Saturday, March 22, 2003

Yeah, Yeah~~I know. You-all are getting sick of my senile meanderings into the past. But what the hay, it's my blog so I'll reminisce if I wanna. For starters, you are probably aware that this war is not exactly like the one I grew up in. Actually, it is nothing like the war I grew up in.........That would be World War II, in case you're wondering.

I was 11 years old when war started, Dec. 7, 1941. I was nearly 16 when Japan surrendered, several months after Germany had given up. In retrospect it wasn't all that bad. Of course, it wouldn't be to a kid, I suppose. Gas rationing didn't really affect me, in those days we didn't expect Mommy to haul our carcasses around wherever we wanted to go. Actually, she couldn't, most working families only had one car and Dad was in charge of that. We had bikes, and took a bus to our high school. It would be laughable to think Americans today would give up their "right" to tool around anywhere they wanted, anytime they chose. But when there's a finite amount of gas for their car, people had to budget their time--and gas--to make the most of a driving trip.

I know sugar was rationed, too, but have no idea why. Didn't seem to affect our family far as I remember. Butter was rationed. But no matter. We had oleomargarine! Wow. Mom bought this bag of white sludge, and enclosed in that was a gelatinous yellow ball the size of a grape. It was the coloring. So you got to knead this mess until that jelly ball permeated the white sludge and voila' -- a pound of (yellowish) oleo. That I remember.

Early on, while still in grade school, we kids did our bit for the war effort, too. I brought a dime to school maybe twice a week, which bought me a little stamp that I pasted into my Savings Bond Book. When the book was filled, I could turn it into some kind of savings bond, I'm sure it wasn't the standard bond which was $18.75 and you got $25.00 back in 10 years. Such a deal, eh? No, it had to be something on rather a smaller scale. Guess my memory isn't as good as I thought. I DO remember the dimes, though, and the book. Oh well..........

The biggest difference between then and now? No-one protested in the streets, carrying anti-war signs. There was no such thing. I do not understand why people in this country are still protesting and carrying anti-war signs..........they are not patriots. What are they thinking? What do they hope to accomplish with such a display of stupidity now that war has begun and we could have casualties in Iraq........American casualties. Don't those protesters know this? What are they thinking?
posted by Lorraine 1:58 PM 
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America~~I have never been so proud to be an American as I am right now. The bombing of In-sane Hussein's important government buildings and his palace, and the bombs who chewed their way into the bunkers below.........to actually see this incredible military feat on our TV sets is mind-boggling.

Even with the constant barrage of war news on TV, there's a lot of fascinating news in the newspaper that doesn't lend itself to television.. I devoured our "front page" section this morning and read every bit of stuff that was printed that section. When I was finished, I started reading the "Metro" section and was bored so gave it up! City news can wait for now.

In one article titled -- 'Shock and awe' phase rocks Iraq -- this paragraph was quite interesting. "......The doctrine of shock and awe, as defined by one of its founders, former Undersecretary of Defense James P. Wade, calls for unrelenting pressure on the enemy that escalates hour by hour, day by day. The doctrine holds that the enemy eventually will become so confused, so worn out, so shell-shocked, that it will give up."

I'll drink to that. But not French wine, thanks very much. Actually, Milwaukee beer is just fine and dandy with me. *burp*
posted by Lorraine 12:50 PM 
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Thursday, March 20, 2003

Okey, so what else is new?~~I watched CNN and FOX last night until my eyes glazed over and what was going on on the screen began to look pretty much the same after several hours. Then I realized, Crikey! of course it looked the same......nothing else was happening so the talking heads were just repeating the same old thing. So I went to bed.

As Tess said in her comment, we are all in kind of a stunned limbo, but I think once the massive force of our planes, tanks, attack helicopters, et al, starts to pound Iraq into submission, we will break out of our collective trance. BTW, when I opened my mail this morning, I had two anti-war petitions for something or other......too late, kiddo. I deleted them. I confess I did go on the virtual (anti-war) march someone initiated, real easy to be an activist when all it takes is a click of the finger. Ha.

Actually, I am more interested in the big envelope I got from -- swoon -- Robert Redford. OOOooo, talk to me, bebe! He's been the head of BioGems for about 25 years. Anyhooo, for a small donation I will help the organization and also get me a really neat tote bag with my favorite critter's picture on it.......a grey wolf. Now this is happy news for a change.
posted by Lorraine 10:10 AM 
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Tuesday, March 18, 2003

It's going to take a while to re-capture a cheery la-de-dah attitude and post a blog about little stuff. I feel sad and vaguely apprehensive, but about what? There's nothing we can do, the horror is about to begin. We will, soon, be getting images of death and destruction by way of our television sets. We are all at the mercy of those who decided, despite world opinion to the contrary, to let loose the Dogs of War. What will be, will be.

In some ways it's almost a relief to know, for sure, that the mighty forces of America's power will attack Iraq. Whether this war is right or wrong, my heart can still swell with pride and love for this country. There are many innocent people in Baghdad, but can we get images of women and babies being slaughtered out of our minds? I don't even want to think about how safe our own men and women are going to be based in that inhospitable desert, and of course there will be those Marines going forward with land assaults. How many families will have to grieve when their loved one comes back in a casket?

It is going to start -- soon. All we can do is pray. For our military forces over there and for our beloved country. Nothing will ever be the same again. Since 9/11, our country and the world morphed into something frightening and insecure. Please God, if there is a God, bring this pitiful little planet back on the right track again soon. If that's possible.
posted by Lorraine 6:19 PM 
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