The "These Immortal Chaplains" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at a United States Postage Stamp valued at 3 cents that featured four men in uniforms atop a sinking ship with a title across the top of stamp that read "These IMMORTAL CHAPLAINS ... INTERFAITH IN ACTION."  

The stamp was made in 1948 to honor the chaplains that went down aboard the U.S.A.T. Dorchester in 1943.  The Four Chaplains were four World War II servicemen who died rescuing civilian and military personnel as the American troop ship SS Dorchester sank on February 3, 1943.  The Dorchester was a civilian liner converted for military service in WWII as a War Shipping Administration troop transport.  The ship could carry slightly more than 900 military passengers and crew.  On January 23, 1943 the ship left New York en route to Greenland with a full compliment of troops and crew.

The ship was escorted by Coast Guard Cutters.  During the early morning hours of February 3, the vessel was torpedoed by the German submarine U-223 off of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic.  Both the water and air temperatures were in the 30s.  The Four Chaplains on board were Methodist minister Reverend George L. Fox, Reform Rabbi Alexander D. Goode (PhD), Catholic priest Father John P. Washington and Reformed Church in America minister The Reverend Clark V. Poling.  They originally met at the Army Chaplains School at Harvard University where they prepared for assignments in the European theater, sailing on board Dorchester to report to their new assignments.  

Rev. George Lansing Fox was born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania and joined the Army at the age of 17.  After his discharge he returned to Altoona, Pennsylvania where he finished high school and entered Moody Bible Institute in 1923.  He married and became a preacher in the Methodist faith.  He later graduated from Illinois Wesleyan and studied at the Boston University of Theology where he was ordained a Methodist minister on June 10, 1934.  In 1942 he volunteered to serve as an Army chaplain and began active duty on August 8, 1942.  He ended up on the SS Dorchester.

Reform Rabbi Alexander D. Goode (PhD) was born in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in Washington, D.C., attending Eastern High School and Hebrew Union College where he graduated with a B.H. degree in 1937.  He later received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1940.  He applied to become a Navy chaplain in January 1941, but was not accepted.  After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 he applied to the Army and became a Chaplain on July 21, 1942.  He was assigned to the 333rd Fighter Squadron and was then transferred to Camp Myles Standish in Taunton, Massachusetts.  He was later reunited with Chaplain Fox on the SS Dorchester.

Clark Vandersall Poling was born on August 7, 1910 in Columbus, Ohio.  He studied at Yale University's Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut and graduated with his B.D. degree in 1936.  He was ordained in the Reformed Church in America and served at the First Church of Christ, New London, Connecticut and then as Pastor of the First Reformed Church in Schenectady, New York.  He decided to enter the Army just as his dad had done years before.  He was accepted as a chaplain with the 131st Quartermaster Truck Regiment in 1942.  He too was later reunited with Army Chaplains Goode and Poling.

John Patrick Washington was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 18, 1908.  He studied at Seton Hall in South Orange, New Jersey in preparation for the Catholic priesthood.  He entered Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington, New Jersey in 1931.  Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941 he received his appointment as a chaplain in the United States Army, reporting for active duty on May 9, 1942.  He was named Chief of the Chaplains Reserve Pool in Ft. Benjamin, Indiana and in June 1942 was assigned to the 76th Infantry Division in Ft. George Meade, Maryland.  In November of 1942 he reported to Camp Myles Standish in Taunton, Massachusetts and met Chaplains Fox, Goode and Poling at Chaplains School at Harvard.  

Left to right:  Alexander Goode, Clark Poling, George Fox, John Washington

The SS Dorchester had been a 5,649 ton civilian liner, 368 feet long with a 52-foot beam and a single funnel, originally built in 1926 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company.  It was built for freight and passengers.  The ship was converted for military service in WWII as a War shipping Administration troop transport operated by Atlantic, Gulf & West Indies Steamships Lines.  It was originally built for 314 civilians and 90 crew, but could hold slightly more than 900 military and crew.  The Dorchester left New York on January 23, 1943, en route to Greenland carrying four chaplains and 900 others.  The ship's captain was alerted that Coast Guard sonar had detected a submarine.  Because German U-boats were monitoring sea lanes and had attacked and sunk ships earlier during the war, the Captain had the ship's crew on a state of high alert.  His men were ordered to sleep in their clothing and keep their life jackets on.  Most disregarded the orders due to engine heat.  During the early morning hours of February 3, 1943, at 12:55 a.m., the vessel was torpedoed by the German submarine U-223 off Newfoundland in the North Atlantic.  The torpedo knocked out the ships electrical system, leaving it dark.

