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Back a few years
My inspiration for this was gained after going back to my early blogging days. I was https://thefidd.blogspot.com I can not believe I first started out in February 2008. On occasion I’ll copy and paste a blog from WordPress to that venue also. Should anyone be interested the old blogs are all still there. Two more upcoming blogs are on the front burner. After this will be, The return of our four greats to the Netherlands & G & Pappy’s European adventure. Following that will be, “A Wedding in our Living Room.” So, if at all interested, stay tuned.
My First Blog – 02/11/08 @ 1545 hrs.
Blog, kind of sounds like a cold, or a zit or some kind of an affliction. My first day with a blog, now what do I do with it? Well to start off I’ll let the world know how I start my day on the Internet. My start up page is http//refdesk.com Having spent twenty years in Connecticut I next go to http://www.courant.com/ to check on the local news and how the UCONN Huskies are doing in any given season. I’m a forty year Huskie fan. http://www.uconnhuskies.com/ Next up, but sometimes #1 is the weather. While in the Marine Corps, way back when, I was in Weather as an occupation with Rawinsonde as a sub specialty. http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/marineenjobs/bl68.htm I use a verity of weather related sites www.nws.noaa.gov/ #1, my other favorites are www.accuweather.com and www.weatherunderground.com During the Hurricane season I live by the National Hurricane Center. www.nhc.noaa.gov/ I have friends and family in CT, FL, CA, and affections to Key West, FL, Pagosa Springs, CO, Flagstaff, AZ and Ireland and Germany. So, I usually check on the weather in those places.Next it’s off to the Washington Post and Washington Times to get two diametric views on the news. www.washingtonpost.comwww.washingtontimes.com After the two DC papers I go to Google News, which I have preference settings in and glance over that. Next is onto my mail servers. From then on I usually have a Memo Pad with notes on things to look up and it’s off I go. This all starts shortly after I get up, usually around 0500. Once downstairs it’s a hot cup of tea to start the day. Here, I’ve given the world the start of my day for the start of a BLOG. I shall end this bantering with saying Cead Mile Failte – OMG
This weeks Blog
We recently had a visit from son Matthew & family who reside in Connecticut. Two of his and wife Beth’s four children made the trip with them. The boys, David in New York, Brooklyn to be exact and Kevin, deployed to Kosovo for a year with the CT National Guard, 1/169th Inf.. did not make the trip.
Jill, a soon to be Junior at Siena University and Rebecca a soon to be Junior in High School did make the trip. It was great getting to spend some time with them.
The crew of four spent three days with us, mostly in Kathy and Jeffs pool while they were returning greats to Europe. When they departed here they headed to Ocean City, MD for three days in a condo and beach time on the sand. We joined them on their last day for breakfast and to say good by. Prior to leaving OC we stopped at https://www.rosenfeldsjewishdeli.com and brought our next meal home with us.
There is no doubt the girls will make their mark in our society in years to come.
I could not help but reflect on days gone by and the many trips north to visit over the past thirty-three years. When we were there, and the children were young, I read one of the many children’s books in their libraries. I would like to think that in some small way I had a hand in their using their imaginations while growing up. I am proud of their parents and especially proud of the grandchildren.
Here’s some info about David from the Champlain College Alumni magazine.
What a great trip we had to Burlington, VT, several years ago for David’s graduation.
Hi, My name is David and I make noise and push pixles for fun! Professionally I am a Sound Designer/ Composer, and an Interaction Designer/ Art Director. My goal has always been to craft meaningful sonic and visual experiences. When you boil it all down I just want to create awesome stuff!
I am proficient in Adobe’s suite of tools including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Audition, and After Effects. Along with that, I am also well versed in Cinema 4D, Processing, and have a background working in HTML 5, CSS and Javascript. I have professional experience with multiple DAWs including Apple Logic Pro, Pro Tools, and Ableton Live as a sound designer for Interactive media and film.
For fun I enjoy hacking stuff to do things it’s not supposed to do, writing music, reading and living an active lifestyle.
Check out my Vimeo Page for some of the cool stuff I’ve worked on! Lets create something awesome together!
- EDUCATION
- Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts
- Champlain College
Some info on Kevin
Kevin graduated from the U of Connecticut in May of this year completing a major in Economics and a minor in Geographic Information Science in three years. He joined the CT National Guard after HS to help finance his college expenses. The wife and I made it to FT Sill, OK, for Kevin’s graduation from Army Boot Camp. Son Matthew and I made it to FT. Huachuca, AZ, for his graduation from Tech school there.
Kosovo https://shape.nato.int/ongoingoperations/nato-mission-in-kosovo-kfor-
His Unit
Ft Huachuca https://home.army.mil/huachuca/index.php
I used the below info in a Blog way back in 2013, I must share it once again, it is well worth a read.
