Posted by
William D. Dannenmaier on Sunday, June 12, 2011 8:35:20 AM
At the encouragement of a friend, Len Lassor, I decided to give the VA one more shot, hoping for help on hearing aids. (Len acquired three Purple Hearts in Korea. I once accused him of cowardice for not going back for a fourth, but he said when he woke up from the third in a hospital in Japan, the war was over.) I had an appointment with Mr. Howard of the Veteran’s Administration who is doing his best to help. On my way to see him I expected that, like most veterans, he would have had no combat experience and wonder how I could explain combat – most combat vets feel it is impossible. I thought I might try explaining using driving in heavy traffic as in example. City people have the experience of driving in heavy traffic. Cars are zooming by at 70 and 80 miles an hour, there are daily accidents and daily injuries. But experienced drivers live with this, accept without thought the required constant tension and only following some near miss need a moment of relaxation. An inexperienced driver, perhaps one from the wilds of South America or Tennessee, would, however, be terrified. Combat is very similar, it becomes, in a sense, home, you accept the danger and don’t worry about it: the great difference is that the tension lasts twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week instead of a matter of minutes. Only afterwards do the tensions and experiences take their toll in life.
It was light this morning and I was still in bed. Not only I, but Sheila, got up and started our day. Then I looked at the clock. It was only 5:30. Shocked that my bride was up, I commented on it. She replied, “Well, I slept really hard so it was natural to wake up. Now, however, that hard sleep has left me tired.” If you can figure the logic of that, let me know. Sheila has her own logic.
Yesterday it was over 95 degrees outside, but our grass needed mowing. Sheila commented that when it gets really hot outside, the cats want out, the dogs want in and I mow grass. It is nice that she considers me, even if I come in third. Oh yes, I got all the grass mowed although, later, I decided I would have been wiser to use the riding mower than the push mower.
I went for a walk this morning: down to the valley, through the valley and up the next hill as far as Winding Way Road – a total of two miles. It was the farthest I’ve gone since my heart attacks. Headed home, back in the valley with most of it behind me I saw a red van pull coming down the road towards me. It slowed down, pulled into a triangular, circled and stopped. What a beautiful young woman I thought, she sees me staggering along and has decided to see if I need help, I’ll oblige her and permit her to drive me the last quarter mile. Then she started up, zoomed over the creek and headed back the way she had come. I believe that if the average motorist saw a walker lying in the road, they would stop, roll down their windows and suggest that the peasant roll over to the side to avoid being hit before they drove on.
I have been reading about ethanol recently. I did not know it was grain alcohol and that most of it is made from corn. We have been making ethanol in the hills of Tennessee since before Tennessee was a state, only, being ignorant, we called it moonshine. Just think, if you make ethanol in Tennessee, the government puts you in jail as a moonshiner. If you make ethanol in Iowa, the government gives you millions of dollars taken as taxes from farmers in Tennessee so that you can make more and make it more profitably. It is simply more oppression of the South by Yankees, but beware, the South shall rise again.
There are those who think the elderly don’t get enough exercise – we spend all of our time in rocking chairs. That is not true. We get lots of exercise. Consider my activities this morning as an example. Preparing to dress, I decided I needed a second cup of coffee. I walked through the house to the computer room. No coffee cup. Then I considered I might have left it in the bedroom. Back though the house to the bedroom. No coffee cup. Could I have set it down on the front porch when I let the cat out? Back through the house and out the front door. No coffee cup. Could it still be on the back porch where I was smoking? No coffee cup. The bathroom? No coffee cup. Frustrated, I decided to dirty a clean cup and went to the cupboard by the coffee maker where we keep out clean cups. There, next to the coffee pot, was my cup. I must have walked a half of a mile looking for that cup and that was only for the second cup of coffee. There were two more to go before I finished my daily routine. Now that I’ve written this I’m ready for my third. Now, where did I leave my cup?