Things They Told Me

         Things They Told Me

      When we were kids we were poor, but healthy as hell. We would wake up on a winter morning to find snow all over our quilt. It had sifted down through the wood shakes of the roof. And there were some spaces between the log walls you could have thrown a dog through.

     They waited until the German staff car reached the middle of the bridge, before they blew it. One kraut had survived, and when asked if he spoke English, denied hotly that he did not. So Sgt. Ellis said, "Let's shoot the sonofabitch, and cut cards for his watch." It was funny how quickly he learned English. 

      She asked her father if she could have a puppy. He replied that she could not. She thought a minute, then asked. "Could we have a camel instead?" Her father then asked her, where would they keep it?. "In the sandbox she replied, they like sand."

      The large cruise ship was bound for Australia and New Zealand. The decks were crammed with women, waving scarves, yelling, and blowing kisses. They had left the British Isles in search of husbands. Both WWI and WWII had greatly reduced the prospects for marriage. 

      The war in Europe had just ended and the boys wanted to go home as soon as possible. Bored, restless G.I.s could cause trouble. So, the big brass decided to hold a field day.

     He had just won the 100 meter hurdles, and was being awarded a wristwatch as a prize from General George Patton. Patton said,"At West Point they kicked the hell out of me at track and field, but no sonofabitch has ever beaten me in battle."

     She gave a big kick with her foot at a large toadstool, shattering it to bits. "They all died," she said. "They were so poor, and the father gathered a large number of what he supposed were edible mushrooms. He survived because he was will to go hungry. I have always wondered whatever happened to him. The family is buried in the cemetery down the road." 

             

               Aloha

               Grant