The Battle of Spaichingen

My father-in-law and I were playing cribbage at the kitchen table in the middle of a hot afternoon during the summer of 1968. We spent hours playing that game; it fascinated him. It was funny because he would miss points and the rule is the other player counts the points that are missed, but stubborn Bert would refuse to allow it and would take the points that he missed. So I simply stopped telling him about them.

As we played he told me that there was, at one time, some money in Germany in Rose’s name that they could not take out of the country. It gave them a reason to go back every few years after the war to see everyone without spending their hard-earned money.

Here’s the story: In the later stages of World War II, as the Allies were closing in on Germany and forcing the German army back towards Berlin, the French were advancing along the route that runs north from the Bodensee (Lake of Constance.) Their hometown of Spaichingen/Hoven was on the way and it was under the control of a German colonel. It was evident to the world, and the Germans, that they were about to be defeated. The colonel, for this and perhaps other reasons, was drunk most of the time; perhaps he didn’t want to face reality.

One day, a message came that the French army was coming toward Spaichingen. He was drunk but roused himself from his office and charged into the square in front of the church and assembled his troops. There he was in his uniform pants with suspenders over his undershirt, wearing his boots, whirling around and around in the square waving his arms, telling his soldiers and the people of the town, to bring everything they could to build a barricade across the road to stop the advance. It was comical but they complied and frantically piled carts, boxes, furniture, and whatever else they could find, across the road.

Air patrols of the advancing army saw the barricade and called in a strike. A couple of bombs were dropped and the make-do barricade was blown to smithereens and so was the house that belonged to Rose’s family. After the war, the family was paid for the damages but she couldn’t take the money out of the country. The only thing left of the house is a street scene painted earlier by Rose’s brother Albert, which shows the house as it was before the war.

End

Bravado

Many cemeteries in little towns in southern Germany had a large wooden cross in the middle. Bert told this story as true.

Three of them in the bar
One boasting

I am afraid of nothing
Especially your ghosts

I’m sorry boys it’s midnight
You’ll have to go I’m closed

Cold winter was nigh
As they stood in the street

Dark as pitch
No moon was out

Let’s walk, it’s cold
And they noisily set off

Afraid of nothing you say
We can see if it’s true

Stop at my tool shed
For a hammer and nail

To the gate of the cemetery
They ushered their hero

Go hammer this nail
Into the cross in the center

He gulped in his throat
But held up his bargain

And into the blackness
Walked the carpenter

The witnesses listened
The nailing began

One, two, three, four, five
Enough, then Aieeee!

All was silent
In the dark cemetery

Gripped in fear
They spoke not to each other

But waited for dawn
They weren’t as brave

Then they slowly crept in
To find their dead victim

Hung by the nail
Through his coat sleeve

Frozen on his face
Was the horror of fright?

So, How Are Things with You

“Hey,” he said, “It’s great seeing you.

“Let’s get a cup of coffee so we can catch up on things; we have some time before I have to get going and it’s been forever. I’ve missed seeing you since we went our separate ways,” And then he started in, hardly taking a breath.

“How about those Cards; here we are going for the BCS, then losing to Kentucky and Syracuse in football, go figure. I can’t wait for basketball season to start. I wonder what Coach has up his sleeve for this year. Do you have tickets? I didn’t renew mine.

“You know, there’s always a lot going on around me, but thank goodness most of it is either good or irrelevant.

“I’ll be sixty-six on Xmas Eve, and I found out recently that was a Sunday in 1939. Yeah, and I came across a little poem that says, in effect, that the child born on Sunday is special; everything goes good for him or her.

“Well, that’s my life. Almost everything I do turns out to be more than just right, I mean it turns out really good and I’m being objective. I’ve spent a lot of time working on being objective about myself and I am. It’s difficult to do when you are the subject but I’ve been able to get around that and you can take me at my word, it’s always goes good for me.

“My job is going great. I’ve been doing training for the Yves Corporation now for the past several years. My bosses’ job is a rotator; so they regularly move on to another job with more responsibility. I get along just fine with them as they come and go, even if they are French and you know how difficult a French boss can be sometimes. If Martha didn’t need so much money to live on after our divorce there would have been enough set aside for me to retire way before now but I can’t, not yet.