Panic set in!  Many were trapped below deck.  The four chaplains tried to calm the men and organize them for evacuation and help guide wounded men to safety.  There weren't enough life jackets so the chaplains gave their jackets to the wounded.  They helped the men into the lifeboats, but not all would fit.  They eventually linked arms and, saying prayers and singing hymns, went down with the ship.  Only 230 of the 904 men aboard the ship were rescued.  Life jackets offered little protection from hypothermia which killed most men in the water.  The water temperature was 34 degrees and the air temperature ws 36 degrees.  By the time race ships arrived, hundreds of dead bodies were seen floating on the water, kept up by their life jackets.  On December 19, 1944, all four chaplains were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross.  Members of Congress later authorized a special medal, the Four Chaplains Medal, approved by an unanimous act of Congress on July 14, 1960.  The medals were presented posthumously to the next of kin of each of the Four Chaplains on January 18, 1961.  February 3, 1998 of that year was established as "Four Chaplains Day" to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the sinking of United States Army transport Dorchester.  My church in Lancaster, St. James Episcopal, observes that day as a Lesser Feast Day on the liturgical calendar.  The chaplains were also honored with a commemorative stamp that was issued in 1948, and was designed by Louis Schwimmer, the head of the Art Department of the New York branch of the U.S. Post Office.  The stamp was very unusual since stamps are not normally issued in honor of someone other than a President of the United States.  The stamp is a 3 cent stamp.  The Chapel of the Four Chaplains was dedicated on February 3, 1951, by President Harry S. Truman to honor these chaplains of different faiths in the Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia.  Although the Chapel was dedicated as an All-Faiths Chapel, no Catholic priest took part in the dedication ceremony, because "canon law forbids joint worship."  The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation is housed at the former U.S. Naval Chapel located at the former South Philadelphia Navy yard.  And, The Four Chaplains Memorial of York County, PA, a few miles from my home in Lancaster, was incorporated in 2018 after more than 25 years of annual remembrances of the four chaplains.  Rabbi Goode had served a congregation in York prior to his service on the Dorchester.  

And, a stained glass window graces the U.S. Pentagon in Washington, D.C.  Many other sculptures and plaques stand in other locations throughout the United States.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "A Camera Lost At Sea Is Searching For A Home" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just found an online article titled "Message In A Bottle Hunter" that tells of a camera that was lost at sea over 3 years ago and now the finder is hunting for it's owner.  Evidently the story all began in October of 2013 when Bob Buffington was standing along an endless white sand beach which stretched in both directions for as far as the eye could see.  Closeby were turquoise waves lapping at the white sand.  Bob sported a salty beard and seared skin as his eyes scanned ever inch of sand while hunting for trash.  Yep, you read that right.  He and his cohorts scan every square inch of sand looking for interesting...trash! All of a sudden the sun throws him a sliver of bright light and Bob walks toward the light.  There is the culprit...a silver digital camera sealed inside a gleaming waterproof case.  As he examines it he discovers that the camera has not been affected by the salty water.  In most cases the cameras are old 35mm cameras that hold rolls of film, but this was a small Canon digital camera with a functioning SD card in it.  He has no idea how long it has been in the sea, but it looks as if it is still in operating condition.  Bob stuffs the camera in his backpack for later discovery when he gets back.  The SD card carried about 70 photographs that Bob and his son examine.  The data from the photographs says that the first photo was taken on February 19th of 2010 while the last photo taken was on February 21st of the same year at 1:22 am. The camera and SD card were lost at sea for three and a half years and remarkably have produced visible photographs.  Bob's son and he joke about having Bob do a TV advertisement for Canon telling of the durability of the camera and SD card.  Father and son decide they should try and find the owner of the camera, but put off doing so until eight years later.  They finally decided that it was time to solve the  message in the bottle mystery if at all possible.  A few of the clues tell that the guy with the camera and SD card had traveled among the British Virgin Islands in a Festive Sailing boat during February of 2010.  They also know that they stopped at Pirates Bight on Norman Island.  Some of the people were scuba divers and one of the men wore a shirt that read "The Deep" which was a 1977 film starring Jacqueline Bisset and Nick Nolte that told about a pair of young vacationers involved in a dangerous conflict with treasure hunters when they discover a way into a deadly wreck in Bermuda waters.  So...this was just about all the clues they had to start with to find the person who had taken the photos years before.  There were 16 very good photographs that had been developed and were put online to see if anyone would be able to identify the party that had taken the photographs with the Canon camera.  I should tell you that the photographer is still a mystery.  As of January 18, 2022 at 6:54 a.m. there was no news of whom the photographs belonged to.  You perhaps might help.  If any of what I just wrote sounds familiar to you, please leave a comment and I will attempt to pass it on so the camera owner may be reunited with his past history.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "Getting A New Lease On Life With 'The Spinal Cord Stimulator'" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just got back from my doctor's office after trying out "The Boston Scientific Spinal Cord Stimulator.  For years I have had problems with my back.  I have had four back operations which you more than likely have read about on this site, but today I just ended something new that I am hoping will bring me relief from all the back problems I have had in the past.  The Spinal Cord Stimulator is a device that can be implanted in my lower back and will supposedly manage my chronic pain.  Four days ago I visited my doctor who placed the spinal cord stimulator in my back for a test run.  The system is meant to interrupt pain impulses before they reach the brain, replacing them with a smooth, soothing feeling.  Two insulated wires, known as leads, are fed through two small incisions in my lower back.  They are fed alongside my backbone through the two incisions and up my lower spine.  The bottom of the wires are attached to a precision implantable pulse generator that will mask signals as they travel to the brain.  The result is supposed to be a soothing sensation.  My test today had the wires inserted in my back and then to a pulse generator that was attached to a belt that went around my waist.  It will not be that way in the end, but I'm just testing the device to see if it can help me.  I could control the pulse generator with a hand-held device.  All of this was done in the doctor's office since no major surgery was needed.  After instruction from a Boston Scientific expert, I went home for my three day trial.  I knew how to make adjustments if needed and also had the phone number of the technician who is helping me.