If you have children, or ever plan on having them, this is a must read.
Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming
A lecture explaining why using our imaginations, and providing for others to use theirs, is an obligation for all citizens.
Tue 15 Oct 2013 14.51 BST
It’s important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased. A declaration of members’ interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. I’m going to tell you that libraries are important. I’m going to suggest that reading fiction, that reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do. I’m going to make an impassioned plea for people to understand what libraries and librarians are and to preserve both of these things.
And I am biased, obviously and enormously: I’m an author, often an author of fiction. I write for children and for adults. For about 30 years I have been earning my living through my words, mostly by making things up and writing them down. It is obviously in my interest for people to read, for them to read fiction, for libraries and librarians to exist and help foster a love of reading and places in which reading can occur.
So I’m biased as a writer. But I am much, much more biased as a reader. And I am even more biased as a British citizen.
And I’m here giving this talk tonight, under the auspices of the Reading Agency: a charity whose mission is to give everyone an equal chance in life by helping people become confident and enthusiastic readers. Which supports literacy programs, and libraries and individuals and nakedly and wantonly encourages the act of reading. Because, they tell us, everything changes when we read.
And it’s that change, and that act of reading that I’m here to talk about tonight. I want to talk about what reading does. What it’s good for.
( To read the rest of the story, please go here 🙂
Once more i ask that you please check on the elderly. If you haven’t had your Covid shot, please think of getting one. Please don’t forget support for our first responders.
Semper Fi theRooster
August is sliding right on by.
The last blog post by the Rooster was back on June 22, 2021. Where has this summer gone, I ask myself. I have kept abreast of the writings by others during these days; however, One blogger I’ve been following for some years, Mehrling’s Muse,(https://amehrling.com/about/) for whatever reason, I no longer get her notices. Perhaps her niece, a WordPress Techie, oops, Happyness Engineer, knows the reason behind that glitch. I do keep up with Anne’s husband, John, through E-Mail however. We have to keep that Train Ride going, right John. Oh, and Anne, I’m glad to hear the vision is good after the Cadillac Surgery, and you two are not flooded out.
From the Netherlands to America
Back about seven weeks ago, granddaughter Samantha and husband, Zed, transported their four children to Zeds parents. Sam made the trip alone. The kids would spend six weeks with Zed’s side of the family.
Here is a rundown by Grandmom Elaine on their activities as posted on FaceBook and a few pictures.
Don’t tell the horses. 
A hard day’s ride.
Well that’s a wrap! The Wild West Grannie
Four grandkids for the summer.
– Seattle in a flash (space needle, Ferris wheel, fish market)
– Ranch adventure (horseback riding, dirt bikes, ATV, chores, water trough swimming, milkshakes, baseball, branding, birthday party, ditch wading, lawn mowing, treehouse climbing, a few bumps and bruises, fireworks, babies and Moosey) Thanks Cindy, Erik, Mylee, Scott, and the ranch crew for all the help.
– Burns adventures (yardwork, city pool, rodeo, church, parade, baby blessing)
– Road trip to Idaho (older “cousins”, swimming pools, RV sleeping, police car, Bear World, pizza and family) Thank you Sara, Rachel, DaeNell, Ben, Zach, Melina, Savannah, and all the others of the family there…so much appreciated help.
– On to Utah- (family time- more older “cousins”, baseball, dinosaurs, more good food, ducks, chickens, and solid sleep). Thank you Jessup and Amanda and family.
-then Colorado (water trampoline, watermelon and burgers, piano, run and run, feed chickens, sleep like the dead) Many thanks Bringhurst bunch!
– on to Missouri (quality cousin time, sleepovers, pizza, ice cream, Aunts and Uncles, swimming, jet ski and tubes, splash pad, baseball, trampoline, amusement park, Wonder of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium, rodeo, beef demo and the Oscar Meyer WeinerMobile, and 3 new babies) Thank you Uncle Dallen, Uncle Wes, Uncle Jeff, and the Aunts!
– fly to Detroit for next adventures with other grandparents. Good luck and have the best time Jeff and Kathy. We miss them already ! Amazing is all I can say Elaine, good job.
Off to DelMarVa
The kids hung out with “G” & Pappy, Sam’s parents on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for the next two weeks. The backyard pool got a whole lot of attention. Zoe, who didn’t like putting her head in the water on day one, was swimming under water by the end of the visit.
Trips to the beach at Ocean City and Assateague, the wild horses, no, not the kids, the ones at Chincoteague, VA were enjoyed. Great times with Libby and Ben, (Dogs,) Aunts, Uncles cousins, and friends. A special set aside day for a Barbecue and an invite for all friends and family to come and get reacquainted with the kids was great. Pappy had his usual array of Brats, Burgers, Dogs & Chicken on the grill.
