I've been waiting a long, long time to post this.
As my mom and her siblings were cleaning out Grandpa's apartment, they came across many wonderful things from a family history perspective. This has got to be my favorite. I received a copy today from my mom.
It is a poem that my grandma wrote when grandpa was off fighting during World War II. Not only am I proud of what Grandma did (I never knew that she wrote poems and stories...never published as far was we know), but reading through the poem, it is really interesting to see what imagery and language she used. Because it was written back in the 1940's, the language will be a little archaic, but bear with me. It's a long poem, so I've only written an abridged version.
Loving a Soldier
by D. H.
...Loving a soldier is goodbye at the train
And wondering if you'll ever see him again
And reluctantly, painfully letting him go
When inside you're crying and wanting him so.
Then you watch for a word that he's safe, that he's well
And wait through a long and dragged-out no-letter spell.
...Loving a soldier is undefined fears
And crying aloud until there are no more tears
And hating the world, yourself, and the war
And stamping and kicking 'til you can't fight anymore
And then giving up and kneeling and praying
And really meaning the prayers you are saying
...You are so proud of the job he is helping get done
You don't care anymore if living's not fun
Then you grit your teeth and muster a grin
You've got a fight and someone who's in
You've got a fight, and you better help win
...And then comes your birthday, you're a year older today
But you feel just the same as you did yesterday
You know you've changed, you're wiser, more strong
You can weather this war if its twenty years long
You'll work and you'll sweat every hour of the day
Your job will be hard and you'll sure earn your pay
You're tired and weary but you're doing your share
You're helping the soldiers to win over there
...So, loving a soldier is bitterness, tears
Its loneliness, sadness, unidentified fears
...No, loving a soldier is really not fun
But it is worth the price when the battle is won.
___________________________________________________
What an interesting piece of history, no? Other bits I didn't included had even more hints about how life was back then - Grandma refers to sending letters with "an upside down stamp", a practice I am not familiar with since I've never written to anyone in the armed forces.
Grandma also used the word "gay" in one stanza. She, of course, used it in the sense of "happy". I don't know that an author...or poet...could use that term today without taking into consideration the other connotations that now belong to "gay."
♠ I've always thought "Moons Over My Hammy" sounded like the title of a porn film. The result of this is that I can’t so much as think about Denny’s without simultaneously thinking about sweaty, raunchy sex. See, it happened again.
♠ Cats are completely immune to guilt trips. This is most commonly verified by observing the feline reaction to one’s hostility over their improperly deposited body waste.
♠ Casinos do so ridiculously well only because they’re allowed to discriminate against the very best players. Well, that and the remarkable intelligence-lowering capabilities of alcohol.
♠ Sometimes I think our prison system has become a bit too conciliatory. Even so, it is a grand testament to the inestimable value of personal freedom that desperately hungry transients do not, as a rule, deliberately look for ways to acquire lifetime prison sentences.
♠ I imagine if mutant frog people lived in giant mud burrows at the bottom of New York’s East River, they would probably possess very impressive collections of handguns, empty purses, and human skeletons with cement bases.
This recipe can be made with any summer squash; I enjoy making it with a mix of zucchini, yellow straightneck and pattypan squashes. It is TO DIE FOR!!! I'd post a picture but it never lasts anywhere near long enough for photos. And it's not too bad reheated, either (although it tastes finest when it's eaten right out of the pan). I eat this as an entire meal. Very fast to make, and so, so good!!
Cheesy Zucchini
courtesy of Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook by Myra Goodman
2 tbsp. olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1.5 pounds medium-size zucchini or other summer squash, cut in 1/2" thick slices (squash larger than 1" in diameter should be sliced in half lengthwise)
2 tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I've also substituted fresh sage--YUM)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 c. freshly grated mozzarella
Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently until softened, 1-2 minutes.
Add the squash and stir to coat with garlic/oil mixture. Cover the skillet and cook the squash, stirring occasionally until it is glossy and crisp-tender, 4-6 minutes.
Sprinkle the parsley and salt evenly over the squash and cook, stirring frequently, until the parsley wilts (about 1 minute). Stir in the Parmesan and stir constantly until it melts, about 1 minute.
Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the squash, cover skillet and remove from heat. Let stand about 1 minute until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
ENJOY!
P.S. Edited to add: if you use pattypan squash, cut the 1/2" chunks smaller than the other types of squash. They take longer to cook.
Where do you go for advice?
Doesn't everyone? Go ahead, give it a try!
I had to reschedule the haircut for tomorrow; then I couldn't donate platelets because my iron is too low.
I don't know what that's about. I take my multi-vitamin every day and I eat beef a lot. Maybe it's because I skipped breakfast. (Although I had just come from lunch, so it wasn't like I was starving myself.)
Blah.
I guess it's a good thing I don't have any other plans to get shot down for the rest of the day...
And this is apparently the best my camera can do with baseball?
Not sure what they say yet.The dear o'chest pain doesn't want to go away, Annie seems a lot better;
I think these should be candy apple red
Hm, my foot looks fat in tis picture giggle it isn't.
.
Has it really only been a week? Because you'd think he's been living here his whole life!
He's settling in perfectly. Since last weekend, he's only had one "marking" incident and he immediately stopped and slunk away guiltily when I told him "no!". We don't crate him at night anymore and there have been no problems. I'm starting to think we can begin to leave him uncrated for short periods while we are out to see what happens.
Yesterday I took a sick day; I've been fighting this brutal summer head cold all week and finally gave up. Alex and I spent the afternoon napping together on the couch.
We have to take him in for his EKG this week; then he can start his heart meds.
Nathan spent the night at a friends house last night..guess what we did. No! We can do that any time. We went to a grown up movie! We saw Mamma Mia..which is going to go down as one of my favorite movies ever..that's right, ever. I love campy movies and this movie was so over the top I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from singing along. It was more like a vacation then an actual movie. Even the teenagers loved it, they got up and danced at the end..right in the theater! I loved it so much, I'm gonna try and go see it again today.
After that we came home and went out to sit on the front porch since the temperature around here finally dipped down to the low 80's. It was nice until we saw not one but two giant moths, at least five or six inches wide. DeWitte's afraid of giant moths ever since he saw The Mothman Prophecies. That movie bothered him so much, we can't even go to that part of West Virginia. He was fine until one of them started flittering around. Then all of the sudden instead of having DeWitte sitting next to me, cringing about giant moths, there was just an empty rocker rocking and the sound of the screen door slamming. The weird part is he had to go past me to get in the house and I never saw him move. I can't blame him, though, that's the way I feel about snakes and if there were two snakes on the front porch, moving or not, I'd have to burn down the house and start over.
We spent the rest of the night watching TV (and not just any TV..grown up TV!), safe from the giant moths..we lead such an exciting life, don't we?
