Taken For Granted

I attended a graduation ceremony at Fort Jackson.  All the newly trained young men and women marched around Hilton Field in their uniforms.  I can't remember the guest speaker's name or rank but he gave us all an inspiring and patriotic talk.  While negotiating in Iraq, he met an Iraqi leader. This leader brought his grandson along.  The man asked for permission for his grandson to touch an Army soldier.  The leader explained that when his grandson became a grandfather, he wanted him to be able to say he touched an Army soldier who helped bring democracy to his country.  The Iraqi leader went on to say that he was concerned about the transition from American forces to Iraqi forces.  He said he knew where the Army soldier's loyalty was - to the mission.  He didn't feel as confident about the loyalty of his fellow Iraqi countrymen. He said the Iraqi counterparts may have their main loyalty to their family or to their clan leader.  Our speaker went on to say that the American Army is taken for granted.  People know and trust that a warrior is committed to the mission.  The American public and the American media take that for granted.  Other countries take that for granted.  He said it is a badge of honor that the integrity of an American soldier is taken for granted.  He went on to say that the family of American soldiers are also taken for granted.  And we in the audience can take that as a badge of honor as well.  It's not often that I hear such patriotic speeches.  What I read and hear in the media is not patriotic. I find it refreshing to hear another point of view spoken so eloquently and adorned with personal experiences.

Just Like Me

On my South Carolina vacation we have spent many hours at Fort Jackson.  But when we're not there we're at the pool because my nephew is just like me.  Or the me I used to be when I was his age.  Here is a picture of his and his sister's splash as they jumped in. She likes to swim too.  But my nephew is the first one in and the last one out - just like me.  He spends more time underwater than above water - just like me. He turns somersaults in the water - just like me.   He bobs up and down in the water-just like me.  He never gets bored when he is swimming - just like me. He creates fantasy scenarios in the water and acts them out - just like me.  So even though I'm tired of this hard lawn chair and overheated, I let him swim as much as possible because he is just so gosh darn cute - just like me!

Hoooah!

Today was family day at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina.  Three of us went to see our warrior graduate.  He was one of the youngest and tallest of his company.  H'e's thinner too. We met at Hilton Field inside Fort Jackson.  We sat in the bleachers.  Earlier in the morning we asked, "Who will need tissue today?  Is anyone going to get emotional?"  I didn't think I would as I am only an aunt.  We didn't bring any tissue.  We sat in the bleachers in the hot South Carolina heat.  When the speaker said the warriors were in the woods across the field and could hear everything, the crowd went wild with screaming, clapping, and stamping feet on the metal bleachers.  Tears poured out of my eyes at hearing the crowd's excitement.  Emotional reunions make me cry.  I cried during the rest of the ceremony.  And I gotta say, the Army knows how to make things dramatic.  We hear gun shots and see little things land in the field.  Colored smoke comes out of the little things that land.  Although the photo doesn't show it the smoke is yellow, blue and green.  The smoke thickens and moves to the left.  Drill sergeants for the five companies stand on this side of the smoke and we see our warriors run through the smoke and line up.  We hear artillary blasting in the woods. I am still bawling.  The warriors march forward and stand in formation and the crowds in the bleachers are released to find their person and spend the day with them.  It's hard to find our warrior.  Everybody is wearing the same uniform.  And I am a little slow. Parents and kids are hugging.  Spouses are hugging.  Little children and warriors are hugging.  All the people reuniting and showing their joy is making me cry even more.  I eventually catch up though.  Leaving Hilton Field takes forever because of all the cars.  We spend the day on base.  We visit the PX and buy some souvenirs.  We buy a couple pizzas and eat then at a picnic table by the lake.  We spend time at a playground.  We tour the combat training museum.  As we enter one room a video shows a drill sergeant yells, "GET OFF THE BUS!  GET OFF THE BUS!  GET OFF THE BUS!"  The video is motion activated so we hear these same words shouted over and over again.  The museum is very interesting and our warrior tells us about his boot camp experiences.  We go to the exercise center where the gym is set up with table games, inflatable castles, Wii games and other stuff for kids to do.  It feels good to spend time in the air conditioning.  We talk and catch up on what we have missed in the last 75 days.  We buy some Subway sandwiches and go back to the lake to have another picnic.  We're not allowed to take our warrior off the base so we send him back to his bay by 8 p.m. and drive back to our hotel for another swim.  It's been a good day. 

