Joke of the Day

In another personnel move today that hasn't gotten much press attention.  

President Trump fired the White House's vegetarian chef. 

He was tired of all the leeks...

Tiny Time Capsule

My pal Sid and his wife recently downsized and as a consequence gave me several boxes of canning jars and a couple of enamel canning pots.  Some of the jars were wrapped in newspaper.  Unpacking anything wrapped in newspaper that has been in storage for a long time is a bit like digging-up a time capsule or buried treasure.  You generally find something that no longer fits with the current condition of daily living.

In this case the newsprint was from the September, 1991 edition of Episcopal Life.  Check this out...

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Aside from the fact that IBM and Apple II computers are now landfill two additional things are missing.  The first is a toll free number. 

What is the second missing item?

Factoid of the Day

During World War II, in the European Theater of Operations, the infantryman represented 14% of the army's overseas strength but suffered 70% of the battle casualties.  Riflemen accounted for 68% of an infantry division's strength, but suffered 95% of its casualties.

Memorial Day

It is, in a way an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country....in wars far away.  The imagination plays a trick.  We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise.  We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired.  

But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives - the one they were living and one they would have lived...   

 - Ronald Reagan     

Originally called Decoration Day - Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of our country.    

The American Cemetery and Memorial is located in Colleville-sur-Mer on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.   

Dedicated in 1956 the Cemetery and Memorial is situated closely to the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 - the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II.   

This hallowed ground is the final resting place of 9,387 of our military dead - most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations.  Upon the walls of the Garden of the Missing you will find inscribed an additional 1,557 names.  Because old battlefields continue to yield their dead - rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.  

In Plot E Row 26 Grave 37 rests James D. Johnston. Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.   

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I have no direct connection to James Johnston, his life before the war, or his survivors following the war.  What I know is when Jill and I walked that sacred place on a typical rainy Norman morning there was no mistaking that it was the exact same unit my dad served.  Of course, my dad returned home from the war and lived a full and rewarding life.  That Johnston was from North Carolina is obvious.   A bit of research reveals that Johnston died from wounds suffered from the detonation of a German 88mm shell at the blood-stained Crossroads 114 near Acqueville just outside of Cherbourg.  Combat was fickle in the Norman countryside.  PFC Gaertner survived - Lt Col Johnston did not.  

When it came time for a permanent burial, the families of the dead were asked if they wanted their loved ones repatriated for permanent burial in the U.S. or interred overseas.  For whatever reason, Lieutenant Colonel Johnston's remains lie here with approximately 461 scattered graves belonging to 9th Infantry Division G.I.s.   

Today it is useful to remember and honor the lives that brave men and women sacrificed.   Both of those lives.    

Eight Stars to Victory - Mittelman, The Battery Press

Sunset

Bam!

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Jill pointed this out as I was puttering in the kitchen earlier.
Sunset tonight looking east towards the cloud action over the Big Pond.  Standing atop the septic mound is an excellent vantage point. Reminder to look the other way once and awhile...

Crisis Management

I keep this small sign above my computer monitors at the day job.  It is a daily reminder and is actually rather useful advice for real-world life.  

In Chinese the word ‘crisis’ is formed using characters from two other words:  ‘Risk’ and ‘Opportunity.’  Every crisis, whether it be large or small, presents risks and opportunities.

Words to live by...

Brat

The tiny town of Brussels, WI was a happening place today.

After my monthly trip to the Brussels Waste Disposal Facility (the dump) I stopped in town for mail and a small list of groceries.  Yikes!

Craft fair and flea market at the Town Park, tourists jamming-up Marchant's grocery to the point where (for the first time perhaps) all three grocery checkouts were in operation and the Knights of Columbus was holding a brat fry.

Nothing better! 

Garden Update

The tomato and sweet pepper plants purchased at Bonnie Brooke Gardens come out every day as they continue to harden-off before transplanting to the garden.  They'll not go in until I return from an annual fishing pilgrimage and all likelihood of frost is gone.  Just last weekend the overnight lows hit 35 degrees Fahrenheit.  

In the meantime the cool weather veggies planted two and three weekends ago have begun to emerge.

English peas...

Sparkler radishes...

and Stuttgarter onions... 

Summer is right around the corner and the screened section of the porch has been assembled for purposes of bird watching, cocktail hour and general relaxation.

Day is Done

Ma Nature knocked another sunset out of the park today.

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Raising a toast to happy endings...

Friday Music

The Traveling Wilburys owe their name to the term:  We'll bury 'em in the mix - a technique for covering small recording errors.   Handle with Care is the first track from their 1988 album and is the groups most successful single.  Writing credits are shared by all five band members - George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan who both wrote and recorded over a ten-day period in May 1988.  The album was recorded in the house and garden of Eurythmics member Dave Stewart.  Wikipedia

What a collection of talent.  My adult daughter would tell you this song was a favorite of hers as a nine-year-old.  And it was a particularly meaningful favorite of mine at the same time.  

Of course, you would have to be there to understand...

ISS

Beauteous evening for an International Space Station (ISS) sighting.  Came right over the house!

HQ-spotthestation@mail.nasa.gov  Time: Thu May 25 9:46 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 85°, Appears: 10° above WSW, Disappears: 11° above ENE

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Close Encounter?

I was out with the Labs last weekend to run the trail camera trap line and replace SD cards and check on batteries.  I went to fetch the camera furthest from the house and... IT WAS GONE!  

I thought to myself - Fine,  After all of these years some trespassing jerk swiped one of your cameras  You've been ripped-off.   A five year-old, $100 trail camera - if that's his haul he needs it worse than you.

Walking out to the main trail something caught my eye - something that didn't belong.  There it was - the camera.  

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Hanging from a tree tube not 50 feet from the tree it had been strapped-to.

The face plate was wide open, the belt clipped-shut, the batteries dead and the SD card still there.  Strange.  Why someone would mess with the camera like this and not take it with them?  Did the perp have a short case of thievery remorse?

Swapping-out the batteries and replacing the SD card I relocated the cam to an alternate location.  Back at home I uploaded the pictures and found the first...

Among others...

And the last picture taken...

Nothing including any people or the actual moving of the camera.  My best guess is the aliens are back and they're messing with me again.