“Yeah, I still have the house and it’s for sale. If you know of anyone who’d be interested, tell them to call. It’s just too big for the three of us. It needs some work but the right person could put it back in apple pie order in no time at all. What made me realize that it’s too much for me are the looks I get as the neighbors drive by. They haven’t said anything yet but it won’t be long.

“Oops, that’s my cell phone. Let me turn it off.

“Oh sorry, I have to answer it.

Here he had to pause while he took the phone call.

“Sorry again, that was my wife and it took a little longer than I thought but I had to talk to her. When she calls she seems to know when I have it on but don’t answer, and when that happens, she really gets ticked. She says some terrible things. I hope you understand. I just had to talk to her. I’ll turn it off now and we won’t be disturbed anymore.

"Yes, it’s interesting how I got tied up with her. We met on one of those bus tours to Branson, she was younger and pretty and we’ve been married for a little less than five years. But now I’m sort of stuck.

"She lies and tries to cover it up, but I keep on finding out, and nothing I do to changes it. Every time I try to hold the line, I give in to her pleading. We make resolutions, make promises, make plans, and make-up, and then before long, I find another credit card.

"It all started when I found this credit card bill that she’d carelessly left out. It had a balance on it that had been rolled; you know, she got another card to pay off the first one. She promised it would never happen again but it has, lots of times. The balance finally got so big we couldn’t deal with it. Don’t ask me how or for how long.

"After her mother bailed us out. When we made up after that one, the make-up was one for the books, really great. Her mother has had to bail us out three times now and reminds us, a lot.

“My mom wore out her welcome at assisted living. They said she had to go; there were too many complaints about her. It seems that she became something of a pariah but I don’t understand it, she’s fine when she’s with me and she’s been with us now for just over four years. We do well together.

“Mom never brings up anything about her and I don’t share a lot with her about mom. Mom sleeps as late as she wants, I get her breakfast and dinner but she still fixes her own lunch. It’d be nice if she paid a little something to help with expenses but then, what the heck.

“It’s funny how things work out. She talks about her how her grandmother lived with her father and mother and now she’s living with us. It was okay for her to leave when I was twelve; left me with a father who only wanted to justify himself for treating her so badly.

“My dad and I got along okay because I never bucked him. He would rant and rave for hours and I let it roll off of me like water off a duck’s back. He’d blow his top about her in the truck as we drove to the shop; I was a captive audience for about forty-five minutes. He was 90 when he died and now she’s with me. She’s irritable and moody at times, but I don’t mind. It’s good to finally have her here.

“Yeah, Martha and I became history a little more than six years ago. She said she wanted a degree in sociology and when she got it, she left to work in Saint Louis.

“That’s where we grew up you know, but you’d never recognize the place now. We left there a long time ago and she never seemed to get over that. I tried to tell her what people say, that you can’t go back, but she did.

“I think she has taken up with a guy she went to high school with, I even think he called her a few times when we were married. I suppose she’s happy. I never hear from her.

“On Thursday, I have to go to Eddyville to pick up my son. He’s been good, good enough to get some time off for good behavior.

“I still think those guys he was hanging around with framed him. He just isn’t the kind of man who would do that sort of thing. Anyway, that’s all behind him now and he’ll be coming back to town after just seven years.

“That whole thing was devastating for the family, especially my ex-wife, but I got over it quickly because I’m holding on to the truth. He didn’t do it. He is our only boy and I think there’s still time for him to find a nice girl, get married and have a family. He’s forty-two and has lots of good years in ahead of him.

"The girls are doing fine, the only time I hear from them they are asking for money. Since I don’t have any to give them, I haven’t heard from them for a long time. I suppose they’re busy.

“Oh yeah, I ran into Marty Garrison the other day and did he unload on me. It seems that his life is going so badly that he couldn’t wait to tell me all about it.

“He just kept going on and on about how unhappy he is. He didn’t come up for air for about 15 minutes. I’m glad that things always go so well for me; it wouldn’t be much fun for things to be going that badly all the time.

"So, how are things with you?”

What could I say?
End

My World

I am aware that foresight with a realistic appraisal of current situations is important to see disparate influences, realistically appraise the eventualities, and have alternatives that minimize the effect of unforeseen circumstances.