My wife got me home and we decided to try it out.  I hadn't been able to walk without pain for close to two years so we decided to walk around the block.  WOW!  Got back a half-hour later and had no trouble on my journey.  Did the same thing the next day.  I did have a need to place a call when I found that when I went to lay down in the evening the tingling I felt was a bit too much.  Within 10 minutes I was good to go.  After my three day "test run," I returned to my doctor who removed the device.  I told them that my pain was almost totally gone while using the device, so they scheduled me for a consultation with my surgeon.  He will then set a date to have the device planted permanently in my back along with the precision implantable pulse generator.  My problem now is that I know it will help, but I have to wait my turn to have the device implanted and that won't be for another month or so due to my surgeon's schedule.  I do have to go to the hospital for the final procedure and with COVID patients filling the hospital, I must wait my turn.  I am anxious to be able to use it on a daily basis with only a hand-held unit to make slight adjustments if needed.  I realize that I never will be the same as I was years ago, but at least I will be able to function once again.  Going to the store with my wife, visiting with our children, grandchildren and friends and even trips to the Caribbean will be doable once again without too much pain.  A couple of years ago this wouldn't have been possible and I can only imagine what it might be like in the future.  Perhaps people will have some type of device implanted in their brain so that they will only have to think about having less pain and it will automatically happen.  But, for me...I never had heard about the spinal cord simulator until a year or so ago.  After I have it implanted in my spine for a longer amount of time, I will post another story telling you how it has changed my life...for the good or the bad.  I'm hoping I can live the remainder of my life without the constant back pain that I have had for the past few years.  Hoping that relief is on the way!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "Are All Larry's Dumb?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Watching one of my all-time favorite black and white television shows, "Leave it to Beaver!"  The show ran for a few years beginning in 1957, but is now part of the "MeTV" network which airs back-to-back old episodes every weekday.  Most of the episodes I can remember from my junior high school years, but one of the episodes I watched today I couldn't remember ever viewing before.  Story about Theodore Clever, known as "The Beaver" who is elementary school age and who gets into trouble on the school bus and gets a letter from the school Principal telling his mom and dad that he can't ride on the school bus for a week due to the fact that he hit one of his classmates over the head while on the school bus.  

Title shown on TV at the beginning of the show.

Beav's mom and dad make him write a letter to give to the bus driver telling him how sorry he was for fighting on the school bus.  Story also switches to the Beav's classroom where his teacher, Miss Landers, tells about proper behavior on the school bus.  All of a sudden, one of her students raises his hand and Miss Landers says, "Yes, Larry."  Well, Larry stands up and says something stupid, just as Larry alway does on the show.  As I sat in my lounge chair watching the show, something struck me all of a sudden.  Why is the overweight, dumb kid on the show named Larry?   Did they chose that name because all dumb kids are named Larry?  And...why did my parents name me Larry!  But then I began to think a bit and realized that one of my neighborhood friends was also named Larry.  And...he certainly wasn't dumb.  He was  always in trouble, but certainly wasn't dumb.  And...another kid or two in my class were also named Larry.  And...come to think of it, they also weren't dumb.  Made me feel better when I realized that "Larry" must have been a popular name at the time and not given just to kids that were dumb.  

A picture of "The Beav" on  Presidential button.

Hey, my parents liked it enough to give me that name when I was born.  If you have children, what names have you given to them?  Names that will make them proud to tell people when asked what their name is, or names that they will hate to repeat to friends.  My wife and I have three children whom we named Derek Charles, Brynn Ann and Paul Thadeus.  We came up with those names in different ways.  Derek Sanderson was one of our favorite professional ice hockey players at the time and was having a great season when our first son was born so we named him Derek and gave him my wife's father's first name as his middle name.  Our daughter's name is Brynn which I came upon while watching a quiz game on TV.  Thought the name was rather unique so we named her Brynn.  Her middle name is the same as her mother's middle name, Ann.  Our third child, a son, was named Paul after my father.  He was born in 1976, a bi-centennial year, so we made his middle name Thadeus after one of Lancaster's famous heroes, Thaddeus Stevens.  Well, it's time to watch an episode of Perry Mason on MeTV.  Wasn't one of our favorite shows when our children were born or we might have named one of them Perry or even Della.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "My First True Hero Of Rock 'N Roll" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Listening to one of my very first rock and roll bands, Bill Haley and His Comets.  Anyone who was born and raised in the 1940s just has to remember Bill Haley and His Comets if they are any kind of music freak!  Bill was the man whose band had the first ever rock and roll mega-hit.  His "Rock Around the Clock" was the No. 1 song of 1955, even though he had already turned 30 years old.  And, even though Elvis was eventually top dog, Bill Haley's band gained notoriety as being the first ever rock and roll band in history.  Bill lived in nearby Chester, Pennsylvania, an hour-and-a-half ride from my home in Lancaster, where he worked and recorded at a local radio station.  Eventually the Chester Water Authority inlaid rubberized musical notes and a star with motion lines in the sidewalk in front of the radio station as a tribute to Bill's backup group, The Comets.  A plaque also was placed on the side of the building, but when the radio station was demolished, the plaque disappeared.  William John Clifton Haley, Jr. was born in Highland Park, Michigan on July 6, 1925.  Shortly after he was born the family moved to Boothwyn, Pennsylvania where his father worked. as a mechanic and his mother gave piano lessons at home.  Music was a big part of his life with his mother teaching him to sing properly and his dad teaching him how to play the guitar.  Bill began his musical career singing hillbilly and cowboy songs at the age of seven.

