I mentioned a week ago that we went to visit my grandma. When we got there, she was a bit frustrated because “some kids came into her apartment and broke her TV”. It’s probably true that someone came into her room, because that happens in assisted living facilities. It may have been to pick up [...]
Archive for October, 2011
Helena Born in a (Gold) Rush
Posted in Civil War period (1861-1865), United States, tagged 1864, Gold, Helena, Last Chance Gulch, Montana, Prospecting on October 30 | Leave a Comment »
Depth Charges Fail to Cook up Salmon Patties
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Commander Ernest Evans, Jinei Maru, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, USS Salmon on October 30 | Leave a Comment »
For the captain and crew of the USS Salmon, the events of October 30, 1944 probably felt more than just a little like their own spin on Das Boot. If you’ve seen that classic movie, you know the crew of the Salmon had some serious danger that day. If you haven’t seen it, you now have a two-part [...]
Piazza Makes First Flight in Unfriendly Skies
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 1911, Bleriot XI, Carlo Piazza, Turco-Italian War on October 23 | Leave a Comment »
We made a trip to see grandma this weekend. Born in 1914, she’ll be 98 years old next March. Things might be getting a little fuzzy for her, but her mind is still pretty sharp. We talked for a couple hours and ate lunch. It was a good time, even though it was brief. A century…grandma’s [...]
Going to the Chapel…
Posted in Colonial history (1607-1775), United States, tagged 1749, Cotton Mather, Elizabeth Checkley, Samuel Adams, Samuel Checkley on October 17 | Leave a Comment »
October 17th might not be a super important day in your world. If you have children, you might recognize the day as “just two weeks to Halloween”, which serves as a good reminder to get out and get your candy purchased. But for me, it’s pretty much another day, which this fall (with as beautiful [...]
Your Land is My Land
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1939, Finland, Joseph Stalin, Karelian Isthmus, Mannerheim Line on October 12 | Leave a Comment »
The Karelian Isthmus has long labored through uneasy times. I suppose it’s a bad idea to apply human characteristics such as suffering and endurance to a chunk of land, because it’s very near to mixing metaphors…or something. But it seems somehow appropriate. We’ve talked about this piece of property on numerous occasions, and always under [...]
London Bridge Emigrates to America
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1971, Arizona, Lake Havasu, London, London Bridge, Robert McCulloch on October 10 | Leave a Comment »
The weekend was a bit of a downer for me, as I dealt with (what I think was) a touch of the flu. So I enjoyed Columbus Day today. While it’s not an “automatic” holiday at the office, it is one of the optional holidays we can take. I drove in to the office long enough [...]
