12/7/1941
Ed in Spring Valley, Wisconsin: “Though I was born in 1946, I have a lot of memories of Pearl Harbor.
“My Dad joined the Navy right out of high school in 1939, because as a farm kid from a small town in Iowa, he felt that would be the best way to get more education; they could not afford college for him.
“He was stationed at Pearl Harbor aboard the battleship Maryland, and on that Sunday morning had attended Catholic Mass on the Arizona (there was no Catholic chaplain on the Maryland). He returned to his ship around 7:45 a.m., and the attack started before 8 a.m.
“His ship was tied up alongside the Oklahoma, which spared it from being hit with torpedo shells. They did suffer other damage, and he was part of a work crew which tried to cut holes in the Oklahoma to free trapped sailors.
“Dad would not talk about those days much.
“My younger brother was born on December 7, 1947. Dad belonged to the Pearl Harbor survivors group in Davenport, Iowa, and for as long as I can remember, he was always gone on my brother’s birthday.
“Mom and Dad made a trip to Hawaii in the late ’70s or early ’80s and went out to the Arizona Memorial. Mom said that Dad was real somber as they rode out there, and she just allowed him to be with his thoughts. As they were in line getting off the launch, someone in the group (not a Park Service guide, etc.) started talking loudly about what had happened in 1941. Mom said that Dad spoke up and said: ‘No, that is not how it was.’ He proceeded to explain how the day unfolded from his perspective as a sailor who was there. There was quite a gathering of people who stopped and listened to him and thanked him for his insight after he was finished.
“Mom said that was the most she had heard him speak about the war and December 7th in their whole time together.
“Dad and Mom have been gone for 30 years now, but I still can remember the things he did tell us about Pearl Harbor.”
Our times
The Retired Pedagogue of Arden Hills: “Subject: A very good sign.
“Grandson Nick (eighth grade) had a hockey game at the Charles M. Schulz Highland Arena in St. Paul on Sunday afternoon. A large sign behind the bleachers read:
“‘PLEASE REMEMBER
“‘THEY ARE KIDS
“‘THIS IS A GAME
“‘COACHES ARE VOLUNTEERS
“‘REFs ARE HUMAN
“‘YOUR KID DOES NOT PLAY FOR THE WILD (my personal favorite)
“‘THANK YOU’”
The verbing of America
Mrs. J of Mounds View: “The Mounds View Swede and I recently received a thank you note from our great-niece, who graduated last June from high school. Since we didn’t send her gift until September, we deservedly received a somewhat tardy response.
“She’s taking a gap year before attending college and is living in her small hometown, on her own in the family home, while her folks are working overseas. Her note opens with: ‘Sorry this is so, so late. Adulting is hard.’”
The Permanent Friendsly Record
Mary Prescott, on behalf of the Rice Street Girls: “We would love to have the picture below shared on Bulletin Board— description below, and please let me know if there is any other information you need. Description: ‘Rice Street Girls held their 40th Annual Christmas Party on December 10th.’ They started in 1976 and have kept the tradition going ever since.
“Front row: Gail Follmer, Jill Ouradnik-Walsh, Roxanne Follmer, Kristi Schanks, Mary Prescott, Jacque Luger.
“Middle row: Dawn Quickstad, Anita Mills, Carol Buckrey, Bridget Paitich, Gwen Hedrick, Annette Walters, Shelly Newgren.
“Back row: Joy Frevel, Robbi Manders, Debbie Bradford, Terry Struss, Sue Sward, Peggy Wander, Margie Smith, Sally Nelson, Denise McKenzie, Shelly Hanson.”
BULLETIN BOARD SAYS: Tell you what. We’ll run your picture in Bulletin Board if you’ll ALL promise to FOLLOW BBonward.com, put a Bulletin Board tout on your Facebook pages, and tell all of your friends — actual friends and Facebook Friends — to read BBonward.com, habitually.
Just sort of kidding … but not really!
Badvertising (responsorial)
Plus: Only a _________ would notice!
Vapid in Vadnais: “I, too, have watched the Dodge ad, and I finally noticed (I think, my eyes not being what they used to be [Bulletin Board says: Your eyes got it right this time]) that the needles on the pine trees have disappeared by the end of the race.
“Another ad that annoys me is the one for dishwasher detergent in which the woman chides the man helping her. She says words to the effect of ‘Baked-on Alfredo?’ and removes the pan, to be pre-soaked (or something). However, the sauce that is baked on is red. Alfredo sauce is white.
“Have a Merry and a Happy!”
Everyone’s a copy editor!
Aggie Girl: “Apparently the person who does the short stories for the PP Sports is not a big college sports fan — at least not enough of one to be familiar with all of the schools. In Sunday’s print edition of the PP, there was a headline about the Gophers’ women’s hockey team. The headline said ‘BC goalie stifles Gopher women.’ Imagine my surprise in the first sentence there is a reference to Boston University. Now, I had to wonder who they actually were playing, as I am positive that Boston University and Boston College are not the same school. Reading further didn’t help, as there were additional references to both BC and BU.
“Finally, a trip to the University of Minnesota Facebook page yielded the fact that they did, indeed, play Boston University, not Boston College.”