Fun at the Fair

The biggest pig at the fair having a snack.

Offspring #2 as Smokey

Today we went to the fair.  I took it easy because of my bum leg and because of the heat.  We got there around 8 a.m. when it wasn't busy and wasn't as hot.  We walked to the swine barn because I always enjoy seeing the biggest pig.  This time he was standing up and having a little something to eat.  I've only seen them lying down before.  We walked through the cow barn and into the horse coliseum.  Here is where I sat and rested my leg for almost two hours before my volunteer duties started.  I watched horse competitions.  I saw people of all ages and genders riding horses.  They had miniature horses pulling carts as well.  What struck me as funny is that the people riding in carts pulled my miniature horses were dressed in evening gowns and pearl necklaces for the ladies and suits with bow ties and fedoras for the gentlemen.  I enjoyed watching the horse competitions.  Soon it was time to head over to the Department of Natural Resources building and don the Smokey suit. I put on the vest with pockets of blue ice, the Wrangler jeans (60x32), the big hairy feet, the heavy, hairy torso with attached arms and hands and finally the head with the hat.  People notice Smokey right away.  They come right over while getting their cameras out.  If they don't approach me I wave at them.  I wave at everybody and try to get them to wave at me.  Most of them do wave at me eventually; my waves get more vigorous if they don't wave back right away.  I'm on a waving mission here.  A group of teens is seated at a picnic table.  They glance up at me and look away.  What!  Look away from Smokey?  I march over there as fast as my big hairy feet can take me.  I put my hands on the shoulders of one of the teens.  He looks up and is a little frightened and the group warms up.  Now they want their picture with me.  I knew it all along.  They like Smokey but were too cool to show it.  Being Smokey is such a rush.  People say I'm brave because of the heat.  People say they wouldn't play Smokey in this weather.  I don't see it that way at all.  The hour I spend in the Smokey suit is one of the best hours of the calendar year.

No Wonder The Water Was Slow

I use the water from the rain barrel on my tomatoes and flowers and herbs.  Today when I went to water the plants I noticed the water was really slow coming out of the hose.  We've had very little rain this month and the rain barrel is half empty now.  I turned the hose opening toward me to look and I saw a little frog holding up the flow.  The half inch frog crawled slowly out of the hose and hung onto the side of the spout.  No wonder the water was slow.  Before I could identify the tiny creature it hopped away.  I don't think it was a tree frog because it didn't have big suction cup pads on it's fingers.  It might have been a chorus frog or a peeper or a little wood frog that decided inside the hose on a rain barrel would be a good place to hang out.

