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My Favorite Veteran
When I’m out in the sticks visiting my mom, I often walk over to the retirement home that my Grandpa lives in around the block and have coffee with him. Coffee is free and I usually need a cup pretty bad since my mom is not a coffee drinker. It’s a perfect time for us to visit.
Sometimes my Grandpa tells stories about the two years he was stationed in England during World War Two—little gems here and there. You never really know what he’s going to share with you.
My Grandpa wasn’t a war hero or anything, in fact he never even really got to serve. He was trained to be an air traffic controller but he was one of three guys ready for the job. The other two guys worked out so his services were never needed. When you ask my Grandpa about being a war veteran he always kind of shrugs sheepishly because he pretty much did nothing but kick around London for two years. Not a bad life for twenty-something-year-old.
Today my Grandpa told me the story of how he got drafted. He was living with his mother and her new husband at the time and he wasn’t really getting along with the new husband. Apparently they had a disagreement over how to build a fire. I know how men can be about building fires. I’ve seen Toby and his brother disagree over the art of fire-building myself and believe me there was some tension in the room.
Anyway, I guess the new husband thought he could build a fire by stacking up newspapers flat and then setting the logs on top. Even I know that won’t work and I’ve never been a girl scout. So when my Grandpa corrected his stepfather I guess things got pretty uncomfortable. It’s hard to imagine my Grandpa being confrontational. He’s not a fighter at all. I’m sure he decided to leave long before they kicked him out.
That day my Grandpa walked down to the Army Recruiters office to see where his name was in the draft. The woman who worked there couldn’t find his file anywhere and told him to go home and count his blessings. That is where my Grandpa says he went wrong. He confides that he got to talking to the woman. She was a good looking girl and I guess things got a little flirtatious. It’s funny to hear my Grandpa tell these stories because my Grandpa isn’t really the flirtatious type. He is charming though. I will say that.
They got to talking and he stayed too long. Eventually she found his file. It had fallen down behind her desk drawer. He was shipped off to England two days later. Funny how things work out.
But I’m glad my Grandpa spent two years in England. He fell in love with my Grandma during those two years. They had only just met right before he shipped out. I think my Grandma was even seeing someone else at the time but they decided to stay in touch with letters anyway. They wrote letters every day. It makes you wonder what might have happened if things had happened differently.
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Shooting (photos of) Horses
Yesterday was Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work Day. Or at least it was in our house. I have no idea when that day is for the rest of the country. Toby let us tag along on one of his photo shoots because he’s been taking pictures of a local horse ranch and he thought we’d get a kick of out of seeing some real horses.
Before we left, Toby asked Bug if she’d ever seen a horse before. She has, but it was a long time ago when she wasn’t even a year old, so I doubt she remembers it. But of course she said she had and when Toby asked her how big a horse was she showed him her hand. As if horses were as big as a hand. We finally got it out of her that she had seen horses in books and they were about the size of her hand. When we explained that horses are bigger than me or Toby her eyes got really big.
The first thing we did when we got there was meet the horses and their trainer. I was so nervous about the horses myself that I didn’t actually get a good shot of Bug petting them (stupid low light and bad angles), but she did. She was quite impressed. The trainer was very nice.
A stable hand, named Juan, led the model horses out to the pasture to be photographed. The owner of this ranch is selling his property and Toby thought it might be nice to have a few horses in the foreground of his regal estate.
Then we drove around to the front of the property and Toby climbed up on top of his van to get his shot. Who needs a giant ladder pod when you can climb up on top of your big old Eurovan to get your angle? He does it all the time. I’ve even had to patch up his pants a time or two from some of his stunts. I hope I’m not giving away a trade secret here but I thought you guys might find it interesting. I’d share the shot he took while up there but he’s still processing the images. Instead here’s a shot Bug took:
And one of me, though I’m not so fond of this angle.
It was hot and dusty out there. It’s amazing how going inland a few miles in Southern California means the temperature goes up dramtically. We think we’ve had it bad during this latest heat wave, but it was scorching out in San Juan Capistrano. I could almost feel the moisture being sucked out of my skin.
The horses don’t seem to mind the heat much. They seemed to love it out here. I suppose horses would like to trot along the beach just as much as I do but there’s lots more room for them out here. Miles and miles as far as you can see there are hills and valleys just waiting to be galloped over. We walked around the property a bit and had the pleasure of watching two girls learning how to ride. They galloped and trotted and jumped over gates. It was all very exciting.
Not bad for a day’s work. Then we left and drove straight to Starbucks for the biggest coldest passion iced tea we could buy, and boy did it taste good.