Everyone’s a copy editor!
The Era of Spell-Check Division
Red’s Offspring, north of St. Paul: “Subject: Strategic discussions on the gridiron.
“Monday’s Pioneer Press Sports section carried numerous articles covering the Vikings/Jaguars game. A piece headlined ‘Teammates heed QB’s “explosive” call,’ on Page 3B, contained this: ‘It didn’t help that the Vikings were 0 of 5 on third-down conversations in the first half ….’
“They must have brought in a guest speaker for the second half.”
Only a _________ would notice!
Bloomington Bird Lady: “When the ad for Farmers Insurance appears on TV, they always play a tune: ‘We are Farmers . . . dum, da dum dum, dum dum dum.’ Know the one? [Bulletin Board says: We know many of them. They’re pretty funny!]
“Right away, on the first hearing, I thought: ‘Why just men’s voices on that commercial?’ I’ve known a few farmers and their wives through the years, and the wives are every bit as dedicated to farming, plus all their housework and maybe even a job in town.
“I vote for redoing that commercial in at least two-part harmony.”
The Permanent Granddaughterly Record (responsorial)
Or: A joke for the season
Monday note from Poet X of PDX: “Today’s Baby God tale reminded me of this joke:
“Johnny’s mother took him aside and informed him: ‘Johnny, you’re getting no presents this year. You have been a holy terror.’
“Johnny went to the living room, where there was a Nativity scene. He took the baby Jesus out of the manger, went upstairs and hid him in his room.
“He came back downstairs to the Nativity scene. ‘Now, Mary, if you ever want to see your son again….’ ”
Know thyself!
And: Know thy kind!
Tim Torkildson: “I opened a can of Bush’s Baked Beans, added two cut-up wieners and a long pour of maple syrup, then simmered it for an hour. I’ll eat it with some Triskets and goat cheese.
“Only bachelors get to do this.”
Everyone’s a (book) critic!
‘Tis the Season Division
Kathy S. of St. Paul: “To those folks who need something light and fun in this darkest month of the year, I recommend Donna Andrews’s three Christmas books. They are ‘Six Geese A-Slaying,’ ‘Duck the Halls,’ and ‘The Nightingale Before Christmas’ — and they are even better in audio form. They are part of Andrews’s series of bird-themed cozy mysteries, mostly set in fictional Caephilly, Virginia.
“In ‘Six Geese,’ Santa is found murdered in a port-a-potty before the annual holiday parade. ‘Duck the Halls’ starts with the firefighters called to the Baptist church, where skunks have been loosed in the choir loft. And in ‘The Nightingale Before Christmas,’ a murder involves a Christmas-themed show house for interior decorators.
“Heroine Meg Langslow and her growing army of family and friends get to cope with and solve each murder — while they clean and repair the Baptist church in time for Christmas, etc.
“I love the whole series, but the Christmas ones are great — especially now. I just wish they were all easily available in audio form.”
The Workshop Chronicles
IGHGrampa reports: “Here are some things I’ve been working on lately. I just finished the lidded box.
“I didn’t have a purpose for it until granddaughter Eden declared it a candy box. So, that’s what it is until we think of another use.
“My next project is a half- or third-sized wooden bucket. As you can see, I have to work out a few problems.”
Website of the Day (responsorial)
Leading to: Random harvest
The Divine Mum of Crocus Hills: “I loved the Sunday Long Read site [Website of the Day, BB, 12/6/2016: The Sunday Long Read]. Thanks for sharing.
“The website had a link to an essay by Joe Posnanski [http://joeposnanski.com/a-quiet-moment/], a sportswriter I remember reading when I lived and worked in St. Joseph, Missouri. He used to work for the Kansas City Star.
“The essay is about Posnanski’s being forced to unplug during a recent flight because the airplane’s Wi-Fi was down. He read a book. Really read a book. By Bruce Springsteen. Made me want to read it.
“The essay included this paragraph: ‘It just occurred to me: I think this is why I love driving my girls to school every morning. We don’t listen to music. Nobody is allowed to [sic] on their phone. We just talk. It’s my favorite part of the day. And I think it’s because for 20 or so minutes, I’m fully present.’
“So many great conversations happen in the car when I’m driving my three children to their various and sundry activities. I regularly volunteered to drive H. Benry, now 15 1/2, to his summer caddying gig, because it was 15 to 20 minutes of being ‘fully present’ with him.”
The Permanent Godsonly Record
DebK of Rosemount: “Likely inspired by recent BBonward posts documenting sightings of PIE-lee-ated woodpeckers and bald eagles, our 2-year-old godson, J.D., undertook to do a little birdwatching of his own, pressing into service Taxman’s binoculars, which are always at the ready.”
Mix it up!
Willard B. Shapira of Roseville: “With your kind permission, I will introduce a new topic for discussion: multi-tasking.
“My favorite is to watch a sporting event on TV with the sound off, listen to jazz or classical music on the radio or my boom-box, and read the two metro dailies, to which I have subscribed for decades — all three at the same time.
“What are yours?”
Band Name of the Day: The Holy Terrors
Website of the Day: Humans of New York.
Bulletin Board 