The visit was too short, and before we knew it the kids, with pappy and G in tow, were off on their return to Europe via PHL to AMS. That’s Philadephia to Amsterdam for you non-flyers. Pappy & G would spend ten days across the pond; they would visit with friends Brian and Rose, travel the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and hang with Sam and Zed a bit.
All four kids would start school, Zoe a first timer in Pre-K. Free at last, Free at last, at least for a few hours Monday – Friday for same and Zed to declare.
Misc.
So my friends I’m back out here once more. Our chickens are producing eggs once again after a brief hiatus from the production business. My but they were slackers for about three weeks. We’ve gone back to layer crumbles with Fly Larve,a few Sun Flower seeds and a 1/2 cup of song bird feed and the protein boost seems to have done the trick.
Now you are up to date as of, let us say, to 8 August, 2021 anyway. A few more happenings in the journal, for the sake of being called a Rambler I’ll close for now.
If you don’t have a Covid shot, I wish you’d get one. Take care of the elderly, and Semper Fi to all and God Bless the men and women in Blue.
The Rooster
Summer has Arrived
The days are getting longer. Yesterday, 06/22/21 it was 78F at 0500, today at the same time it was 56F, go figure. I checked the weather prediction map, NOAA’,s site, a prediction map showed all weather staying west of the Chesapeake Bay and generally speaking following a track North via I-95. Since we had a lunch date with Mary Agnes’ sister in-law at noon, outside dining was in order. On this day we would dine at Tall Tales Brewing Company in Parsonsburg, MD.
We met Barbara, entered, and were seated undercover on the fringe of outside. All the doors were open, and a delightful breeze was blowing. The windows are floor-to-ceiling fold back doors: ice tea, no sugar for me, A wine for my princess, and a Lager for Barb. We ordered Chicken Salads for the ladies and a Mahi Mahi Taco for me. Unfortunately, when our food arrived, so did the weather, in the form of Rain. Although we were fine as we were undercover, several other tables had to reposition back a bit.
All in all, it was an excellent get together, we caught up on the goings-on of both sides of the family. I call Barb’s side of the family, the Polish side. Barb is the Matriarch at this point in time for her side. She beats me in age by three months by the way. My wife, of Irish descent, is the Matriarch on her side of the family. So thus we have, the two sides as I identify them.
As far as weather predictions, they, NOAA in this case, blew it! Don’t you love the ten-day predictions you get from various WX sites or the five-day predictions? On this day, we couldn’t even get a 3-hour forecast that was worthy. So what the hell are they smoking in those weather shops?
This is what I’ve come to call a Sami-izem: You know your kid learned to speak outside of the US when she says “Mom look at that! It’s like 10 meters tall!”
Life remains good on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. God is good, and thanks to him, so are we. Our chickens continue to give us eggs. Greggory Peck is in Talon Hill. ( Remember Boot Hill?) Our Garden is growing nicely and were using a lot of fresh Parsley at the moment.
So, for this day, these photos and my writing I bid you all Ah plue tahr
Be safe, if you haven’t already, get a flu shot and make sure you check on the elderly.
Reflection 01/07/21
Possibly one of the most spiritually advanced and personality building code is The Native American Code of Ethics that was originally published in the Inter-Tribal Times in October 1994. It’s a Code of Ethics that teaches everybody, American or not, how to live their lives in the best way. It’s fascinating to note that most of these teachings are reflected in other beliefs and faith as well. I mentioned these in a Blog back in 2018, I think it’s time to put them out there again.
1. Rise with the sun to pray. Pray alone and often. The Great Spirit will listen only if you speak.
2. Be tolerant of the people who are lost on their path. Ignorance, jealousy, anger, and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they’ll find guidance.
3. Search for yourself, by yourself. Don’t allow others to create your path for you. It’s your road and yours alone. Others might walk it with you, but nobody can walk it for you.
4. Treat your guests in your home with consideration. Serve them the best food, offer them your best bed and treat them with respect and honor.
5. Don’t take what isn’t yours either from a person, community or culture. It wasn’t earned nor given. It isn’t yours.
6. Respect every little thing placed upon the earth.
7. Honor other people’s thoughts, desires, and words. Let each person express themselves.
8. Never speak of others in a mean way. The negative energy you put out into the universe is going to multiply when it returns to you.
9. All people make mistakes. And all mistakes can be forgiven.
10. Negative thoughts cause illness of the mind, body, and soul. Practice optimism.
11. Nature is not FOR us, but a PART of us. Animals, plants and every other living creature are all part of our worldly family.
12. Children are the seeds of our future. You need to plant love in their hearts and shower them with wisdom and precious life’s lessons. When they’re grown, give them space to mature.
