"Got Me There, Got Me Home"

"Got Me There, Got Me Home"

His movie star good looks could have landed him in Hollywood.

Instead, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940.

Recruiting sergeant came through Tarboro rounding up lads

to fight in a war where they didn't know where 

they were going end up,

or what they were going to do.

Fit for service, volunteered for flight training.

P-40 War Hawk, a one seater, high speed of 

230 miles an hour.

They had to break in their own engines.

Ended up off the coast of Africa, 

Cape Bon, Tunesia,

enemy ship beneath.

"Flying pretty low, and I had to pull out quick,

a second to decide 'kick hard, left rudder, pull bomb release handle.'"

"I was scared but didn't know it.  Just twenty-one then

and I got a direct hit on an enemy ship.  Only two practice sessions before going out.

Always had a lot of respect for the P-40 War Hawk.

It got me there, and it got me home."

Two hundred sorties flown. 

Notes from Isabella

Every morning I get an inspiring message from a friend in California, Isabella.  Here is the one for today:

The Chinese symbol for chaos is two strokes:  one for danger and one for opportunity.  Grateful today to be directing my thoughts toward solution.  It can be as simple as doing the next right thing and trusting that a new opportunity will emerge!  My feelings begin to match my behavior and vice versa.  How cool is that?

Today

Today I am one month past surgery for my knee replacement.  Managing well with just a cane, driving, exercising, walking...how wonderful!

I'll Be Around

There was a song from the 70's:  I'll be around.  While I was listening to it this morning, I thought, that's how God is, always there when in need Him.   "Whenever you want me, I'll be there."

Caspian Sea

I learned some things last night about the Caspian Sea,
while reading about Kazakhstan.
The last time I thought about that country
was when I watched Sasha Baron Cohen's
insane film about it.   Then I thought the movie
was funny, now I think it's just in bad taste.
A waste of time really, to watch it.
Far better to read the Country Studies put out
by the U. S. State Department and find images of
the Caspian on Google Images.
I saw a satellite picture of it,
taken from space.
It's about 700 miles long,
134,000 square miles, and is actually
a lake, rather than a sea.
Who would have known?
Now we know,
just in case we're ever on Jeopardy.

The One

A person from Kazakhstan read my poetry blog.
Just one.  I wonder whether
if male or female, a city dweller or
rural resident.
Kazakhstan.
One of my professors went there on business.
Wanted to interact with the university elite.
Maybe have a cultural exchange.
Wonder if that ever happened.
I see the literacy rate there is 99.7%
Infant mortality of 22 per 1,000 live births.
Beautiful mountains.
And the Caspian sea.

Successful Relationships

Check out the Gottman Institute for information on building successful relationships.