A young Bill Haley

Bill dropped out of school after eighth grade and began work at a water bottling company and then a locomotive works.  He first joined local bands in Chester, PA and then joined The Downhomers which played a western swing style of music.  Haley eventually became the lead singer in the band that went on tour for a short time before he returned home knowing that the band wasn't going to help him reach the success he desired.  He then became a disc jockey for the local station in Chester, WPWA.  In 1946 he married his first wife Dorothy and had two children with her.  He also formed his first band, The Four Aces of Western Swing.  The band recorded one cowboy genre record which wasn't successful.  In 1949 he formed a new band, The Saddlemen were he was the lead singer and guitarist.  In '51 they released their first single, "Rocket 88."  The following year they released their second hit, "Rock this Joint," which sold over 70,000 copies.  He also married his second wife, Barbara Cupchack that year.  They too had two children, but one didn't survive infancy.  In 1953 The Saddlemen was renamed Bill Haley and His Comets and became very well known among many generations.  This group always had either 6 or 7 members with Haley and Rudy Pompilli, the sax player, being the most constant members of the band.  In 1953 they recorded "Crazy, Man, Crazy" which was the first single to reach the "Top 20" list.  Bill Haley and his Comets began to gain notoriety.  The manager at Decca Records, James Myers, wrote the song "Rock Around The Clock."  

On April 1, 1954 Haley and Decca Records agreed on a contract and by May 1 the record was released.  At first it wasn't a hit, but after being re-released  in 1955 it became the "national anthem" for teens during the late 1950s.  "Shake, Rattle and Roll" as well as "See You Later Alligator" followed.   I owned both, but what ever happened to them I'll never know.  Would be great collector's records today.  The band began to tour the United States as well as Mexico, Europe and other countries.  By 1955 Bill Haley was a superstar!  

1955 photo of Bill Haley and His Comets.  Bill is on top.

Their "Rock Around the Clock" was part of National Public Radio's series on the 100 most important musical works of the 20th century.  Eventually those who loved Bill Haley and His Comets turned their musical obsessions to musicians like Elvis Presley and Little Richard.  

Photo of Bill reading an article about his band.

Bill Haley began to have money problems and fled to Mexico in 1962 where he met and married his third wife, Martha Velasco who was a Mexican dancer.  Then on February 9, 1981, Haley died of a heart attack in Harlingen, Texas.  In 1987 he was  inducted into the Rock Music Hall of Fame.  

A 1969 photo of Bill Haley and His Comets.

He changed the music world with his innovative skills and rock and roll music.  He was a big influence on the Beatles and other rock performers of the '60s and '70s.  Many people to this day proclaim that Bill Haley was the "King of Rock & Roll" while others give that title to Elvis Presley.  For me, Bill Haley was the "Father of Rock and Roll" with Elvis being the "King".  One way or another, his name will live on in Rock and Roll history.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "So Why Are Covered Bridges Red And Made Of Wood?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a few websites that deal with the history of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  One such site had a few stories about Lancaster's covered bridges.  I have written a few stories in the past that dealt with covered bridges, but none had to do with what information I had just read.  So...I thought I would give you a few more facts about the many covered bridges that still make Lancaster County one of the neatest places to visit and explore by means of your automobile.  To begin, our covered bridges were pioneered in Switzerland in the mid-1700s.  Our country's first covered bridge was built in 1805 to bridge the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, but the world's longest covered bridge was built shortly after when Pennsylvania's  Columbia-Wrightsville (York County-Lancaster County) covered bridge was also built in the 1800s.  

The Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge

The bridge was 5,620 feet long with 27 piers that held the supports for the bridge that spanned the Susquehanna River.  It was this bridge that during the Civil War, Union forces burned on June 28, 1863, to prevent Confederates from crossing to the eastern side of the Susquehanna, which would have given them swift access to Lancaster and eventually Philadelphia.

The burning of the bridge during the Civil War.