13. Avoid hurting other people’s heart. The poison of the pain you cause will return to you.
14. Be honest at all times. Honesty and truthfulness are the tests of one’s will within this world.
15. Keep yourself balanced. Work out the body to empower the mind. Grow rich in spirit to cure emotional pain.
16. Make conscious decisions regarding who you’ll be and how you’ll react. Be responsible for your actions.
17. Respect the privacy and personal space of those around you. Don’t touch the personal property of others – especially holy and religious objects. That’s forbidden.
18. Be true to yourself first. You can’t nurture and help others unless you can nurture and help yourself first.
19. Respect others religious beliefs. Don’t try to force your beliefs on other people.
20. Share your good fortune with others. Also, participate in charity.
A lot of the credit for this post goes to http://www.thinkinghumanity.com/ and https://www.pinterest.com/
CT Trip
I’m In Connecticut as I write this. My first trip back home since December 2019. Gathered around the table last night, we were having a conversation about appropriateness in what we say, especially in light of recent demonstrations around the country. My daughter in law Beth added much to making our granddaughters strong women. Our son Matthew said ” Should I say something inappropriate you need to let him know. On that I certainly concur. I’m close to 80 yo, help me out here people. This morning the following post came across regarding White Privilege. Worth a read if you want to change your thought process. https://marquettewire.org/4033765/featured/garner-a-letter-to-white-people/
In closing I must mention that our girls are no longer looked over by their Rooster, Gregory Peck was his name. Gregory kind of got a hair up his butt, I guess that would actually be a feather. Gregory decided he was going to go the way of a rooster from back in the day, Saddam Hussein was his name. He had become an Attack Rooster over the past few weeks. One evening while gathering eggs and locking the chickens in for the night, Mary Agnes was attacked. Bruises and broken skin were received on her legs prior to making a quick escape to safety. Over the past two weeks, yours truly was involved in multiple bouts of of defensive maneuvers to avoid death.
I decided last week, Gregory needed to go to camp. Perhaps he could meet up with a turkey and they could have Turchickens. I went so far to make a funnel lead-in to a pet cage, much like getting cattle to a pen. I have a 2×2 plastic square on a pole to help them all into the hutch at night if needed and used this to heard the #@&%**# into the pen. Not to be. The SOB turned on me, got airborne towards my face with claws outstretched, “Swat,” he backed off. He came and he came as I exited the pen to safety. After a brief conversation with Mary Agnes, and her blessing, it was agreed that the demise of Gregory Peck would take place. Suffice it to say, the end was swift and humane. Peace and tranquility has returned to their 80 x 22 ft free range pen. The girls are happy, refeathering at the tail end and egg production abounds. May Gregory RIP with Saddam!
Don’t forget to check on the elderly!
Other Peoples Stuff
Jack Limpert
I follow https://jacklimpert.com We have several things in common, he’s from Appleton, Wisconsin, Mary Agnes and I attended a wedding there some years ago for a cousin of hers. The Fox river flows North from Appleton, WI, an interesting river it is. The Connecticut River flows from Canada to Long Island sound. We lived in Connecticut years ago.
Jack has written in the Washington Post, I read the Washington Post daily.
He served in the Air Force.
I have a daughter, son in-law, granddaughter and her husband, grandson, nephew, and cousin who all served or are serving in the Air Force. After two years on active duty as an enlisted airman, our grandson Thomas has been selected to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy as a member of the class of 2025. Congratulations Tommy, he reports to the Academy on 24 June, 2021. I served in the USMC and CT NG back during the days of horses and muskets.
Jack Limpert is from Wisconsin and I’ve eaten cheese from Wisconsin
Jack spent a year at Stanford Law, I root against Stanford every time the Uconn women play them in basketball. I could go on and on with similarities, but you get the point.
Biography
Jack Limpert was editor of The Washingtonian magazine from 1969 to 2009—he now is a writer-at-large. He was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, served in the U.S. Air Force, received a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, and for a year attended the Stanford University Law School.
He started in journalism in 1960 with United Press International, working in Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Detroit. In 1964 he became editor of the Warren (Michigan) Progress, and then became editor of the San Jose (California) Sunpapers. In 1967 he went to Washington, D.C., to start a weekly newspaper, the Washington Examiner.
In 1968 he was a Congressional Fellow in the office of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and traveled extensively in the Humphrey-Nixon presidential campaign. After finishing the fellowship, he joined the staff of The Washingtonian.
As a writer, he won an American Political Science Association award for distinguished reporting in public affairs. As an editor, he has received the Distinguished Service in Local Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, and during his tenure The Washingtonian won five National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors. He also won an Emmy for his contributions to the HBO movie Something the Lord Made. He has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the City and Regional Magazine Association, and he has been inducted into the Washington Journalists Hall of Fame.
