Letter from Bill McDonald to Mary McElwain November 11 1942
Hello Dear,
Received a letter today and one yesterday. Very nice.
Do you know what I want for xmas....You!!! See if you can get it for me. The furlough rumor is out again. This time it is 7 days with travelling time. If so that will give me about 8 days. None are to exceed 15 days. I could mooch a day or two, that sure would make a nice xmas.
Dear, going over seas is something I don't like to talk about very much. It is so uncertain. Some fellows have been writing home, that are in other divisions, and saying they are going over. They have been doing that ever since they have been in the army, yet the are still on this side. You see there are so many things happening that lead them to think that way. Things like the issuing of new equipment and certain other things but yet that isn't a definite sign. You can never tell until you go. With the opening of the new front, things are more uncertain than ever. They are going to need lots of men over there. Frankly I think it will be another 6 months before this division goes over, if it ever does. I think the war will be over in another 6 months if not sooner. I think we may move to the east coast and lay there for 3 months or so. That seems to be the opinion of most of the fellows here. (Dinah Shore is singing "I am Dreaming of a White Christmas the song that makes me very homesick for you.)
I could do several things to keep from going over, but that is being a coward. Such things as O.C.S. and the air corp. But I won't do it. If I should go over it is very certain that I will come back. That you can depend on.
This outfit here is very discouraging some times, yet I like it. Several of us have been pushed around when it comes to ratings, yet when we go into actual combat, things will be a different story. You don't become a hero or get much praise but we do our work and do it well. We are doing our part anyhow.
Honey, I hope this letter doesn't make you feel bad and not do anything hasty or foolish. I am sure it won't though. This is a subject I don't like to think much about as I said before don't put too much stock in what I have wrote here because things are so uncertain. This is just my opinion.
They had to issue me new cloths today. I have been running around with my knees and a-- sticking out. It got too chilly at night.
We are having a great deal of trouble with our laundry here. I certainly hope they get it settled soon because I am not a very good wash woman.
They finally got around to issuing us cots. I can't say I like the change. It makes it much harder to get up in the morning.
I can see you now, doing the house work in your slacks and sweater. You certainly did look cute the first morning I came up there on my furlough. I shall never forget it.
You should be very careful with Agnes C. You know she gets very tired. Jay certainly is the man about town. He reminds me of somebody, just who, I prefer not to say. Watch him though. That last remark meant no offense but was meant only in fun.
Well dear thats my limit. I love you very much and put it down in the books that we will be married by xmas or just a little after.
Lots and Lots of love
Yours and I mean it
Bill.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Facts about Gilbert and Sullivan
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert 1836-1911, English playwright and poet. He won fame as the librettist of numerous popular operettas, written in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan.
The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado are among the best known.
Sullivan, six years Gilbert's junior, composed the music, contributing memorable melodies that could convey both humor and pathos.
The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado are among the best known.
Sullivan, six years Gilbert's junior, composed the music, contributing memorable melodies that could convey both humor and pathos.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
facts about the snail
Snails are one of the earliest known types of animals in the world. There is evidence that they evolved more than 600 million years ago.
All snails are classified as mollusks because of the hard shell that protects their bodies.
They are number two behind insects when it comes to their numbers.
Many species of snails actually hibernate during the colder months of the year. They cover their bodies with a thin layer of mucus which prevents them from drying out. Sometimes snails are also able to hibernate in the summer to survive if they are faced with a severe drought.
All snails are classified as mollusks because of the hard shell that protects their bodies.
They are number two behind insects when it comes to their numbers.
Many species of snails actually hibernate during the colder months of the year. They cover their bodies with a thin layer of mucus which prevents them from drying out. Sometimes snails are also able to hibernate in the summer to survive if they are faced with a severe drought.
unusual fact about fly fishing
Fly fishing has been around for more than 2000 years. There is even evidence of the use of flies tied on bone hooks as early as 1400 BC in Egypt.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Snakes
Saw a milk snake along a deserted trial a few days ago. I haven’t seen one since my days at Boy Scout Camp many years hence.
On the same trial a black snake passed-by a few weeks back , and a time before that a water snake lay on the same stretch taking in the sun. This season I’ve seen more snakes than the last 40 years combined.
Might be time to get a snake bite kit together…another benefit from my scout training.
On the same trial a black snake passed-by a few weeks back , and a time before that a water snake lay on the same stretch taking in the sun. This season I’ve seen more snakes than the last 40 years combined.
Might be time to get a snake bite kit together…another benefit from my scout training.
Health benefits of brandy
Brandy prevents heart disease, reduces obesity, and increases the life span.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
facts about General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas, who had always been an unremarkable student, first started to reveal his own intellectual gifts while attending the West Texas Military Academy He thrived in an atmosphere which combined academics, religion, military discipline and Victorian social graces. Douglas received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1898. Over the next four years, he would achieve one of the finest records in Academy history.