The bridge's destruction forced the Confederate Army to change direction which in turn lead to their defeat at the three-day battle of Gettysburg.  The burning of the bridge also damaged trade within the state by cutting a major transportation artery.  All these bridges were built from wood due to an abundance of wood and it's low cost.  But why did they put a roof over the bridge?  Well, a bridge without a roof was said to last about 20 years while a covered bridge would last close to 100 years or more.  And placing wooden sides on the bridge was done to keep the horses from being startled while crossing the bridge. As for most bridges painted red...well, that was due to cost.  Red paint was cheap and it was also the color of most barns at the time.  

A beautiful red painted bridge with white painted opening.

Red paint was made by using skim milk, lime and iron oxide.  This mixture created a red, plastic-like coating which protected the wood.  Eventually, paint manufacturers began to produce paint with chemical pigments, but most farmers continued to buy red due to tradition and its low cost.  Now, the white trim on the covered bridges was to improve visibility of the bridges opening, especially in the dark.  Many of Lancaster County's covered brides are still painted red with some having no paint on them at all.  Take a tour of Lancaster County sometime and enjoy your trips over the one-lane covered bridges that line just about every Route in the county.  I do it all the time and never tire of it!  I've been driving over these neat symbols of history for over 60 years now.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Just In Case You Didn't See This Really Neat Story" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about an 8-year-old boy from Boise, Idaho who wrote a book that he wanted everyone to read.  He spent four days writing and illustrating 81 pages of an empty journal booklet telling how he was transported back in time after a Christmas tree ornament on the top of his tree exploded.  Wow!  Pretty neat idea for an 8-year-old.  But, what was even more amazing was that he slipped his book onto a shelf in the Boise public library during a visit to the library with his Grandmother.  

Dillon's large book

He said when he got to the liberry (his pronunciation for library) he had to sneak past the libberians to find a spot on a shelf for his large book.  During the next month, his book, titled "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis," was one of the library's most sought after titles.  And, it also inspired children in Boise to write their own stories.  The book had drawn so much attention that it had a waiting list of 56 people by the end of the month.  In the Boise library you are allowed to keep books out for four weeks, thus with the long waiting list it just might take years before everyone gets a  chance to see it.  

Dillon working on his book

And, what made the book so interesting and sought-after was the fact that the librarians played along with checking out Dillon's book.  The manager of the library, Mr. Hartman said it belonged on the library shelves since it does have such a good story.  They placed it alongside the graphic novels, since it had so many page-length illustrations.  They did mention that the book had plenty of spelling errors.  The book started with Chaptr 1 - "One Day in wintr it wus Crismis!'  (Do you have any idea how tough it is to type a story such as this with all the spelling mistakes?  My computer doesn't allow me to make them unless I type everything twice).  

One of the pages in the book

The book tells of a time-traveling adventure after the star on the tree explodes.  Santa arrives and Dillon tells of a tree portal that takes him back in time to the first Thanksgiving in 1621.  His imagination is unbelievable.  Eventually the Idaho Press and the Boise television station picked up on the book which inspired others in his class to write their own books.  Many of the children asked if they could write books and journals for the library.  Another local author is working with Dillon to create a children's writing workshop at the library. Book publishers had been asking the library about officially publishing the book.  As for Dillon, he is now working on his next book to be called "The Jacket-Eating Closet" which will be based on his own closet. So, who says that children today aren't creative?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Beginning Your Blog" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Thinking back to when I first began to write this blog.  I did a search on this site and found my first story was on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.  I titled it "The 'White Rat' story."  I began to read it and found it was about half the length of most of my stories that I write today.  I originally decided to write a blog since I enjoyed reading stories as well as writing, but didn't want to write a book for fear I would get part way through it and quit.  Many people dream of penning their first novel, short story or book of poems, but never realize their dream.  I made the decision to begin writing and if no one would read it...well at least I had given it a try.  I thought back to my English teacher, Mrs. Clare Eisenhart, who in my junior year of high school told us never to give up writing as long as you can still hold your pencil or pen. Well, Mrs. Eisenhart, you were right!  I gave it a try and I loved it!  I may not be the best writer, as she once told me in her class, but she also told me to never give up my dream.  I don't particularly care to have anything I write published, so writing a blog was my choice.  Getting started was the toughest part and looking at that blank page on my screen in front of me was at first overwhelming.  But, after striking a few keys, the words exploded from my mind as my fingers placed the words on the screen.  At first I wondered what to write in my blog, but before long, my topics became evident.  Stories of my life had never been written before and who can write them better than me!  I discovered that gaining perfection in my writing technique would have to be developed over time, since there was no way I was going to obtain perfection when I first started.  That's one more thing I can remember Mrs. Eisenhart telling me.  I recently read a column that listed the 14 quotes to motivate the writer inside of me.  After reading them I thought I would include them with my story today just in case you might plan to begin your own blog.  If I can do it, you more than likely can do it also.  I'm sure that Mrs. Eisenhart would be so proud of me!  Either that...or she's pulling out the rest of the hair that she had after my class graduated from High School.

Check out the following 14 Quotes to Motivate the "Writer Inside You" that were written by a few famous writers...

1. There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen to write.  ― William Makepeace Thackeray

2. You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence. It's just so easy to give up!  ― Octavia E. Butler

3. If you have a limited amount of time to write, you just sit down and do it. You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.  ― Jodi Picoult

4.  Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.