Foresight

In a turning world
Changes are the horizon

Briefly
Rise to see

Yes I see it
But do I want to
Yet it will happen
See it or not

My present passes beneath me
Am I willing to let it go

Above
Beyond

Foreseeing it
Change what can be
Accept what can't be
Prepare

Let this go
For that

Want to or not
 
My vision is work related. At the end of the day I will have advanced my understanding, have been aware for longer spans of lifetime, have assisted and been assisted by others.

My Life

It is sunrise
I stand at the wheel

The silver disk rises from the sea
Chains on Phaeton's chariot clang

I will have known
I will have understood
I will have helped
I will have been helped

It is sunset
I stand at the rail

The orange disk drops into the sea
The rattle of the chariot recedes

Who has helped me
What more do I understand
Where am I
Whom have I helped

I go below
Plot my course

This is my life
 
Most of what I do is mundane, daily stuff that has to be done. Life is what happens besides all of these mundane things but can't happen without taking care of them.


Routine

Arise
Do daily tasks

Mundane
But skipped only at a risk

If one doesn’t do the dishes…
If one doesn't make one's bed…
Soon enough events overtake one
And the mess has to be addressed

The cupboard is bare
The bills must be paid

A movie
A game

But take care
Lifetime is passing
One only has the between times
To ascend the scales

The energy for it is scarce
And the regimen obscure

Seek and ye shall find

 
Taking care of business, day to day

And So Goes the Day

Six plates
Six sticks

Spin one
Then two

All a-turning
Ach! The first one is falling
And the second is slowing
Spin them up!

Six plates turning
All at different speeds

They fall
Clatter, shatter

Shards on the floor
Splintered and scattered
What a mess
Get a broom

And more plates
Spin them up

How many is enough

 
The positive, constructive and enthusiastic takes more energy than the negative and destructive but they are poles of the same persona

Attitude

Positive
Negative

Same being
Poles apart

Shakespeare's weaver
Restores the sleeve
Unraveled is the chaos of fatigue
Knitted is the order of love

Psychic energy
Source of order

Youth has deep pools
Aging silts them in

Rest
Restore
Recuperate
Reconstruct

Reverse the entropy
Order from chaos

Our purpose


 
So much is found through understanding, Reasoning paves the way but insights of understanding are what happens.

Insight

Thinking
Walking

It starts from where I am
And goes on forever

I won't tell you
You won't ask
I could tell you
You won't hear

A mass of knotted string
With two ends

Both lost
In the snarl

I follow
Never tugging
Am I in the middle
Or close to an end

Such is the truth
Be ready

To understand

 
The Truth is what we think we know and as we delve into it we find more and more of it. Like the muddy geode that gives no promise of its marvelous interior, yet that crystalline labyrinth is there.

Truth

It is here
It is there

Neither
Here nor there

Simple and profound
Hidden in imagination
Found and discarded
Unrecognized

Think and ponder,
Infer, deduce, and rationalize

The particle
The universe

Search for it
Recognize it
Lean against it
Live according to it

Ephemeral life
Eternal Master

Forever

 
Females of all ages puzzled me until I figured this out. Although it doesn't exactly fit each, it is a pretty good generalization and hits on some, if not most, observed characteristics.

Woman's World

Overweight
Out of shape

I think about my make-up
My hair, what I wear, and don’t

I walk about
To get you to look
Annoyed when you do
Vexed when you don't

I like sex
But not with you

Moody
Unpredictable

I’m prissy and bitchy
But I get along
Do what I want
And you'll have peace

Young or old
Younger or older

So it was, is, and will be.

 
Males deserve a similar analysis and they are usually gentle beasts who only become active when stimulated

Man's World

Overweight
Out of shape

I think about my manliness
How I look, what I will eat, and drink

I walk about
Looking for opportunity
Easily put off
Unsure when not

I fantasize
About most females

Distracted
Predictable

I abide
But I will act
When stimulated
Otherwise, just let me be

Young or old
Younger or older

So it was, is, and will be.

 
I am aware that there is nothing except the present.

