October 14, 1944

A couple of months ago I stumbled upon a packet of letters that my Dad wrote to my Mom during WWII.  Dad was drafted in the middle of the war.  At first, no one wanted him because of his bad eyesight.  But as the war progressed, he was put into service.  In spite of his bad eyesight, he scored at the top of the enlisted men for marksmanship.  Evidently, growing up at York and hunting helped him develop some useful wartime skills.   He told me once that they gave him an IQ test and he tested at 130.  The Army Air Corps found a place for him in a unit keeping track of troop movements. The unit used primitive computers with punch cards.  As his time in the service progressed, he was soon supervising the work of other men in the unit.   I can see why he was valuable.  He was slow and deliberate, but I doubt if he missed many mistakes.  The unit received a commendation for their accurate work. Here is a the first page of one of the letters.  If you click on it, you should be able to see the entire image.

Women Rule

In order to promote world peace, all male leaders should replaced with mother and grandmothers of two children or more.  Mothers and grandmothers do NOT like to see their children get hurt.  This objective of keeping everyone safe would lead women to stamp out all war.  If two countries disagreed, their new female leaders would quit speaking to each other instead.

These mothers and grandmothers would ensure that everyone played nice and shared. Nasty, dangerous armaments would all be shot into space where no one could grab them and get hurt.  Instead of a world conference on anything, we women would institute a world service project and actually get something done, not just talk about getting something done.  

Since there would be no war, we would have more time and resources to put into raising crops.  World hunger would be a thing of the past.  The raising of crops that produce food and fabric would prosper, as well as soap producers.

Any other ideas about what the world would be like if we put these women in charge?

Wanted: Grandchildren

Duties include:  catching frogs. four wheeling, swimming in the lake, helping grandpa light the campfire,  helping grandma fish, looking for flowers and interesting things while hiking, and telling stories around the campfire.  Apply immediately.

Mossy trees 

View from a hilltop when fourwheeling

Wilbur and Prairie Smoke

Reverently fishing prior to church on Sunday

18 inch trout that flipped over and ditched the hook

Baby frogs on the bank in the lake

Butterfly that looks like tree bark

Hells Angel

Gentian

Nature made a face on this rock we found while hiking

Goldenrod

The lake we aren't telling anyone about

Keeping Peace in the Family

I believe harmony in the family is of the utmost importance, particularly with the SILs (Sons in law) and my only DIL (daughter in law).

To refrain from annoying my DIL, Shelley, I have decided not to ask Orville if he wants me to send him his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pillowcases.  No, Orville, they will NOT look great on your bed.  To avoid from being a prime irritant to Petunia's husband I pledge to NOT come for a month long vacation, even though traveling to their house takes three days.  In order to keep peace with Boris, I pledge to forgo mentioning to Eglantine sales involving stuffed animals.  I solemnly swear not to tell Flash's kids how fun I think running a marathon would really be.   And Hermione next time you leave your purse at the Staggering Ox, I will pretend something like that has NEVER happened before.


So when I irritate you, just remember that I don't mean to, and I am trying my best.  From the book of Prairie Smoke Chapter 5:3 "He who hath never irritated anyone, let him first cast a stone."