He is married to Jean Limpert, a pharmacist, and they have two daughters: Ann is the wine and food editor of The Washingtonian, and Jeannie is a physician at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Copyright © 2021 Jack Limpert
From The Writer’s Almanac: Just something I frequent from time to time.
American novelist Francine Prose, born on 1 April, 1947 in Brooklyn NY. She is best known for her novels Household Saints, about an Italian butcher and his schizophrenic daughter, and Blue Angel, a witty and dark satire on academia and writing workshops.
Prose graduated from Radcliffe College, but dropped out of graduate school after reading Gabriel García Márquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, which inspired her to write in earnest. Her first novel, Judah the Pious, was published in 1973, and she’s gone on to write over 30 books of fiction and nonfiction, including two young adult books, Touch and The Turning.
Prose is a frequent reviewer of books for New York Review of Books and teaches at Bard College. She wrote a best-selling book on the craft of writing, Reading Like a Writer, in which she advises would-be writers to read widely. She said, “The advantage of reading widely, as opposed to trying to formulate a series of general rules, is that we learn there are no general rules, only individual examples to help point you in a direction in which you might want to go.”
Her best-selling novel, Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932, was inspired by a series of photographs by Hungarian-French photographer Brassai. The novel features a cross-dressing heroine, auto-racing, and the backdrop of Jazz Age Paris. Pablo Picasso makes an appearance, as do several other real-life artists. Prose doesn’t consider it a historical novel, saying, “To be perfectly honest, by the time I got through writing the novel — five years — I was no longer precisely sure how much was ‘real’ and how much I’d made up. I see the book as a contemporary novel that happens to be set in the past.”
Granddaughter Samatha and Husband Zed, Air Force Captains presently serving with NATO in Germany and living in The Netherlands have both been selected for Major. Congrats to the two of you.
Sams latest FB post. – 2 June, 2021
Today was a bittersweet day. In the military you’re lucky to hold the same position for a year, I had the chance to hold the same position for 3! It was my final day in the office as the Services Branch head (think party planner/hospitality management/mass feeding/postal/store clerk/and for the past year+ Covid coordinator) at NATO AB GK. This job has tried me in so many ways, but it has strengthened me in even more. The team I got to work with was truly diverse (16+ nationalities, military, NATO civilian, local national, and contractors) and taught me so many things. This was a one in a million experience and I am so grateful for every member of the team for supporting for me the past 3yrs. I am so excited to see the amazing things they will accomplish as the area begins to come out of COVID ops.Good news! My next position is still on base so now I get to be their customer.
Get your Covid shot? If not and you’re reading this, there’s still time.
Semper Fi
An Early April Post
Travels with Harrison
I must start with a happening yesterday (April 5, 2021) with my Buddy Harrison. Yesterday we drove S on Rt 13 from Carroll St, we were heading to our Dr.’s office to drop off copies of our Covid-19 shot records. I try to accomplish tasks like this when Harrison and I are together. We turn onto to Rt. 13 and I’m asked, “where are we going now?” I explain where we are going and the reason for the trip. “Oh” is all I get for any come-back. The office is on Power st. adjacent to SU’s stadium (Salisbury University). I pull to the Left Turn Lane at Bateman St just as the light turns red. We sit there for several minutes as the lights go through their sequences. Finally, the arrow turns green for a left turn. As I start my turn after ensuring it is safe to do so I get this from my companion. “Hey, what are you doing, I was watching that show.” You see, SU has a highly graphic video billboard at this location and some Lacrosse video from the previous days game was playing. At least that’s what I think it was. “I say I’m sorry and we continue on our way. “ Now where are we going,” my companion asks. “To my Dr’s office to drop off our Covid 19 shot records,” I say.
We had lunch today at a local Brew Pub, “Tall Tales Brewing Company” is it’s name. It is one of many Harrison favorites for food. On this day we settled on Cheeseburgers, one of Harrison’s all time favorites. They serve it with a nice Kosher Pickle wedge, my partner dislikes Pickles, a bonus for me. Driving out of the parking lot we happened to notice a well preserved 1957 Chevrolet in the parking lot.
Other Stuff
The Mrs. has been busy with her quilting lately. It seems the Young’ns keep reproducing. She whips out these Rag Quilts pretty quickly. Snipping the edges leaves threads throughout the house, easy tracking for the Indians.
Chickens
We remain at 12, 11 girls and their security Gregory Peck. So far Gregory, a Barred Rock is doing a good job of looking out for his girls. I’ve read a story or two of this breed being a bit cantankerous at times. One writer on Backyard Chickens said her rooster was so bad it made it into a pot and became Sunday dinner. That bird had apparently made a fondness of nipping at the heels of those who fed him. Playing Ring-Around-the Coop nipping at her was the last straw. We had one years back that was so mean we named him Saddam Hussein.