Vivre

Not yesterday
Not tomorrow

Today?
No

Not this morning
Not this evening
It is always
Now

This lifetime passes
One instant at a time

Awake
Aware

It is now
It is only now
There may be more
There may not

I am alive
I live

This is me

 
Of all that can be done, what I am doing is the most desirable. When I compare this to other activities such as a business, I am suddenly aware that I am happier here than there. So I'll stay here for a while longer.

Performance

At all
I do my best

Soar high
Alight to walk about

When compared to ever
I am happier here than there
Others seen are not envied
So I remain here

I realize
I can express joy

Find a door
Into a room

Who is here
Whom will I know
Whom will I meet
What will they say

I enter
Intercourse

This is what I do

 
The situation often seems insoluble, people intractable, costs too high, schedule too tight. Then as if by magic the solution appears and chases all the clouds away. (For Joe Bltzpk--google Al Capp)

Despair

Frustrated
Powerless

Thick
Clouds of doom

Something must be done
What, a mystery
Yet something must be done
To let me go on

Joe Bltzpk is now my hero
This couldn't have gone more wrong

Ah, morning arrives
Where was this thought yesterday?

That sound
It is humming
It is me
Hello friend

The sun shines bright
On my old Kentucky home

Problem solved

 
Relevance is relative

Out to Pasture
An old boat
Sails full of wind

Waves steep
Tide averse

Tacking duels
See only sterns
Crews are scarce
Sea stories unheard

Unimportant
Irrelevant to those in the race

Important
Relevant to the very young

Experience
Knowledge
When asked
Pass them along

Buck up me hearties
You may also sail this boat

Into the sunset

Monolog for Acting Class

Scene Notes:
It is Sunday afternoon, January 11, 2009. My brother-in-law's behavior has become unbearable over the past couple of years; he is married to my sister Patti. It reached the point where I feel that I must talk to him about it because he insulted my son-in-law, Craig about his daughter. He and Patti were here to celebrate my mother's 100th birthday; they left on December 28th; we had house guests until the middle of this past week. It is now time to call him and let him know that what he’s doing is not ok.

Objectives: Tell him in a nice way that (1) his behavior has been noticed and is unacceptable; and (2) that he has to change his behavior if he wants to come back.
From where: I've just finished talking to my wife about it and I am determined to keep my cool. I have just finished dialing the number. He answers:

Script/ Effect

Hi Gary. Yeah it's me. How's it going? (Pause)
Fine, fine. We were glad that you and Patti and the family could be here for the big birthday. (Pause)
Yeah, I think the whole family had a great time of it. There was sure enough to eat and drink and I know mom really enjoyed it-- (no pause)
Gary, if you have a few minutes, there's something we need to talk about. (No pause)
It just seems that coming up here is may be getting to be a problem for you. (Pause)
Yeah, I know Patti feels like it's important for her to see her mom but what about you? (Pause)
Well it's almost comical the way you get out the car as soon as you pull up, look right at me and start yelling at me. (little laugh) Well not at me about me but at me about gas prices, traffic delays, construction, the weather. Hell, about the state of Kentucky in general. (Laugh-- pause)
Yeah, you look right at me and start yelling. You even get this terrible, angry expression on your face. If I didn't know better, I'd take it personally. (Little laugh)
I know, I know but wait a minute, it gets better. (Laughing a little)
You've insulted just about everything and everybody. (little laugh) Yeah, you say things under your breath that you don't think anybody can hear but they do. (Little laugh)
And then this time when you said to Craig that Li Shu could be another Connie Chung, well, he didn't take that too well. (Pause)
I know it's not a big deal to you or me, but I guess he's kind of sensitive about it. He and Theresa waited a long time and worked really hard to get that little girl from China and he thought you were pretty far off base to say that. (Pause)
Well no, it wouldn't hurt to call him and say something. It may make him feel better about it to know you didn't mean anything by it. (no pause)
You know, Gary, if it really bothers you to come up here, why bother? It's ok with me if you don't and I don't think it would be a problem. But if you have to, to bring Patti, you may want to think about what you're saying and how you're acting.
Tell you what, if I see a problem coming I'll get you aside and tell you about it. Not that I'm going to be picky but just to remind you, Ok?
Yeah-great; ok- no hard feelings? Good, me neither. See you next time. (Pause) Bye.