This week PBS is airing The War a documentary on World War II. I watched some of it with Walter in between my bike riding induced nap... There was a segment on Guadalcanal an island in the pacific...
August 7, 1942
"American land forces go on the offensive for the first time in the Pacific, landing on Guadalcanal. It would take six months to secure the island, but Japanese expansion is halted."
It was particularly gruesome and in the end 35,000 American soldiers died on Guadalcanal at the hands of Japanese bombers.
So I asked my Grampop tonight if he had been watching the show. I knew he had been stationed in the Pacific but I couldn't remember where. So I asked and you know where he said he was?
GUADALCANAL!
I have heard plenty of his stories but to see the pictures and video from the documentary that go along with his stories makes it a heck of a lot more relevant!
To think my grampop was there in the jungles with all the bugs, heat, death all around...
Granted he wasn't at Guadalcanal from the beginning, he was one of the reinforcements but he said "it was bad enough."
Interestingly, he said toward the end of his tour he was helping with a shipment of dynamite.
Looking on the box he read, "DuPont Gibbstown" and exclaimed to the men he was working with "My dad made this dynamite." To think Grampop wasn't the one shipped over from Gibbstown during the war... They were shipping dynamite made at DuPont plant in Gibbstown.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Clockwork
Like clock work the same tree in front of the same house in the same town always starts to change colors at the same time every year. It's the same tree but with a different crop of leaves yet the leaves always seem to follow in the tradition of being one of the first trees to hint that autumn is coming.
I am always amazed at the clockwork of this tree each year.
My clock works (and its the same one I used as a little girl) it just has a hard time getting me up and out of bed. But I am turning over a new leaf. Attempting to get to work by 8:30am each day. In recent months, I have been edging closer to 9am and this is not really acceptable.
I'd like to get up at 7am so I can have time to unload the dishwasher or eat breakfast at home instead of work. I have been more successful at getting to work by 8:30 than I have of getting up at 7am.
I guess change happens -one leaf at a time.
I'd really like to get to a point were I am drinking more water. Seems silly but I believe I am dehydrating myself! I think that will be the next leaf to turn over.
I am always amazed at the clockwork of this tree each year.
My clock works (and its the same one I used as a little girl) it just has a hard time getting me up and out of bed. But I am turning over a new leaf. Attempting to get to work by 8:30am each day. In recent months, I have been edging closer to 9am and this is not really acceptable.
I'd like to get up at 7am so I can have time to unload the dishwasher or eat breakfast at home instead of work. I have been more successful at getting to work by 8:30 than I have of getting up at 7am.
I guess change happens -one leaf at a time.
I'd really like to get to a point were I am drinking more water. Seems silly but I believe I am dehydrating myself! I think that will be the next leaf to turn over.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Old Bikes
On the way to church yesterday, Walter spotted bikes for sale on someone's front lawn. The sign read, "$5!" So we decided to stop on the way home. We came away with 3 bikes for $10 -some were free.
We spent the afternoon cleaning them up, replacing an inner tube and a set of brakes. Which incidentally I did mostly on my own.
I keep forgetting that Walter will make me work on these kinds of tasks with him not just watch. Like the time he said we would clean out my car inside and out. I brought a quilting project so I could work on that while he buffed my car. Instead he handed me 3 boxes and said, "Take everything out and put in these boxes: Put in the house box, put back in the car box and trash." Yeah so much for sitting by and watching!
So we got the bikes oiled and adjusted and you know they aren't bad for $5 or less! Just in the nick of time for me because I have been trying to get more exercise but nothing appeals to me. However, riding bike is a joy for me. I love the wind through my hair. It had been so long since I rode a bike. I forgot how it exhilarates me! And yesterday, really was a picture perfect day -weather wise- so as we were riding the bikes around I felt like I was really vacationing in Cape Cod or Prince Edward Island. I was reminded of the scene in Anne of Avonlea when Anne and Gilbert Blythe were riding bike together. Fortunately, Walter didn't end up in the lake like Gilbert did!
It was a good project for us that's for sure. I now have a bike at my house and Walter's so there is no excuse for me to not get some exercise at least until the snow starts falling or its just too unbearable cold.
We spent the afternoon cleaning them up, replacing an inner tube and a set of brakes. Which incidentally I did mostly on my own.
I keep forgetting that Walter will make me work on these kinds of tasks with him not just watch. Like the time he said we would clean out my car inside and out. I brought a quilting project so I could work on that while he buffed my car. Instead he handed me 3 boxes and said, "Take everything out and put in these boxes: Put in the house box, put back in the car box and trash." Yeah so much for sitting by and watching!
So we got the bikes oiled and adjusted and you know they aren't bad for $5 or less! Just in the nick of time for me because I have been trying to get more exercise but nothing appeals to me. However, riding bike is a joy for me. I love the wind through my hair. It had been so long since I rode a bike. I forgot how it exhilarates me! And yesterday, really was a picture perfect day -weather wise- so as we were riding the bikes around I felt like I was really vacationing in Cape Cod or Prince Edward Island. I was reminded of the scene in Anne of Avonlea when Anne and Gilbert Blythe were riding bike together. Fortunately, Walter didn't end up in the lake like Gilbert did!
It was a good project for us that's for sure. I now have a bike at my house and Walter's so there is no excuse for me to not get some exercise at least until the snow starts falling or its just too unbearable cold.
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