Holiday Odds and Ends

 There are a few items from the holiday that I want to share from the past week. I have always felt that the saying it's better to give than receive is very true. We were at Color Fest in Thurmont this year when the granddaughters saw a bunk bed for American Girls. They both have two dolls and would like beds for them. Well, the vendor was less than friendly and we walked away. I gave it some thought and decided to try my hand at making two bunk beds. On to the computer where I searched for plans to make a bunk bed for an 18 inch doll. I found it and off I went to make the beds. The plans said use a Kreg jig to connect the wood. I had never heard of the jig or remember ever seeing one, so it was off to Lowe's. Found it and brought the wood. The jig was easy to use and made the beds look professionally done. I painted them white and it was fun to watch them open the bags that held the beds on Christmas morning.I waited until the last minute to bake Christmas cookies. I was hoping the girls could help, but it didn't work out. I learned to make the cookies with my grandmother. Matter of fact, when I hear the song ``Silver Bells'' I think of an evening when I was young and made the cookies at aunt Madeline's apartment on East Main Street in Westminster. I remember looking out the window that was steamed from the baking and seeing Main Street lit up for Christmas. This was before the stores left for the shopping centers and many people were shopping. By the way the cookies taste great. One other item was, we got to eat fresh greens we picked this week. A couple year ago Shirley gave me an AeroGarden for Christmas. It is great to have a fresh picked salad in the middle of winter. Hope you had a great Christmas.

Enjoying the season

                                

Not sure why, but i am enjoying the Christmas season this year. It's not that I wasn't interested the past 40 years or so, but I couldn't get excited. I tried the music and decorating over the years, but this year it is different. Maybe it's getting older and the memories come back to mind. I have taken an interest in the music this year, particularity from the 40's and 50's. I have also watched a lot of holiday movies thanks to AMC and TCM. I watched one of my mother's favorite movies, ``White Christmas'' three times. I remember it was one of the first things we saw when we got our first color television. When I was shooting the holiday parade in Westminster I was thinking back to the annual treat in front of St. Johns School when it was on East Main Street, The lights hanging across the street, Santa's house at Locust Lane and the trains at Bobby's Hobby Lobby. I also thought back to making sugar cookies with my grandmother in her apartment along Main Street. The picture of the little kid was taken in her apartment. The little kid is me when I was about three and yes, they had color film back then. That was the first year we had a train garden under the tree. That's also me with my Tonka trucks. The other images are of my parent's tree with the train garden in the late 1970s. The next image is a shot of our tree last year. The following images are Christmas in Westminster over the years. The inside of the church is St Johns Catholic Church, then a band playing around a tree around 1980, Santa arrives at the Westminster Shopping Center also around 1980 and the lights over Main Street in the mid-1970s.

I know I am getting older because it seemed like it snowed every year at Christmas, but I know that's not true as I remember a thunderstorm one year, which I think was 1966. When it did snow over the holidays we sled from Union Mills behind my cousin Kenny Dull's house with other kids like Dick Study and Dean Leppo into our front yard. I can't wait to watch the granddaughters on Christmas morning as they still believe in the man in the red suit. For the second year in a row, they have gotten a kick out of the Elf on the Shelf. I hope they have fond memories of their own in 50 years.

Victory in Europe

                                                   Marie and Arthur at Fort Meade in 1941.

                                                            Arthur somewhere in Germany.

                                               Arthur posing with a German tank in Germany.

 Arthur with another solider in Germany. He wrote that they could see Germans from the top floor of the building in the background.

                                                           A bombed church in Germany.

                                                A group of French boys in Portsall, France.                

                                                        A chapel in Germany.

                                 booklet of the history of the 29th Division in World War II.

                                  A map of the movements of the 29th Division during the war.

This post is a little different. Usually I share some images I have taken, but this time I dip into history. I know it was 70 years since Pearl Harbor this past week, but I was watching Victory in Europe on the Military Channel the other night and it got me to thinking. One thing was how times have changed. Now days there is the Internet and Skye while back in World War II there was the US Mail. The other thing was that it reminded me of a project I have been working on. Shirley's uncle Arthur and also her godfather passed away this past summer. He served in the Army during WWII and spoke about some of his service in our last visit. He left a few boxes of pictures when he died and I volunteered to scan them in and put them on a DVD so everyone in the family had them. Shirley's uncle served in the 29th Division during the war. He and his wife Marie kept many pictures and keepsakes. I remembered seeing some images and letters from scanning. The 29th Division landed at D-Day and fought some hard battles in Europe.
He was a member of 29th Div., 110th Field Artillery Battalion from April, 1941 until he was shipped to England October, 1942. He was then transferred to the 224th Field Artillery of the 29th Division. He participated in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, Northern France and the Rhineland, Germany. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Oak Leaf Cluster, American Defense Service Medal, European African Middle Eastern Service Medal with Bronze Arrowhead. He was awarded an honorable discharge July, 1945.
He was married to the former Marie Fogle of Thurmont for 57 years. They married after he returned from the war and lived in Thurmont.
Here are some parts of letters from the time of VE day in May 1945.
A letter from Art to Marie Fogle on May 7, 1945:
My Dear Darling,
Well I suppose there will be a great time over there tomorrow seeing it is VE Day. When did you hear of it first, Marie? I know it was coming but tonight I heard it was to be tomorrow. It is a great feeling to know its over at last. I wish the Japs would give up too. I thank God that he left me live to see it. I hope he blesses us and makes all our dreams come true.
Another letter the next day:
                                                                                                   Somewhere in Germany
                                                                                                    May 8, 1945
My Dear Darling,
Well today was the great day all over the world. We had to work today, but we have tomorrow off. There were a lot of things to think about today. You could not help think of your buddies and all those who gave their lifes to win the peace. I hope the world doesn't forget them and all they gave for their country. I hope too they don't forget the boys who are left and all they have gone trough.
You know darling its seems funny to not to put the blackouts up. I guess England is really lighted up tonight. I sure wish I could get home soon, but it looks like it will be a good while yet, until I see you. I guess we can wait a little while longer seeing as we waited this long.
Further in the letter he wrote:
You know sweetheart, I didn't feel excited today at all. It was almost like another day to me. We have been looking forward so long to this day that when it came we were almost tired of looking for it. It is a great day though but that great day will be when I can hold you in my arms again. My God let it be soon.
I can't wait to see more of the images and letters as I continue to scan them into the computer. I love history so this project is a labor of love.

Looking for Lunch

I was on the phone with my honey last Thursday, when I looked out the front window. I said ``I've got to go. There's a big bird out front.'' I didn't mean the yellow one from TV. I dashed into the kitchen for my camera. The hawk came closer to the house. He or she seemed to be posing for the camera before flying off. It didn't take long to find out the bird's interest. On Friday, I went outside and a chipmunk was peeking out from underneath a barrel we use as a flower pot in the summer. In the past the hawks have hung out in the woods behind the house, like the one in the last image I shot over the weekend.

Images of Fall

I shared images of leaves in the last entry, but I took more than pictures of leaves and trees during autumn. There is something about seeing a hot air balloon that I have to get an image. If you ever get a chance to go up in a balloon all I can say, is do it. The ride is incredible. We know I love to shoot sunsets in Carroll. Sunsets are not what comes to mind when thinking about taking pictures in Eldersburg. Next up is winter and the snow that makes images that look like picture postcards.