In the category of how-time-does-fly … Paul McCartney turned 79 last friday.
Congratulations to all of us who made it past 64 and are still being fed.
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Comfortable, early summer weather returned last thursday with temperatures in the 70s and no wind. It lasted not quite two days.
Friday made it into the 80s.
Saturday, sunday, and monday it was in the low to mid 90s with night lows in the mid 60s.
Yesterday was comfortable.
Today we are supposed to return to record breaking high temperatures.
Oh well …
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Remember coincidences?
First coincidence … The Librarians centered around Shakespeare followed by Midsummer Night’s Dream overture on Sirius.
Second coincidence … Russell, Holmes and Hammett in San Francisco following thoughts of Sam Spade.
Third coincidence … Shakespeare … Again! Last wednesday, during family tv time, Doctor Who was back in time to 1599 after the death of Hamnet. The episode centered around Shakespeare but this time with a touch of the Marx Brothers (the Doctor’s companion was introduced as coming from Freedonia) and also Lewis Carroll (Elizabeth I was the Red Queen).
Shakespeare and Mendelssohn – – Hammett and Spade – – Librarians and Doctor Who.
Coincidence cycle complete.
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While thinning out the accumulation of forty plus years, I found two peacoats. One was past saving. The other was well worth the effort to restore it to use. I have passed it on to our elder grandson since he will be here next winter where they still have winters while I will be in southern California.
I got curious about the history of the coats. I knew that when my Dad and my husband were in the Navy (Daddy in WW I, Yangtse Patrols after the Boxer Rebellion and George in WW II, and Korea) peacoats were regulation issue although it seems the Navy has since decided they are no longer useful. Too bad.
Daddy had told me that the Navy uniform (bell bottoms etc.) started in the sailing days when a sailor was apt to find himself in the “drink” and needed help to survive.
Bell bottoms, made of dense fabric (canvas from the sails), could be knotted or tied off and used as floats. The kerchief had many uses such as sun protector, tourniquet, and small tool holder. The white hat, referred to as Dixie cups, was sun protector and easily identified on land or sea.
Contrary to popular myth, the thirteen buttons are not representative of the original colonies. They came about when the drawstring holding up pants was replaced by a waist button and a “crotch” flap. Over the years side buttons were added to the original top seven on the crotch flap for ease of access. The use of buttons was never changed because they are easier to replace than a zipper would be, and besides zippers once rusted in salt air.
Cracker Jacks have a long history.
But I wondered why “pea”coat? Easy answer … original version was worn by harbor “pilots” hence a “p”coat which became peacoat.
“pee”coat is not only incorrect, but a bit insulting.
A recent Google search shows 1940’s era peacoats selling for as much as eight hundred dollars … Wow!
You now have more answers for your next game of Trivia.
TMI ???
Oh well …
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A week or so ago, a Blast from the Past arrived. A couple George and I had first met back in the days when we were new to this land … Jon and Alice … dropped by to say hello. I wasn’t here, and so they left a note.
They own land just down the road from us, but never developed it. Yet, every time they came to spend some time on their land, one or both would come visit.
The last time I saw Jon was a couple of years before George died. Jon was here for dinner and I couldn’t remember whether Europeans (Swiss) eat salad before or after the main course. It made for laughs and fun together.
But when I saw their note I couldn’t remember who they were. I knew I knew them because the combination of names was niggling at the edges of memory. And it was addressed to George and Wilma so I knew it had been more than three years since I’d seen them (so Alzheimer loss of short term memory didn’t apply).
Outcome? I finally remembered and made contact.
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Oh, by the way, another series of coincidences seems to have started.
Sometime last week I had a conversation during which I learned the local small airport in Montague had been used by the Air Force during WW II as a bomber base during the defense of Alaska and the Aleutians. Doesn’t sound very exciting. Nothing like the Bulge or Iwo Jima or Anzio or Omaha Beach or any of the other battles which filled the news in those days.
Then the new issue of Archaeology magazine (July-August 2021) arrived.
One of the articles was titled “LETTER FROM ALASKA The Cold Winds of War” … seven pages, complete with pictures, about the invasion of Kiska island by the Japanese, its occupation, and the eventual recovery of Kiska out on the far west end of the Aleutians.
I was a teen during those years and thought I knew most everything about the US Navy during that war. But I had never heard of Kiska. I knew a Japanese sub had once come close enough to the Oregon coast to fire onto US soil and about the fire balloons meant to spread panic by setting northwestern forests on fire. But I never knew the Japanese had occupied US soil from June of 1942 until August of 1943, or that there is a spot off the west coast of Kiska where a stern portion of the destroyer USS Abner Read (DD-526)
including at least seventy of those who went down with her, has been declared by the U.S. Navy’s Naval History and Heritage Command a “fitting resting place for those who perished at sea”, a “war grave”, and “a hallowed site”
… not unlike the USS Arizona.
Seems you’re never too old to learn something new.
That’s the first coincidence in a new series. Stay tuned.
P.S. DD-526 was repaired, returned to service, and went down during the largest naval battle of WW II, Leyte Gulf.
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Another find among the boxes of genealogical stuff … a tightly rolled photo, in very fragile condition. I tried to unroll it and opened about an inch and a half before the paper began to turn to dust. I saw enough to see that it is a panorama of a military-style bivouac which would indicate it is most likely either my grandfather Curtzwiler with the California National Guard during the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, or George’s father with the Illinois 33nd during the final 100 days of WW I.
It is obviously something of historical value and, if it is to be identified and survive, it needs an expert.
A friend, who is a photographer, put me in contact with a man who works salvaging photos and documents for museums, etc. I will be mailing the photo off tomorrow for an estimate.
I’ll let you know what happens.
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There is someone out there who has nothing to do with their time other than make up silly omens.
At 9:21 last monday it was “the 21st minute of the 21st hour of the 21st day and the 21st week of the 21st year of the 21st century”.
Did anyone notice s/he wasn’t able to fit in the month?
Oh well …
The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance.
— Arnold Bennett
So ‘til next week …