So far, so good with this crew. We are even sharing a dozen or so eggs with the kids from time to time.
Two year Airmen accepted to USAFA
Our grandson Thomas has been accepted into the class of 2025 at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He has had a great mentor in his Aunt Kathy, Air Force enlisted, Naval Officer, Retired Air Force Reserve Major. Tommy presently is an Airmen 1’st Class and works on F-18 Jet Propulsion Systems @ Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsborough, NC.
Proud Grandfather
Pentagon accuses Fox News host of demeaning U.S. military with anti-woman segment
I share with you a post from Facebook that was posted by my granddaughter.
I have had the honor of serving in the United States military for the past 13 years including my time at a service academy. I have had the privilege to create 4 lives while serving. I have been supported by my leadership and loved by my family. I am a proud military female who is motivated to continue serving to prove to the naysayers that it is the soldier.
“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.”
Father Denis Edward O’Brien
USMC
Semper Fi
Valentines Day
I send Virtual Hugs to all who deem it appropriate on this day of affection, (Two Days late posting), but the thought was there yesterday. We have set our table for breakfast, and Mary Agnes is taking her morning walk with Ben, our Black Standard Poodle. She of 14-18,000 steps a day. Can you say overachiever?
The journal, I’ve been told, is to be kept in the car, and I am to jot down earthly happenings as I see them. Speaking of jotting things down, I picked up two new pens the other day at Staples. I love pens, and the Paper Mate Ink Joy gel 0.7 suits me well for the moment. I’ve been Journaling Daily since 11 June 2014.
My journal’s start out something liken this:
Sunday, 14 February 2021 – 30f, misty R, Valentines Day, 0452 hrs. Yes, we are early risers; today, I was the first up. There are in the house four of us, Mary Agnes, Ben (dog), Simon (cat), and yours truly, the-Rooster. Once up, heat on, fire in the fireplace, coffee pot on, the door unlocked to the porch, Ben out for relief. He will usually try to wake the neighborhood up as he barks at and chases a Deer or two outside our one-acre fence line. An occasional fox, gopher, raccoon, and even a coyote on a rare occasion will appear. I must mention that Simon goes in and out multiple times in the AM. A real PITA that one. Loves water out of a spigot also.
I must additionally mention the chickens. We have most often, for the past twenty years, had a Backyard-Flock of Hens and one or two Roosters. Presently this flock gracing our yard is 18 weeks old tomorrow. Their Guardian, named in a contest some Blogs in the past, is Gregory Peck. All indications are that he is a gentle giant. We have had a few roosters, Sadam Hussein for one, that went into the pot at an early age. A vicious fellow was he. Our grandson Thomas and his heels were a constant focal point for Sadam. May he rest in peace.
Today at noon (actually yesterday), we will head ton a restaurant named Mad Hatter Cafe. Those in attendance with us shall be daughter Kathryn & husband Jeff, daughter Sarah and husband Greg, granddaughter Abbi and husband Antwain and granddaughter Rachael. If ever in the Salisbury, MD area, I’ll give it a 4 * rating. The busboy was noisy and dropped a few things , otherwise a 5.
A tidbit from the Netherlands
Some of you are aware that we have a granddaughter in the Air Force. Samantha is a USAFA grad and is married to another grad and classmate, and the couple has four children. The entire family has three-letter names: Sam, Zed, Mia, Ana, Dax, and Zoe. They presently work for NATO, the base is in Germany, they live in the Netherlands. They are in that Tri, come together spot where Belgium joins those two countries.
Sam, much like Art Linkletter many years before her, Sam often puts on Face Book, things our Great Grandchildren say.
Me – Zoe do you know what today is?
Zoe – Yah, tomorrow.
Touché kid
Our kids are currently playing Commissary. I guess when you’re military kids, it’s not called the grocery store.
Conversation while getting ready to go play in the snow
Me – Ana, what’s taking you so long
Ana – Mom, I had to get undressed some.
Me – Why? You were ready to go, you just had to put on shoes.
Ana – Mom I couldn’t reach my feet with all my clothes on.
Welcome to pregnancy/adult hood/etc at the age of 6
Dax flips over the back of the couch and Zed walks over, picks him up, and walks him out of the room.
Ana – Mom, are you going to send him to military school?
Me – Probably. I’ll send you too if you flip over the couch.
Zoe – I won’t flip over the couch
Me – That’s because you’re too short to reach. If you draw on the walls again I’ll send you to military school.
Zoe – I already go to military school mom.
Touché kid
It shall not be long and we can do a Where In The World is Jeff. Later this week he willbe heading out on a trip. This shall be his first trip since February of last year. Can someone say Covid?
That’s all folks!