— Henry Miller

5.  You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. — Annie Proulx

6.  Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade, just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.  — Truman Capote

7. The first draft is just you telling yourself the story. ― Terry Pratchett

8.  Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.  — Kurt Vonnegut

9.  Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.― Ray Bradbury

10.  Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.  — Barbara Kingsolver

11.  Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.  — Meg Cabot

12.  Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something — anything — down on paper. A friend of mine says that the first draft is the down draft — you just get it down. — Anne Lamott

13.  Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.  — Louis L’Amour

14.  And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

— Sylvia Plath

And... just in case you want to read, or re-read my very first story...

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

The "White Rat" story

It was an ordinary day. I was waiting for my Grandpap to take me to Root's Farmers Market in East Petersburg, PA. He often took his 12 year old grandson to the market for an ice cream cone or soft pretzel. Just the two of us! We ALWAYS wandered over to the livestock auction to see what was being bought and sold. Today they had the regular things such as chickens, guinea pigs, pigeons and rabbits, but today they also had a wooden box of 7 white rats. Some were full grown and some were babies. Some were 6" to 8" long while others were 12" to 18" long. THEY WERE RATS! Your routine white rat family. $2.00 he bid! Nobody else challenged him so we walked away with a new family for my house. We put the box in the trunk of his 2-tone green 1955 Buick and headed home. You see this was not something unusual since he often brought some kind of livestock home with us. Now that I am an adult with grandkids I wonder if he was trying to get even with his daughter and son-in-law, my Mother and Father. We put a wire screen over the wooden box and placed it in the cellar. I was able to hold the young rats, but didn't chance holding the big ones. They did have neat pink tails and big teeth. Naturally, I had to get rat pellets, vegetables, etc. for my new "pets". Sunday came and we headed to church for the morning. When we returned home I headed to the cellar to check on my new friends. As I headed down the open wooden steps I saw something run across the floor at the bottom of the steps. Oh My Gosh! The rats have escaped. I had never given my rats names, but at this point they were being called a variety of very bad names. They chewed through the wooden box. Big teeth, wooden box, Duh! Well, we had to catch them so my Dad and I found a peach basket and put it upside down with a small stick under one end of it with a string to the steps. We put food under the basket and waited quietly on the steps for the rats to take the bait. THEY REALLY DID! I remember that it took a long time, but we captured them all and this time put them in an aquarium. Good idea! I knew this was going to be the end of my new pets. We lived near the Lancaster Stockyards which was the busiest stockyards east of Chicago. Dad thought they certainly wouldn't mind a few more rats so we took them to the field next to the stockyards and said Goodbye to them. I wasn't really upset since I knew that my Grandpap was going to take me to Roots again very soon. I'll bet you can't wait to hear what happened on the next trip. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

PS - The answer to my story from yesterday titled "Who Am I? is HABIT! 

The "Tell Me...Who Am I" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just got back from the grocery store where I picked up my free copy of "The Fishwrapper" on the way out of the store.  "The Fishwrapper" is a publication of Little Mountain Writing and features a variety of puzzles, recipes, poems, spiritual stories, plenty of advertisements and a few interesting short stories.  Today it also included a quarter-page, author unknown, page filler that I found interesting and thought I would share with you.  But, to make it a bit more interesting, I won't post the answer until tomorrow.  See if you can come up with the answer to the puzzle without seeing the answer until tomorrow.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

WHO AM I?

I am your constant companion.

I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.

I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.

I am completely at your command.

Half the things you do, you might as well turn over to me,

And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.

Show me exactly how you want something done,

And after a few lessons I will do it automatically

I am the servant of all great men, and, alas, of all failures as well.

Those who are great, I have made great.

Those who are failures, I have made failures.

A am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine

Plus the intelligence of a man.

You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin;

It makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me

And I will put the world at your feet.

Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.  

Who am I?

The "The Real-Life Wally and The Beaver" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Watching one of my all-time favorite  television shows from the past..."Leave It To Beaver."  Perhaps you have seen it on the MeTV channel.  It is on every weekday morning at 8:00 am with another episode airing at 8:30 am.  I've probably seen ever episode that was ever made...a least a dozen times each.  Today's episode had Theodore's  (The Beaver) teacher, Miss Landers, visiting the Cleaver home for the evening meal.  Miss Landers was all jazzed up with a scoop-necked dress and shoes that had no toes in them.  Beaver met her at the front door and then introduced Miss Landers to his mom and dad.  After talking for a few minutes they went to the back patio, which you very seldom saw on any other show, to eat their meal.  Only problem was that high up in a tree along the sidewalk of the house were Beav's friends Larry, Whitey and Gilbert.  They just had to come to see their teacher all snazzed up for dinner.  Naturally they were caught in the act and were told to get down from the tree and stop over to see their teacher to greet her.  