Not What I Expected Today

Today I visited my orthopedic surgeon so he could look at my bruised shin.  I thought he'd look at it, poke around a little bit, tell me to keep doing what I've been doing and send me on my way.  Twenty dollar co-pay, 30 minutes, and I'm out of there.  That is not what happened.  To tell the truth, I'm a little traumatized and writing about it helps me feel better.  WARNING:  EXTREME GROSSNESS AHEAD.  Do not keep reading if you don't want to be disgusted.  Find another website to look at - maybe LOL cats or rainbows or unicorns.  Look at the you tube video about goats that yell like humans.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  Here is what happened. So the doc takes the gauze dressing off the wound.  Then he grabs some more gauze and with his bare hands and gauze he touches my wound. He lifts the black scab off the top with the gauze.  I was surprised by this because this scab is as large as a 50 cent piece but it didn't really hurt.  He takes two new pieces of gauze pads and squeezes my shin lump like it was a gigantic blackhead.  "What the HELL is that?"  I shout loudly.  I thought it was a Guinea worm.  You know Guinea worms?  They have them in Africa.  People drink water that contains eggs. The eggs hatch and move through the body and grow into worms.  When mature the worm comes out through the skin.  They can be as long as 12 inches.  The treatment is to wrap the protruding end of the worm around a pencil and turn the pencil a little more every day until the entire worm is out.  If you pull the worm too hard and it breaks off you are in trouble. I know this because Jimmy Carter had something to do with eradicating them.  Guinea worms are disgusting and that is what I thought I was seeing as the doc squeezed my leg and pushed out a foot long dark purple ribbon of jelly like matter that rises up and folds over it self on my leg.  It's either a Guinea worm or a giant leech.  He tells me it's my old blood.  He throws those gauze pads away and gets two more.  A quarter cup of leech like material comes squirting out. "That is disgusting!" I am yelling.  I cannot believe what I am seeing.  "This is freaking awesome!"  I yell again.  I am a little agitated. I am talking loud and too much - something that happens to me under stress.  I can see the doc and the attendant (typing on the computer) are smiling because I'm talking too loud.  The doc gets two more gauze pads and says, "Watch this."  Out comes more globs of blood jello.  The jello bubbles up in thick and thin streams according to how much pressure he uses.  It's like a blackhead times 1000.  "Oh, my god,"  I yell, "What has been seen cannot be unseen!"  The doc gets more gauze and does it again.  "Oh my god, this is so disgusting,"  I yell and then add, "Let me see."  I am surprised that this doesn't hurt.  Well, it didn't feel good but it didn't hurt either.  Looking at it a person would think it would hurt like hell but it doesn't.  The doc gets more gauze and squeezes some more before asking, "Does this hurt?"  It's a little late to be asking but I tell him it doesn't really hurt.  Using more gauze he continues squeezing until no more blood jelly comes out.  My lump, which was looking like a large man's knee now looks different.  Now it looks like a thick 5 inch pancake with a big and deep hole in the middle. I estimate he squeezed out a half of a cup of blood.  The hole is scary deep.  I ask, "What am I seeing here?  Is this my muscle?"  The doc explains that that is the subcutaneous fat that I see. Ewwww.  I saw my own fat.  He tells me we are going to change the treatment now.  Two or three times a day I am to apply a wet to dry dressing.  I pack the would with a gauze soaked in sterile saline.  I put dry gauze tightly over the top of that.  He makes a referral to a wound clinic.  He wants to see me again in three weeks. He hints that surgery may be needed in the future but he hopes it won't come to that.  As I walk out of the clinic and head to the drug store to buy more wound supplies I am a little shaky from this experience.  And my leg feels different.  I can feel nerves in my shin again.  For more than six weeks all I could feel was a numb giant lump; now I feel sensations.  The sensations aren't especially painful but it's different to feel something other than swollen for a change. I did not expect this to happen today. I am so glad I made this appointment for the end of the day instead of the beginning because I need some rest and quiet now.  If you are still reading this, congratulations.  You are officially not a wuss. No doubt you need to clean your mind. Go to google and search images of something that makes you feel better.

Gone Girl

My book club chose to read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I would not have chosen it for myself even though it's a best selling popular novel.  The book was so popular I couldn't get it in time from the library to finish it before my book club meeting.  I read about half of it before the meeting.  This book is a thriller but I didn't care if I learned the ending ahead of time.  The discussion of the book is sometimes just as much fun as the reading of the book.  I ended up finishing it though after the meeting because it was horribly fascinating.  Let me tell you, this author is one sick lady.  How she could write about the marriage of Nick and Amy and the terrible things they did to each other - well she has to have a very twisted mind.  I fear for her husband.  I wouldn't invite her into my house for a meal I can tell you that much.  The woman who researched the book said Gillian Flynn writes her novels in the basement of her house and then comes upstairs to make meals for her husband and two year old child.  Creepy.  She writes about such terribly angry and sociopathic behavior that I question where she gets her ideas from. I've never met anyone as nasty as Amy Elliot Dunne.  I've never read about any character as nasty as Amy Elliot Dunne.  I heard this book may be made into a movie and that Ben Affleck will play Nick Dunne.  I will probably have to watch the movie when it comes out.  This story is like an addiction - it's sick but you just can't help watching.  But after the movie I will have to spend some time interacting with an honest and sincere friend to rinse that twisted manipulative behavior out of my mind.