He spent his early years in remote sections of New Mexico, where his father, Arthur MacArthur Jr., commanded an infantry company. It was here that he learned to ride and shoot even before he could read or write.
He spent his early years in remote sections of New Mexico, where his father, Arthur MacArthur Jr., commanded an infantry company. It was here that he learned to ride and shoot even before he could read or write.
joke
Q. Why do pirates always carry a bar of soap?
A. So, if they're shipwrecked they can wash themselves ashore.
A. So, if they're shipwrecked they can wash themselves ashore.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
John Wayne
John Wayne name is Marion Michael Morrison. John Wayne has one brother named Robert.
He was born May 26, 1907 Winterset, Iowa His parents were Clyde Morrison & Mary Brown
Duke was 6'4'' and had brown hair and blue eyes and wore a size-11 boot.
The Duke died at age of 72.
He was born May 26, 1907 Winterset, Iowa His parents were Clyde Morrison & Mary Brown
Duke was 6'4'' and had brown hair and blue eyes and wore a size-11 boot.
The Duke died at age of 72.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Major-General's Song by Gilbert and Sullivan
I am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news,
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's;
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,
In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies,
I know the croaking chorus from The Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore,
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.
Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform,
And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus's uniform:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin",
When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin,
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at,
And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat",
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery,
When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery—
In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy—
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.
For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury,
Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news,
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's;
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,
In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies,
I know the croaking chorus from The Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore,
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.
Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform,
And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus's uniform:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin",
When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin,
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at,
And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat",
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery,
When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery—
In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy—
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.
For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury,
Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Veni Sancte Spiritus
Come, Holy Ghost, send down those beams,
which sweetly flow in silent streams
from Thy bright throne above.
O come, Thou Father of the poor;
O come, Thou source of all our store,
come, fill our hearts with love.
O Thou, of comforters the best,
O Thou, the soul's delightful guest,
the pilgrim's sweet relief.
Rest art Thou in our toil, most sweet
refreshment in the noonday heat;
and solace in our grief.
O blessed Light of life Thou art;
fill with Thy light the inmost heart
of those who hope in Thee.
Without Thy Godhead nothing can,
have any price or worth in man,
nothing can harmless be.
Lord, wash our sinful stains away,
refresh from heaven our barren clay,
our wounds and bruises heal.
To Thy sweet yoke our stiff necks bow,
warm with Thy fire our hearts of snow,
our wandering feet recall.
Grant to Thy faithful, dearest Lord,
whose only hope is Thy sure word,
the sevenfold gifts of grace.
Grant us in life Thy grace that we,
in peace may die and ever be,
in joy before Thy face. Amen. Alleluia.
Gregorian Chant from the 12th Century sung in Latin of course
which sweetly flow in silent streams
from Thy bright throne above.
O come, Thou Father of the poor;
O come, Thou source of all our store,
come, fill our hearts with love.
O Thou, of comforters the best,
O Thou, the soul's delightful guest,
the pilgrim's sweet relief.
Rest art Thou in our toil, most sweet
refreshment in the noonday heat;
and solace in our grief.
O blessed Light of life Thou art;
fill with Thy light the inmost heart
of those who hope in Thee.
Without Thy Godhead nothing can,
have any price or worth in man,
nothing can harmless be.
Lord, wash our sinful stains away,
refresh from heaven our barren clay,
our wounds and bruises heal.
To Thy sweet yoke our stiff necks bow,
warm with Thy fire our hearts of snow,
our wandering feet recall.
Grant to Thy faithful, dearest Lord,
whose only hope is Thy sure word,
the sevenfold gifts of grace.
Grant us in life Thy grace that we,
in peace may die and ever be,
in joy before Thy face. Amen. Alleluia.
Gregorian Chant from the 12th Century sung in Latin of course
Sunday, May 23, 2010
joke
Two senior citizens are sitting and talking about the end of life.
1st old gentleman: One never knows how or when!
2nd old man: My grandfather died in the year, the day, and the hour he foretold!
1st: That is extraordinary! How did he ever come to know?
2nd: The judge told him!
1st old gentleman: One never knows how or when!
2nd old man: My grandfather died in the year, the day, and the hour he foretold!
1st: That is extraordinary! How did he ever come to know?
2nd: The judge told him!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Fossils, by Ogden Nash
At midnight in the museum hall
The fossils gathered for a ball
There were no drums or saxophones,
But just the clatter of their bones,
A rolling, rattling, carefree circus
Of mammoth polkas and mazurkas.