Semper Fi
Thinking about a Blog to write
Just today, It’s Monday the first day in February in the year 2021, I read a fellow blogger’s Blog. She started her blog by writing the following. My blogger friends, do you find you often blog in your mind, but never quite get it to the keyboard state?
Well, let me tell you, I do this all the time. Earlier today my wife finished a quilt and I had the task of taking that quilt to the women who will put it on a Long Arm and finish it for her. We have no Long Arm but we do have a Quilting frame. The Mrs. has made many a quilt on that frame over the years.
I recently saw a Bernina Long Arm machine listed for $20,499.00. Our quilting frame purchased over 20 years ago was $360.00.
Rambling thoughts herein lie. Just wanted to impart a bit of the wonderful work my wife does and the machines that can finish those works of art off.
So, I’m driving on the Bypass with this quilt, it’s cold outside, more snow on the way. What, you had snow you ask. Yes, here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland we got several inches yesterday. The first measurable snow in 706 days. It is reported that we shall get more tonight. I should write about that I thought. I’ll start with ‘HEADLINE, NO SNOW IN 706 DAYS.” That will attract an audience I think to myself.
I’m listening to the radio, Oldies channel, https://kool1043.com if your ever traveling in or around Salisbury, MD and enjoy the oldies. They give you little tidbits such as: This Day in Music History – 1962 – Warner Bros. Records signed Peter, Paul & Mary. 1966 – The Bobby Fuller Four’s “I Fought The Law” was released. 1969 – The “Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour” debuted on CBS-TV. 1972 – David Bowie performed as “Ziggy Stardust” for the first time. 1972 – Smokey Robinson left The Miracles. 1979 – Emerson, Lake […] etc. I’m sure you get the point so I’ll get back to my point. I was putting out a Blog in my head.
On November 9, 1965 the United States had a Black Out affecting all of the state of New York and parts of seven neighboring states. chaos prevailed, 800,000 people were stranded in the NY subways. Thousands more were stuck in elevators and trains. Just setting the scene here folks.
This writer was a young Marine Sergeant assigned at the time to USNAD Earle, NJ, a Naval ammunition Depot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Weapons_Station_Earle
I’m in the Guard Bunker at that facility, I have fellow Marines under my command out on posts, some fixed, some mobile, some in vehicles on roaming patrols. One fixed post on that November evening held a Marine in a Tower overlooking all the bunkers under our watchful eyes that held some powerful ordinance.
I have the radio on, “You’ve got that Loving Feeling,” by the Righteous Brothers is playing and the young Marine in that tower radio’s down to me, “Hey Sarge, NY City has disappeared. Yep, here I am driving the bypass 02/01/21 and I’m back in the moment. It was then that I said, I’ve got to write that in a Blog. Thanks Chrissie, you’ve inspired me.
Then, at precisely 5:21 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, everything went black.
It was Nov. 9, 1965. And suddenly, from Pennsylvania to southern Canada, through parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and northern New England, right up into Ontario, more than 30 million North Americans were without power.
It was the Great Northeast Blackout.
Many people were swept up with the fear that the Russians had attacked and the U.S. was in the throes of World War III. Others felt it was a realistic version of the classic “War of the Worlds,” with alien beings to blame for the widespread power outage upon their arrival on earth.
The hubbub was caused, ironically enough, by a faulty relay estimated by one source as “probably a two-dollar piece of machinery” at the mammoth Niagara-Mohawk Power Plant in upstate New York. Such a minute wrinkle made it sound all the more like H.G. Wells’ fictional “War,” an example of the tiniest of things creating the biggest nuisance.
The Gardner News of Maine reported the outage this way.
In New York City, some 800,000 people were stranded in underground subways, while thousands more were trapped for the duration in elevators. Johnny Carson, in his “Tonight Show” monologue, quipped that in nine months, all over the East Coast, mothers would be giving birth and wistfully naming their sons Otis.
For the record, during the week of Aug. 9-15 of 1966 – nine months later – a total of 14 births were registered at Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital.
While many areas – including New York City – were without power for several days, the Greater Gardner area experienced a grand total of two hours and 57 minutes in the dark.
As the blackout hit, emergency generators were pressed into action and continued well past the hour when all power was restored to the area. As the lights went out, on came the candles, kerosene lamps and flashlights.
The very next day would be the 190’th Birthday of the Marine Corps.
https://www.marines.com/about-the-marine-corps/who-are-the-marines/history.html
Blogging is a great way to pass time during this the Covid Pandemic, there’s plenty of space between me and my readers. Now I’ve written that Blog I thought about and I’ve shared with you a moment in time during the life of The Rooster. Be safe my friends. Oh yes, thanks Chrissie for giving me the impetus to write this. Fall softly, save those knees. It only took me 11 more days to get this out. By the way, when we awoke this morning, 4 inches of snow.