The show ended with Miss Landers departing the Cleaver home after an interesting evening.  "Leave It to Beaver" was a sitcom that was broadcast between 1957 and 1963 and was about an inquisitive and often naïve boy known as "The Beaver."  234 episodes were produced and I saw just about every of them, many of them multiple times. It was originally on CBS, but changed to ABC in 1958.  Today it is on the MeTV channel.  If you ever watched the show, you more than likely would recognize the song that was played at the beginning and the end of show.  It was "The Toy Parade."  The original show ended on June 20, 1963, after I had graduated from high school.  Many who watched the show said it was meant to be in Mayfield, but there are a few Mayfields in the USA and I never knew in what Mayfield it was supposed to have been in.  The cast of the show still remains friends and keeps in touch.  Many appeared on the Today show in 2017 to mark the show's 60 anniversary.  Supposedly, Barbara Bilingsley (Mrs Cleaver) was asked to wear pearls on the original show because she had a deep hollow in her neck.  The pearls covered the area perfectly.  Check next time you watch the show.  You still do watch the show...DON'T YOU?  Well, when I went to Brecht Elementary School in 1950-1956, my mom would invite Mr. Bucher, the school principal, to visit and eat supper at our house on North Queen Street a few times each year.  Mr. Bucher lived  a few blocks away on East New Street and was a bachelor, so mom thought it would be nice to have him come and visit.  I also had a younger brother, such as the "Beav," who always ate supper with us when Mr. Bucher arrived.  Often wondered what Mr. Bucher thought about my brother and I when he came to visit snd eat a meal with us.   Mom also continued to have Mr. Bucher for super after I entered Jr. High and my brother, Steve, entered Brecht Elemntary School. Was it just possible that the show was based on our lives?  Never had the nerve to ask Dr. Bucher (he had obtained his Dr. degree after I left the school) what he thought of my family when I was younger.  I became a teacher in the same school district in the late-1960s when Dr. Bucher was still in the same district.  Often thought of asking him, but he retired from the school district before I ever had the chance to ask him and he is no longer with us today.  Well,  could my brother have been "The Beaver" and I Wally?  My brother would have fit into the "Beaver" mold and I could easily have been Wally.  Guess we will never know.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "The Quietest Town In America" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Just finished reading about a town in the United States where all forms of electronic communication is banned.  Town is known as Green Bank, West Virginia.  Green Bank is located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia and is home of the Green Bank Observatory which bans any device that might interfere with the observatory's radio telescopes, including cellphones, Wi-Fi routers and iPads. It is the one place in the United States that our government has banned nearly all forms of modern communication.  Actually, the nearby town of Green Bank is known as the quietest town in America.  People actually have to chat with one another over evening meals at the dinner table.  Travel to a restaurant in town and you won't find anyone chatting on a cell phone at their table.  No one turns their head away from you in order to send a text or hops on Facebook to call someone an idiot. Sound like Heaven on Earth to me!  Is this the best town in America or what?  So, how many people live in Green Bank where the air is clean and you can actually enjoy a conversation without being interrupted by a ding or a ring.  Well, seems that there aren't many people who can put up without our current technology, since only 180 people live in Green Bank.  They do have a bank, a gas station, an elementary school a Dollar General Store and several churches.  Why several churches when there are only 180 people who live there?  Well, you should know by now that all folks don't believe the same things about religion, so they had to split into several churches instead of just one.  But...they decided on the split face to face instead of complaining to one another on social media.  One of the local pastors didn't mind that there were no phones in the town and told his wife that if he was needed, the person needing him could tell God and God could tell him.  Sound like your type of town?  Seems that instant communication has grown to the point where we get annoyed when someone answers their cellphone or responds to an email almost instantly.  For me...I have a cell phone, but wouldn't miss it if I didn't have it.  Matter of fact I often forget to stick it in my pocket when I leave home and will later get chewed out by just about everyone who had been trying to call me while I didn't have my phone.  If I lived in Green Bank I wouldn't have to answer to any of those who can't believe I don't have my phone on me 24 hours a day.  And, if I did live in Green Bank I could blame the government for not allowing me to use my phone 24 hours a day.  "That darn Government!  They made me give up my phone, I could say as I shake my hand in the direction of Washington D.C."  At times we make mistakes, but can almost always undo the mistakes.  Perhaps you got angry were you worked and told your boss you quit.  Or...maybe you got angry at your spouse and said you had enough!  Mistakes such as this can usually be undone, but there is no way on earth that you can undo social media, cellphones, 24-hour connectivity, etc.  They're here to stay.  Now, don't get me wrong.  They are a blessing in the hands of the right people, but there are too many that don't know how to hang up, stop pushing the keys, or forgetting to look at the clock. So, after all this complaining...you see why I would love to live in Green Bank.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - I know...I wouldn't be able to share my stories with you if I moved...so I'll stay put!  And, you may notice that I forgot to publish this story until late in the day.  Just got too involved in something else and forgot to pick up my laptop and add a new story when I usually do.

