruffy
My paternal grandfather served in World War II. Before he passed away in 1989, he sent me an old, small book that my mother had given him. Those are his words above.
The war experience was one of two that defined my Grandpa Joe. The first was his birth, which left him an orphan.
The other was the war. My grandfather was a spitfire liberal, and he believed in things greater than himself. He loved his god and he loved his country, but he did not love greed. He saw the way the nation was turning and despaired to me in his letters. They were written in the 1980s.
The war taught him what happens when a country turns together, when it looks outward instead of inward, and how strong a society that gives to one another can be. He fought for his community and for his family, for good or ill.
When he wrote of the war, he often did it in the third person. He had a hard time personalizing his experiences. I think it was too painful.
In his stories, he talked about how it was during the war that his asthma began, how laying on the ground set off arthritis in his back, and how it felt when his friend died in his arms, his belly blown open by a German gun.
War is a terrible, nasty business. Death is never pretty. Today is a day to remember great sacrifices and debts unpaid. It is a lot more than the unofficial start of summer.
Joe served in France and was part of the push into Germany in 1945.
So in honor of those who fought to defend a better way of life, I present to you a small piece of my grandfather's memories about what it was like to have served in World War II.
Warning: Some of this is a little gruesome, but then, war is.
The War
On February 7, 1945, a young man of about twenty six was ushered before an army captain in Hatviller, France, a small town west of the German border. He had been in the army approximately six months, going through infantry basic training, and had been sent over seas. As an infantry soldier he had left behind a wife and three small boys. After proper salutes and the briefing, he was sent to the front lines, where he joined two other guys in a muddy foxhole.
Tony Stokes and John Grindle looked him over, and decided they liked what they saw. He was sort of a quiet fellow, about medium height with gray eyes and a shock of brown hair. John was a regular army guy with about eight years and he had been on the line for about three months. Prior to that he had been in the transportation department, but had got butted from a staff sergeant to a private and sent to the front because of a drunken brawl, where he had sent a first sergeant to the hospital with a broken nose. Tony, like Joe, had been in the army about six months and also left a wife and two daughters at home. All three men were from the south, and all had strong feelings about America.
Joe had been a coal miner from West Virginia. Tony had been a warehouse long shore man from Mobile, Alabama. John had been a peanut farmer from Georgia, and all were prejudiced toward yankees and black men. After being together about three days and exchanging information about each other, they were beginning to form a friendship that would last the rest of their lives.
They were in the 100th Die 3971 of Regiment, 3rd battalion. COK third platoon and third squad. When Joe had arrived the third squad had been dug in on a small hill overlooking a valley. The foxhole had been enlarged enough to accommodate a 30 caliber machine gun with a field telephone. The hole had about eight inches of water in it from the melting snow and rain.
John and Tony was sleeping outside in raincoats and shelters houses, only using the hole when the artillery started. Joe took one look at the water, took out his shovel and dug a small ditch at the bottom of the hole and drained the water out. He then, with his bayonet, cut several armloads of pine boughs, laid them in the hole, spread out his shelter house and made a dry bed. In the meantime, John and Tony was watching all of this. Tony said to John, "why in the hell didn't we think of that?"
Joe, in his West Virginia hillbilly way, replied, "You all didn't have sense enough." They didn't know Joe had been wrote up in this camp Joseph T. Robinson team camp news as being the best camouflage fox hole expert in the camp.
On about the third day, about 4 a.m., Joe was standing guard at the machine gun. The phone clicked and Joe lifted the receiver. The low voice of Lt. Nolon came over the wire telling Joe to be on the alert, as there was some kind of commotion down by the river. Joe strained his eyes trying to see through the fog and mist, but could see no movement of any kind. Suddenly a flare shot up from the other end of the line, and a gun opened fire, staffing along the riverfront.
Then all hell broke loose as the whole platoon opened fire, showering the valley with a wall of fire. The command came down to stop firing. When daylight came and the fog lifted, you could see a flock of sheep had drifted down from the hills, and that was what was making the noise. After that the third platoon was called the sheep brigade.
The water the men had been drinking came from a small mountain stream that was flowing approximately 20 foot from their hole. The snow had started to melt, and John had went upstream to relieve himself. Joe and Tony heard a loud yell from John. Grabbing their weapons, they started up to see what the matter was.
John was sitting down throwing up and at his feet laying in the water was a dead German soldier with the top of his head blown off. The small stream of water the men had been drinking from was flowing overtop of his half blown off head. The thought of drinking that water was just too much for John.
The next morning orders came down to get ready to move out, as a push was starting to crack the ziefreig line after loading up the machine gun and a weapons carrier, we had removed the phone and everyone mustered up.
The push started about 8 a.m. Joe and Tony had discarded everything but their shelter houses and raincoats. John had decided he was going to wear his heavy overcoat. As they proceeded up the muddy road, balls of mud would accumulate on John's overcoat, and he would cut off about six inches of the bottom. After a while it was cut off up to his waist, which left him with a good heavy top jacket.
That started a trend, and it wasn't long before the whole platoon was wearing the top half of their army overcoats. They named them after John and called them Johncoats.
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This entry is a rewrite of other Memorial Day or Veteran's Day entries that I have written on this blog. You can read the originals here and here.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
My Neighbor's Chickens
We do not have chickens, but a neighbor I visited on Saturday does.
These belong to her. Thank you, Joy, for letting me photograph your birds!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
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