Today is the Tomorrow I was Worried About Yesterday!

Geeze Louise -- Today has been one of those days. My wheels spun all day. No work at all done on the "Great American War Novel." Roy Bedichek published his first novel at age 70, maybe there is hope.

I've got the details on the Doughboys but not too much on the Doughboys themselves. Finding out personal information without having files to draw on is a somewhat daunting task. I can find unit histories but personal histories are not around for the specific areas I'm digging into. The 36th Division was only in combat for twenty eight days, but there was some heavy fighting with losses of men and material. It is an interesting history but histories have been written about the 36th. I feel it is time to tell the stories of the men. the last American combat veteran of World War I died in February, 2007 at the age of 108. There are seven surviving WWI veterans but they did not serve in combat. (As of December, 2007) I guess I will have to dig deep and delve into the land of make believe for the individual stories. Fiction has not been my forte but I can learn.....

In my world today is the honky-tonk music of the 1940's and 1950's. Hank Snow is singing about having been everywhere and The Golden Rocket has rolled. Ernest Tubb is waiting in the wings to walk the floor over whoever, don't know who will come next. I discovered a treasure of my kind of music at cheap prices. The old music has been redone digitally and sounds great. I even got a copy of the only video of Brother Dave Gardner -- Rejoice Dear Hearts! All is well with the world.

The last few days, weeks, and months I have had the feeling that I'm regressing. I have dug into the past trying to put the "Great American War Novel" together and I've been going back into the music "of my youth." It is the sort of stuff I listened to when I was in college on the big 331/3 rd LP albums. I still have a stack of those and a turntable to play them on.

Today is one day that I remember well. I know exactly where I was and what I was doing December 17, 1964. I did not realize how much my life would change from that day forward. It was not a bomb blast, just an erosion and a slide into silt, deep silt, that just covers slowly and erodes the past. However, memories remain and the last few weeks have brought a lot back. Hank Thompson said it in song, "He's In The Jailhouse Now." "Ramblin' Bob" could be any of a multitude of us. Blue collar, work for a paycheck, pay taxes until the clock winds down. BUT no one can take away the memories!

My world is not crowded, just me and the dogs and the honky-tonk music. Wanna come in?