SEMPER FI
The Dining Room Table
Recently while sitting at our dining area table, my wife and I were reminiscing about our years of growing up. As you get older, you tend to reflect back a lot to days gone by. I call them: Do you remember moments. We are both in our 70s and have a lot of years we can reflect on.
To set the stage a bit, my parents were married during the early days of WW 2, I appeared shortly there after. By 1946 they had separated. Fortunately for me, they were both from the same town on the Jersey side of Philadelphia. Ferry boats were still in use back then, transporting folks over the Delaware River. I would get to see my father every week as well as my fraternal grandparents. There were not a lot of large gatherings at their dinner table. The table was in the kitchen up against a wall and made of metal. Two meals each week never varied. Friday nights was always Oyster Stew or fish, (Yuk.) Saturday meals were always Hot Dogs and Baked Beans, (Toot-Toot.)
My parents were young when married. When the war started, my father was already in the Army. He spent time in the Philippines, and I’m thinking once he came home, the glowing flame of a youthful romance was no longer there. Neither parent ever spoke of negatives about the other. I was fortunate that I was equally shared and held accountable for my actions by both, neither parent would ever put down the other.
My mother and I would share a second-floor apartment in the home of my maternal Great-grandparents. My father would move back into the same bedroom he was raised in with his parents. We were separated by railroad tracks and less than a mile. I would spend a lot of time at both homes. Also, one block away was my maternal grandparents and an aunt. I was loved, spoiled, and watched over by caring relatives.
My wife grew up less than an hour away in Wilmington, Delaware, 36 miles as the crow flies. She was #4 of 5 children whose parents stayed together forever. She had three older brothers and a younger sister. Most of her family’s relatives were in NE Pennsylvania; the family would spend a lot of time visiting that neck of the woods. In her life also, the Dining Room Table would be the gathering place in Wilmington as well as Freeland, PA. Neighbors would constantly drop in at the Wilmington location. My wife remembers one family in particular that timed their visit at dinner time, quite frequently in fact. Not wanting to be rude, they were always invited to stay, and they did. Yes sir E. Bob, “back in the day,” I like to say.
There were not a whole lot of electronic diversions back in the late 40s, early 50s. TV was just getting going and we didn’t have one. I do remember going next door to see Howdy Doody at 5:00 pm. That show came on the air in 1947 and ran until 1960. The folks who allowed me to watch the show would ultimately be the parents of my step-father when my mother remarried. On occasion, I would carry my dinner over with me and watch the show at the dining room table. Looking back, this was a strange place to have a TV by today’s standards. I might add that this home was a strict Methodist facility. Once my mother married their son, Methodist standards took hold. No card playing or sports or rowdiness on Sundays, ever.
Here’s a look back at Granny W’s old-time dining table . This was the table at my maternal grandmother’s home. This home was a Lutheran home. That dining room table would host holiday meals for many years as well as other celebratory events. I can remember having to sit around and listen to whatever it was old people talked about back then. I vividly recall the Truman – Dewey presidential race being discussed. That was November 3,1948, and I was not yet six years of age. Truman won in an upset, by the way. All the newspapers reported Dewey the winner. Yep folks there was even fake news at the time. Many a card game, money on the table, cigar smoke in the air was the norm during a lot of get gatherings.
That Granny “W” could cook, and the aroma of the evening meal would hit you in the face the minute you walked into the house. She had a big part in raising me. Her dining room table was quite large. It had substantial sculpted legs with Gargoyles or something similer on them. Over the table was a chandelier encircled with gold-threaded fringe. Our children still remember being scolded for flicking that fringe. So I’m thinking, does that mean children were always on the fringe while the adults conversed?
The atmosphere at this table was much more jovial than the Methodist table. Many Aunts and Uncles would be in attendance. My grandmother would always have some Mogen David wine in the cupboard. For the men, it was Schmidt’s of Philadelphia beer. What a contrast between the two tables. I’m thinking about the difference between Lutherans and Methodists. I’m sure that’s politically incorrect in this day and age. I’ll call this the happy table and the other the stuffy table.
I would spend many hours at this table listening, trying to picture places and events that were talked about. When I was sent off to bed, I would listen to more stories at the keyhole in the door. Often talk would center around my great-grandfather, and the time he traveled with a Wild West show in the early 1900s. He was a Gun-Smith and kept the show’s weapons functioning. I could really close my eyes and place myself in those days of old. High-O-Siver, away! My grandmothers brother was often in attendance and would tell stories about his life as an Engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad. I often would dream of riding the rails in the Caboose.
Yes, back in the day there were many things other than electronics to keep a boys mind imagining. I sure did like playing Cowboys and Indians. Thanks to that dining room table, I could place myself in the moment.
