It’s Tuesday night, July 4, but seems like Sunday and I’m writing this week’s column the old fashioned way – sitting at the kitchen table, using a yellow-lined pad and using a pencil. Oh yes, it’s being written in longhand, or in today’s language, cursive.
My computer is “down” temporarily, until I can get a phone jack installed at my new apartment. There are jacks in every room, but only one is in working condition. So – until I get an electrician or “handyman” to hook me up, I’m stuck.
It’s terrible to be so dependent – especially on the evening of Independence Day. Off in the distance, I can hear what sounds like a small battle taking place, but it’s the echo of fireworks from several towns away. The traffic is still streaming by, interrupted by the occasional siren of a police car.
Yes, I finally got moved – or 99 percent moved. I swear this is the last time; I’ll have my own place, by hook or by crook, as they say. Having never owned anything of substance, except a car, I can’t imagine what that would be like.
My cats are leery of the upstairs apartment and have opted to make little nests at the base of the willow tree in the back yard. From the second floor, I can look down and see them curled up in their grassy homes. Even though they spent half of their time exploring the environs of this house (which is exactly across the road from where I used to live) their feline brain hasn’t made the connection. Thankfully, they haven’t tried to venture back across the street. Route 115 is like a mini-raceway at this time of the year.
Rather than dwell on the many boxes of things which haven’t yet been put away, or the drawers that stick, or when I’ll get a phone jack hooked up, my mind is thinking ahead to more peaceful days when every little thing I packed will have its own place and I’ll once again know where everything is.
Plans are underway for the second annual Veterans Day event at Windham Veterans Center. David Tanguay is assembling a collection of World War I items to be used in a display. Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I – the armistice being signed at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
If anyone has any World War I artifacts (clothing and other items), which they would like to share, give Dave a call. He has some uniforms but needs small male mannequins on which to display them. He emphasized small when talking to me explaining that adults were smaller in the early 1900s than they are now. Perhaps some male “teenage” mannequins from today’s world would be suitable. David’s phone number is 892-1306.
When I think of World War I, I think of the flu epidemic, which ravaged the world and was particularly devastating to the military training places in this part of the country, causing the death of thousands of otherwise healthy young people.
There’s a lot going on among local organizations this summer. Keep an eye on the local newspapers for notices of special events, like Music on the Hill at the Windham Hill church, and check out our local offerings!
See you next week.
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