Pterodactyls and brontosauruses
Sang ghostly prehistoric choruses.
Amid the mastodontic wassail
I caught the eye of one small fossil.
"Cheer up, sad world," he said, and winked-
"It's kind of fun to be extinct."
The fossils gathered for a ball
There were no drums or saxophones,
But just the clatter of their bones,
A rolling, rattling, carefree circus
Of mammoth polkas and mazurkas.
Pterodactyls and brontosauruses
Sang ghostly prehistoric choruses.
Amid the mastodontic wassail
I caught the eye of one small fossil.
"Cheer up, sad world," he said, and winked-
"It's kind of fun to be extinct."
Friday, May 21, 2010
to be happy
Gather the crumbs of happiness and they will make you a loaf of contentment.
~Author Unknown
~Author Unknown
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Really?
Some +10000 views to the blog in less than a year!
It shows how little our minds really have to do!
Thanks to Mikey...couldn't do it without you and your many disorders.
It shows how little our minds really have to do!
Thanks to Mikey...couldn't do it without you and your many disorders.
MOTHER MACHREE
There's a spot in my heart,
Which no colleen may own.
There's a depth in my soul,
Never sounded or known;
There's a place in my mem'ry,
My life, that you fill,
No other can take it,
No one ever will.
cho: Sure, I love the dear silver
That shines in your hair,
And the brow that's all furrowed,
And wrinkled with care.
I kiss the dear fingers,
So toil-worn for me,
Oh, God bless you and keep you,
Mother Machree.
Ev'ry sorrow or care
In the dear days gone by,
Was made bright by the light
Of the smile in your eye,
Like a candle that's set
In the window at night,
Your fond love has cheered me
And guided me right.
CHORUS
I kiss......(repeat)
(Lyric by Rida Johnson Young, Music by Chauncey Olcott
and Ernest R. Ball,1910)
Which no colleen may own.
There's a depth in my soul,
Never sounded or known;
There's a place in my mem'ry,
My life, that you fill,
No other can take it,
No one ever will.
cho: Sure, I love the dear silver
That shines in your hair,
And the brow that's all furrowed,
And wrinkled with care.
I kiss the dear fingers,
So toil-worn for me,
Oh, God bless you and keep you,
Mother Machree.
Ev'ry sorrow or care
In the dear days gone by,
Was made bright by the light
Of the smile in your eye,
Like a candle that's set
In the window at night,
Your fond love has cheered me
And guided me right.
CHORUS
I kiss......(repeat)
(Lyric by Rida Johnson Young, Music by Chauncey Olcott
and Ernest R. Ball,1910)
To be happy
Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. ~Fyodor Dostoevsky
Sunday, May 16, 2010
To be happy
Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible. ~St. Augustine
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Congrats
Congratulations to Everett for his recent graduation magna cum laude.
Experts agree that people with curly hair are smarter than other people.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
More advice
We don’t see things as they are, but rather as we are
~~ Anais Nin
Comment: What about her ex?
~~ Anais Nin
Comment: What about her ex?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
More advice
There’s no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes.
~~Billy Connelly
Comment: when you have few cloths it always seems like bad weather.
~~Billy Connelly
Comment: when you have few cloths it always seems like bad weather.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
for mother's day
Too-A-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral That's An Irish Lullaby
(J.R. Shannon)
Over in Killarney
Many years ago,
Me Mither sang a song to me
In tones so sweet and low.
Just a simple little ditty,
In her good ould Irish way,
And l'd give the world if she could sing
That song to me this day.
Chorus: "Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby."
Oft in dreams I wander
To that cot again,
I feel her arms a-huggin' me
As when she held me then.
And I hear her voice a -hummin'
To me as in days of yore,
When she used to rock me fast asleep
Outside the cabin door.
(J.R. Shannon)
Over in Killarney
Many years ago,
Me Mither sang a song to me
In tones so sweet and low.
Just a simple little ditty,
In her good ould Irish way,
And l'd give the world if she could sing
That song to me this day.
Chorus: "Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby."
Oft in dreams I wander
To that cot again,
I feel her arms a-huggin' me
As when she held me then.
And I hear her voice a -hummin'
To me as in days of yore,
When she used to rock me fast asleep
Outside the cabin door.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Some good Shakespeare
“Love to faults is always blind, always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind.”
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Some good Shakespeare
“Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.”
Monday, May 3, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Advice from the soccer coach known as "Great FIFA"
"It is very easy to know how to treat your fellow man. You treat him exactly as you would like to be treated."
"When you make a goal, celebrate! Show some joy!"
"If you do not listen and do not focus, you cannot play."
Coach Great FIFA is a former member of the West Indies National Team and now devotes his time to using soccer (football) to teach the boys of St. Lucia about life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
