Today marks the 19th anniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany, which marked the end of the partition that was established by the Big Three near the end of World War II.   I was in Stuttgart the night the Wall came down in Berlin.  I was still there when the Germans voted to become one nation again.  It was awe-inspiring to witness such historical goings-on.  I am happy for them, wish them well.  I have a huge soft spot in my heart for Germany and i...

It was summer and I was very young, probably about 7 or 8 years old. We were driving from San Diego to Fortuna, the Chief's home town in Northern California. I remember the Chief explaining the timberline to me and how I was facinated with the mountains and rivers and the huge redwood trees. We passed a logging camp where the whole camp had been built from the lumber from one tree. There was another where the cabins were hollowed redwood logs. And of course, there was the tree you could drive ...

I was in the kitchen yesterday, engaged in one of my favorite pursuits:  frying bacon.  The sizzle, the smell, the whole experience is zen-ish.  It is second only to the eating of bacon.   Just ask Jim Gaffigen.  As we settled into the den with our plates of bacon, potatoes and eggs, our old-folks recliners and our game shows, a memory flashed of days of yore and breakfasts gone by. By and large, Mess Halls in the Army don't deserve the reputation they...

Whenever I hear the title of the movie "The Year of Living Dangerously", I think of 1971. But not Southeast Asia. I think of Texas. I remember what it was like go to bed on a mattress flat on the floor listening to KRLD until Garner Ted Armstrong came on. We lived in Lampasas in a shack for part of the year, amidst some pretty interesting people. Eventually we moved to Copperas Cove, to a better house but not necessarily a better neighborhood; but mostly I remember what it was like to be at Fo...

After he retired from the Navy, the Chief became an expert gardener. His lawn always looked manicured and just right. In the backyard he had several types of fruit trees and the grandkids were allowed, at certain seasons, to pick, wash and eat fresh apricots, plums, or citrus fruits right off the tree. Southern California is great for those kinds of things. The only challenge was to get to the fruit ahead of the birds. He read somewhere that birds were inherently afraid of snak...

In an effort to make some sense out of the bottom half of our house, we have been going through some old boxes and other items. One of the boxes that has been neglected for several years, twelve, in fact, was a box of mementos from my dad, the Chief. When the box came to me a few weeks after the Chief died, I wasn't ready to deal with it so I stuck it in a corner and left it be. Yesterday I thought I was ready. Wrong. One of the items I pulled out of the box was an old beat-up Cribbage board. ...

Rita was a Chihuahua. She was a beautiful specimen of the breed, what they called a "toy" with an "apple-head" and almost perfect comformation. She had delivered many litters of near-perfect puppies that fetched a pretty penny in the 1950s dollars. She belonged to my Aunt Essie who, along with Uncle Jimmy, was "Elliot's Chihuahuas"; a name that had some note to it in the Chihuahua world. (One of her more famous dogs, rat-sized at full growth, was named Ollie and was featured in a nationally syn...

I was remembering some things about perfume. I guess the scientists would explain something complex about how different ingredients are designed to bring out different reactions and how the chemicals work on our receptors blah blah blah. I just know what I like. I like good smells. Over the years we (MamaCharlie and I) have tested many different scents; she seems to have settled on one called "Dune". We both like it and it has stuck around for a long time now. I don't tire of it. I am not s...

The Chief and Betty Lou were passionate people. Their passion for each other was matched by an equally fierce passion against each other. But I knew that no matter how vicious a fight sounded, no matter how nasty the threats, no matter how many things got thrown or broken, they would not really physically hurt each other. Often when the storms raged I would hold my terrified little sister and assure her that they were not killing each other, just ironing out a few differences of opinion. And a...

This last week, with D-Day celebrations and looking towards next week for Flag Day and the Army's 234th birthday, I have been thinking a lot about veterans and what they have done for us. Whenever my head turns that way I always settle upon the vets in my family and the two who mean the most to me: The Chief and my Uncle Dude. Every family has a story or two like this. I have heard several and even experienced one myself with my mom, Betty Lou. But today's story is about Uncle Dude. His name...

I bought the yellow 1969 GTO in 1973. It was freshly painted a Corvette yellow that looked a lot like a wax banana when it was polished up. It had a black vinyl top and upholstery. Factory 8-track tape, too. At the time we were living in Phoenix; it was an Arizona car which meant there was no rust or corrosion of any kind on it. It was cherry. And quick. We took a trip out to El Cajon to see the grandparents and folks out there, that Summer. Two small boys and one big dog. We stopped in Buck...

At the end of a rather disastrous two-and-a-half year experiment in civilian life, we were heading to Fort Ord. It was late June of 1974. We had left Phoenix and spent a couple days in San Diego to visit my folks, then aimed the pristine yellow 1969 GTO north for the Monterey Bay area. We stopped for lunch in Santa Maria. Getting off I-5 at the southern exit led us straight to a KFC right on the edge of town. That worked for us; we didn't know anyone there and didn't need to cruise town lookin...

Happy Billy Joe Day, y'all !!

I had my best friend take me to the bus station. I had him drive me there because I didn't want to see my Mom cry...and I didn't want her to see me cry. I had him drop me off at the bus stop because I didn't want him to see me cry, either. I was seventeen years old; I had talked Mom into signing my enlistment papers but she was not too sure about it. As I watched Chuck drive away, waving as he went, I wasn't too sure myself. But I was committed. The papers had been signed, the orders issued, bu...

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day, one "holiday" I take very seriously. I know that most folks see it as another day off...brats or ribs on the grill...beer in the cooler...maybe a trip to the beach...etc. I am not trying to take any of that away from the day, I think it is cool to have a three-day weekend with all the things that go with it. I just want to share with you a few thoughts about why we have this holiday. As a nation, I think that we are better tuned into Memorial Day and its...