My early morning walk
Our peaceful neighborhood, early in the morning, the shadows still long. The sound of a solitary goose, who had come back to our pond where she was born; but she had lost her mate last fall in a car accident at the entrance to the freeway, and now she is lonely. Geese are protected and “have the right of way”, but the driver did not see him because he went too fast. Desperate cries up in the treetops are coming from a black raven, who flutters wildly in circles, trying to scare the hawk who is sitting on a branch, motionless, waiting for his chance to get to the raven’s nest. A large turtle, floating on the surface, his head high above the water, then suddenly diving down and out of sight. The blue heron, a regular here, flies in over the treetops, diving down onto the sandbank in the water, legs stretched behind him then lowering, like the wheels of an airplane, dropping down for the landing. The splashing sounds of the fountain, the white picket fence, the cottages across the street…it is all so lovely and so peaceful.
The row of cottages is lined with flowering trees. A robin, the same one every morning, sits on the ledge of the passenger door of a red truck, standing outside one of the cottages, trying to see his image in the outside mirror, meanwhile leaving his mark dripping down the side of the door. He then hops across the top to the other side and repeats his happy dance, admiring his reflection, loving it, loving it!
We watched a little bird doing the same thing in Hawai’i, on our Fiero; first we could not imagine what it was doing there, then we enjoyed the sight.
Skirts again!
It is summer! Temperatures reached the eighties in the last few weeks and I started to get my summer clothes out of the boxes. I love to wear skirts and I have quite a few. A few days ago I chose a three-tiered light blue denim skirt, an old time favorite. I donned my old cowboy hat for the sun. It’s a Peter Grimm, but the first one I had was better quality and lasted much longer than this one, which is showing signs of deterioration already. Sigh. I have loved my cowboy hats ever since we moved to Arizona. I started on my walk around the campus with Lani – once, twice. Then, when I was picking up after Lani, I found my skirt down around my knees! What?! Did anybody see it? I quickly pulled it up with one hand, maneuvering the leash and the full baggie in the other. If there were other people around, I’m sure they did not see anything – people here move slowly, so slowly! So I hurried home to assess the damage. Well, it was all good! I found out I had lost a pound since whenever I checked last, and all I had to do was take in the elastic in the waist and I can keep the skirt on my hips again!
A Precious Gift
Last week, I received a book titled: Forgotten Warriors II – Amphibious March Across the Pacific During WWII Second Edition written by D. Ralph Young.
A few years ago, the author wrote me and asked if he could use the story he found on my Website about Runway Able for the second edition of his book Forgotten Warriors. I had forgotten all about him until he asked me for my address and sent me an autographed hardcopy of his book. When I started reading it I could hardly put it down. It is a masterpiece of detailed battles in the South Pacific and personal stories of his comrades, including mention of all the Medals of Honor awarded; with every battle the author lists the number of troops killed, wounded or captured of Allied as well as Japanese forces. He pays tribute to the Navy, Marines, Army, Submarines, Coast Guard, Seabees and Women.
The author at this time is 95 years old and his writing style is amazing; easy to read and understand, and so captivating, especially for me, whose life depended on the Japanese surrender in 1945. It is the most interesting total overview of the Pacific War I have read and I highly recommend it. And if you have no idea what or where Runway Able is, I invite you to check my website. Let me know if you found it! 🙂
It’s a Wonderful Life!
Until next time,
Ronny
You write so beautifully! I loved the descriptions of what’s going on outside your residence. Thank you.
Terry and I just ordered the book Forgotten Warriors II. As you know, you and Terry share POW camp history during WWII and we both love reading more and more about it. This was a new book to us.
Stay safe and keep healthy.
Carol and Terry
Thank you, Carol and Terry. And thank you for ordering the book. It was published in February 2020, and I was the first person who wrote a review on Amazon! That was a first for me! Do you like the review? It would be great if you would write the second one. There are many books online about WWII in the Pacific. But this one needs publicity!