Dr. Suess Not Then, Maybe Today

Well, as I mentioned in some previous posts, this nature blog is slowly going to evolve into something a little less out door Z and more into memoir style. This is because for health reasons many of my outdoor adventure hobbies are no longer safe for me. That translates into more fond memory stories and even an occasional rant on the subjects I've usually avoided in the past in my effort to keep my blogs family-friendly. So today, I'm going to begin with an imaginary book that never existed.
My two young sons heard all of the Dr. Seuss books over and over again. They knew them by heart to the point that when I began to change and ad lib. to the stories somewhat it was to their total disgust." That's not right dad ." "No, he didn't dad". Etc. Which all brings to mind many happy bedtimes, reading books. Perhaps, today the books of Dr. Seuss are no longer as fashionable as they once were, but I recently found the following cartoon which reminded me....

Yes it's true.

The America first people felt safe and secure behind two oceans and there was little compassion for the millions of refugees who began fleeing from the Nazi terror. Many, but not all were turned away from the land of the free and the home of the brave. Fortunately, a great leader was farsighted enough to see the danger to us and lead this nation into a just and righteous war which ended in victory.

Now, we have and are fighting in many wars far away, many, if not all are ill advised with no clear ends insight the world. In addition our leader now choses to fawn up to dictators and autocrats whereve he finds the. The nations and people have changed dramatically since world war two. There are new dangers and new and better opportunities but that great leader Franklin D Roosevelt advised us facing a great depression in world war"," the only thing we have two fear is fear itself."

Today "we are being told again  "it's "America first", which implies our friends and allies are on their own and that if we follow one man all the fears and grievances which he encourages will go away. Above all he will" "make America great again". Perhaps, my two brave and compassionate sons learned a few lessons from the good Dr. Seuss.

Don't fear:

THE DARK

THE FOREST OF THE CITY BEING ALONE

MISSLES RAINING DOWN

TERRORISTS

FOREIGN NATIONS INVADING THIS COUNTRY

AND for sure  don't fear any child or mother or father who flees to this nation to escape war and death.

Return to Duty

In the words of General MacArthur who promised fleeing the Philippines, under duress " I shall return" and did so....well here I am ready to go.  Barb is still in St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester recovering from her  broken arm and soon to return to "memory care." So far so good. I'm doing ok as the adjustment to living alone begins. I do have a new technological device which will help me blog called Dragon. I'm really excited about it as when I talk to it and it types for me on the screen. This is now called "word process". It's gonna take a while to catch on to it but with a little practice....
Here a sample of the first time I tried it.

Latin is a dead language. Dead as it can be. First it killed  the Romans and now it killing me....
(Read by me from  the back of Barb's old high school Latin text)

Ray (Troutbirder)

An Interesting Historical Question

Dear Friends, I'm still preoccupied with issues related to Mrs. T.s adjustment to her Memory Care, her visits to Mayo clinic and her newly broken arm. There returning slightly to my two neglected blogs I'm posting AN INTERESTING HISTORICAL QUESTION for any history buffs out there....
Troutbirder (Ray)

http://ww2today.com/12-january-1944-a-german-soldier-on-the-eastern-front-reflects-on-life

Dementia

Dear Friends & Fellow Bloggers,

Sorry to report that Mrs. T (Barb) was transported from St. Mary's Hospital campus  in Rochester MN. to Cottage Wood memory care unit this week.  This has been five years coming but the wandering, memory loss and agitation had increased considerably this summer and fall with numerous 911 calls and stays in the secure unit or “prison" as she has  called it. Barb volunteered at  Mayos Abigail Van Bureans Alzheimer and Memory Loss Research Center .      Perhaps the last great frontier isn’t outer space but the human brain and it’s role in mental illness. Your thoughts and prayers now and in the future will be much appreciated. I intend to return to my blogging hobby and soon as I can get my act together here on the home front.

 

Ray and Barb

 

Stuby The War Dog

The True Story of World War I's Bravest Dog. A National Geographic Kids Book for dog lovers and Kids of all Ages. Actually, Bausum wrote twin titles about the stray dog smuggled to Europe during World War I who returned to a hero’s welcome. Both books were published in 2014 by National Geographic: Sergeant Stubby (for adult readers) and Stubby the War Dog (for children). Though I remain devoted to another canine hero from The Great War (Rin Tin Tin) Stubby's  true story will leave you amazed....

Known for his keen instincts and fierce loyalty, Stubby is still recognized today as the most decorated canine in American history and the first promoted to the rank of Sergeant in the U.S. Army. Naturally an animated movie  followed......:)

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@Barrie Summy

The Burning Bush

 

No No. Of course it's not Moses though Mrs. T. standing in our front yard, has given me more than Ten Commandments to follow over the years.

The burning bush is an object described by the Book of Exodus as being located on Mount Horeb. ... In the biblical narrative, the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by Adonai (God) to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan.

Harvest Time in Bluff Country

It's mid to late fall here in southeast Minnesota's Bluff Country and there's lots of corn and soybeans to be harvested. Our little acreage over looks the Spring Valley and in the distance the town of the same name. In between our back yard and the valley are some small fields including 14 acres of "beans."....  Take a look....

To the North, our woods, adjacent to the field.

Our friend and neighbor farmer Dick is probably scouting ahead the big machinery making sure everything else is ready to go....

View from our back yard...

From hopper to bin then off to the elevator....

 

 

Miss Lily comes out to check out the commotion but quickly decides she's seen it before and begins looking for the elusive chipmunk under our deck!!!!

Reporter: A Memoir by Seymour M. Hersh

 

In a time when their are  facts and something called "alternate facts" buttressed by screaming talk shows and so called guest "experts," what to think of the issues of the day becomes harder and harder.  So called reporters who only use "leaked" information from biased sources add to the fog. Compounding all of this is the fact that during the Vietnam era Seymour Hersh an a number of other young American reporters began telling what was really going on over there and the American people learned that their government was lying to them..... and still does.

Hersh  told what really happened in the Vietnamese village of My Lai. It was a mass murder of civilians by a company of American soldiers.  Later, he  went on to produce important  articles revealing the CIA’s  domestic spying on U.S. citizens, its abortive assassination plot against Fidel Castro, President Richard Nixon’s secret bombing of Cambodia and complicity in the overthrow and killing of Chilean President Salvador Allende, and, in more recent times, atrocities against Iraqi detainees by their American overseers at Abu Ghraib prison. Hersh’s reporting over the past half-century has constituted an alternative history of modern America.

For those of us readers who lived through the era of these past events this book is a worthwhile reminder of what happened. Some of the roots and causes were stemmed later by public outrage. For younger readers the lesson are well to learn and take into account.

Today, this country needs more investigative reporters like Seymour Hersh who speak the truth to power. As the headline on a Washington Post says Democracy Dies in Darkness.   Help shine the light and take time to read a good book........and get involved.

 

Oops! Well I put this book review on the nature blog rather than Troutbirder II.

 Think I'll just leave it here...:)