The Green Bank Observatory

The "Did You Ever Try Eating An Ice Cream Sundae For Breakfast?" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  And...OK, I know I missed it!  Only remembered when my wife wished me a "Happy Groundhog Day!" as she laid in bed while I was on my way to take a shower this morning.  At first I thought she had said, "Happy Valentine's Day."  For an instant I panicked thinking I had forgotten to buy her a Valentine's Day card.  Then she saw the lost look in my eyes and repeated, "Happy Groundhog Day!" Oh, yeah.."Happy Groundhog Day to you, too!"  Now, I have written about Groundhog Day a few times before, so you won't have to read about it one more time.  And besides, the day I am going to tell you about today is much more important than whether or not a groundhog has seen his shadow and went back into hiding for more time, for you see this coming Saturday morning is "Ice Cream for Breakfast Day."  Now, tell me that a groundhog that happens to see his shadow on a sunny day is more important than eating icecream for breakfast this coming Saturday morning.  Well, there it was...right on the first page of my newspaper's Food Section.  Big headline in what appeared to be 48 point bold type which read "Eat ice cream for breakfast Saturday."  Story started by telling me that life is short...so eat dessert first!  And, many restaurants in Lancaster will open early so we all can eat ice cream Saturday morning.  Just how did Ice Cream for Breakfast  Day begin?  Well, it was in the 1960s that Florence Rappaport of New York created Ice Cream Sunday for Breakfast Day as a way to chase away cabin fever for her six children due to a winter storm that had blown through the area.  As for this coming Saturday, "Ice Cream for Breakfast Day" is a day for shops and restaurants to draw in the crowds and serve ice cream for breakfast.

A great way to start the day!  This morning's paper had nine places that will help you celebrate "Ice Cream for Breakfast Day."  Some of the  places had names such as "Down On The Farm Creamery", "Good Life Ice Cream & Treats",  "Lickity Split Restaurant", and "Splits & Giggles Cafe."  One restaurant was open from 8:00 a.m. to noon and will serve a special menu featuring homemade waffle, cinnamon roll or doughnut sundaes, all featuring two scoops of ice cream with choice of drizzle, plus whipped topping, cinnamon or sprinkles and a cherry.  With your meal you also got orange juice or coffee.  Each restaurant featured something a bit different, but they all geared their menu to be compatable with a few scoops of ice cream.  I very seldom head out to eat for breakfast, but I must admit the Sticky Bun sundae with caramel truffle ice cream or the Sweet Street Sundae that's a glazed donut topped with "magical unicorn ice cream", M&Ms, rainbow sprinkles, whipped topping and a cherry both sound pretty good.  Both those dishes were found at Lickity Split Restaurant.

Hey, if Florence Rappaport had known what she started years ago, she may have opened her own restaurant in her kitchen and made some money off her neat idea of serving ice cream for breakfast.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.     

The "Memories From The Past" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished going through another box of "old stuff" that my wife, Carol, and I had stored away years ago when we moved into our "beach house" in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  We had stored box after box of "old stuff" in closets as well as a large storage space about our garage after moving about  two dozen or so years ago.  We have finally decided that the place is way to big for us anymore since our children all moved out ages ago and the acre of lawn is getting to much for me to handle anymore.  We have picked out a retirement community a few miles away and now have to wait for an opening before we can make our move.  Could be a few months or a few years, so in the meantime we have decided that we need to get rid of anything that we no longer need.  That would include chests filled with old clothes as well as hundreds of old mementos that no longer have the same meaning to us as they once did.  While searching through a few cardboard boxes one day last week I came upon a few scrap books that were filled with memory after memory. Knew I just couldn't throw all the memories out and never get to see them again, so I scanned a few hundred of them and put them in a folder on my computer's desktop.  As I sat down this morning to type another story on my blog, I decided to open the folder one more time just to see what I had saved this past week.  There was a scan of an arm patch I had won years ago for bowling a 500 triple as well as a chest patch that covered the front of my winter jacket which I had won playing baseball when I was in Jr. High School years ago.  The patch had been sewn on a heavy winter jacket that I received from the Young Republican Club in Lancaster after being part of a Jr. Midget Baseball team when I was 13 years old.  It was a team that consisted of baseball players from the city of Lancaster who traveled to tournaments many weekends as well as being in a Jr. Midget League in Lancaster.  There were about 15 of us who not only won the local league but were good enough to become State Champs in 1957. Another 8X10 black and white photograph featured the Manheim Township High School Rifle Team that I had coached for 5 years.  The fourth year the team traveled to State College, Pennsylvania where we competed in the 1968-1969 State Championship.  We won the tournament and all received trophies.  While going through photo scrap books I came upon one that Carol had made that was filled with photographs of the wedding trip we took to Niagara Falls the evening after we were married in 1967.  One final photo scrapbook had photographs from when Carol was a child.  Hard to believe we were both children at one time!  I have included a few of the scans to give you an idea as to what I saved so as to remember what our life was like growing up.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I did when I was scanning them.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Click on images to enlarge them.

Bowling patch

High School Rifle Team

My car sticker while teaching at MTHS

Wedding Announcement

Me at Niagara Falls

Carol at Niagara Falls

Someone was nice enough to take our photo

Another photo of me

Niagra Falls

Carol and her friend

A younger photo of Carol

Carol and her parents, Charles and Grace

Patch I removed from the jacket that
team members were given for winning
the State Championship in 1957.