Last weekend...oh it was glorious!
Let me say this...I am moving...yep...I am moving to the 1940's.
I took the plunge and soaked myself in the 1940's for the weekend.  I always do..but this year I did it completely.
From hair to shoes.  It was a hard working weekend but not without rewards.  I had KP duty at the Spider's Web Enlisted Men's Club ....which was a real place in the South Pacific during WWII (Henderson Field).    I did dishes all weekend with my son while my daughter waited tables and made sure the real veterans and some "celebrities" were well fed.  The first day it rained cats and dogs but that was okay.  My husband did the dishes that day.    The next two days were sunny and perfect weather. 

Last year I met a special woman who had served in the army Nursing Corps.  She was assigned the 59th Field Hospital of the 90th Infantry Division.  This Field Hospital came ashore on Utah Beach on the 31st of July 1944.  The hospital followed Patton's army across Europe.  She participated in assisting the wounded following the Battle of the Bulge.  She was part of liberating the concentration camps, Gosen and Mauthausen.   Her lecture completely mesmerized me and when I got home I tried to find a copy of the YANK magazine her picture was in and the other photos of the liberation.  I found it!  I took it with me this year to show her hoping she would be back.  She was indeed and she was thrilled and wanted to sign it and have her picture taken with me!  I was the one who was honored to have my picture taken with her.
Her name is Evangeline Coeyman.  Her photo was in the May 18th, 1945 issue.  I am not sure who the other gal is.

Later, Will and I went to hear two of the 9 (still living) Doolittle Raiders speak.   They were emphatic to let us know....do not watch the movie Pearl Harbor......not factual at all.  But the  movie...Thirty  Seconds Over Tokyo is.  A new book is out as well and yes, we bought it and yes, they signed it and yes.....it was a thrill to sit there and hear these precious elderly gentlemen speak of their experiences.  One was Jimmy Doolittle's copilot, Dick Cole, and was on  plane #1 as it left the air craft carrier and the other was a navigator, Tom Griffin, and he was on plane #9.
If you know the story and love history and this era....you will understand my excitement.
By the way...the book is called "The Doolittle Raid: America's Daring First Strike Against Japan" by Carroll V. Glines

Dick Cole

I found doing dishes outside in the South Pacific...over looking the mountains of my town    .....extremely relaxing and it even crossed my mind that I might actually enjoy living in a walled tent...just like at Mary Jane's Farm...and doing my dishes in galvanized pans with water heated right next to me over a fire..okay..so it was propane...but still....it is something I am sure I would love.  In the summertime. 

Oh yes..and the planes...the glorious planes.  When I was a little girl, I lived right down the road from this airport and could hear planes at all hours.  Planes are in my blood.  When the air shows came to town I could sit in my back yard and be thrilled in the privacy of climbing to the top of my swing set to watch...instead of fighting the crowds.  I loved to see the Blue Angels zip above me.  

Well...my thrill this weekend was the P-51 Mustang..."Old Crow"....and of course that beautiful B-17, Yankee Lady.

Bud Anderson

One of the professional photographers strolling the grounds snapped a picture of Elisabeth and I along with our other 40's friends.  He sent us all a copy.    The photo was taken by Mr. S. McCormick and it is copywrited.
Here we are....loving every minute.
 

And now this...change of subject......it came upon me without me even realizing it...but it was a day worth celebrating...No more TV reception.  I don't watch TV and while we do have one we only use it for school DVDs or old movies.  We do not have cable and we did not buy the "black box."   YAY!!!!!  We did not buy the converter box.  
This is strange but....I can sense when a tv is on...as well as a radio.  Even if the sound is all the way down...or I am not in the room.  I get the creepy crawlies.
For us....it is much more fun to play a game...put a puzzle together, together....garden, play horse shoes (Will just made us a horse shoe pit), watch the kitten play with the dog's tail, watch the dog run in his sleep that is always a hoot,  TALK...we love to talk here at our house...and have folks over to talk with too.
Simple thrills....they are the ones that make me happiest.

By the way....you know what is coming!     It is the new photo contest and this week both my son and I entered.
The topic is......BUILDINGS and they must be at least three stories high. 
Take a peak and please vote........THE LINK to iliveinmycamera

Well...the latest here at our house is a case of rocky mountain spotted fever..otherwise known as rickettsia...otherwise known as a tick disease.  Lovely eh?  As if lyme was not enough.   No spots were evident but fatigue certainly is.   I have prescribed complete r&r for the patient and that includes some time by the ocean in the near future.   We are armed with some herbal remedies and the traditional antibiotics.  But if anyone out there has been through this one, please share.  My son is the victim and he certainly has had his share of the damage a tick can do.  Anyone out there ever have this one too?

 And for your viewing pleasure and for a good laugh.....I had fun with a curious kid last week.