SEMPER FIDELIS, Y'All!  

Hello from Mike.  Thanks for dropping BY.
If the music gets to be too much, go to the bottom of this page and turn it off.

Allow me to start out by wishing each of our readers a Blessed and Holy Christmas and an abundantly prosperous New Year.  May all of your wishes come true and may your children listen to you and heed your advice.

I think of many of you often as I prepare these issues of the NEWSLETTER^© and wonder how you are doing.  I try to write articles that will interest the majority of you readers, although some of you think my articles are corny.  You KNOW who you are! I will not embarrass you by pointing you out. Rest easy, for now...! 

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... ... ...  ... .. and remember to thank God every day for the blessings you receive.  That is, if you expect to EVER get any more.

This Web Site Page has been designed totally for your enjoy- 
ment, within my ability to provide it for you.  Here, on my page, you will find interesting little things to do that normally would have appeared in the previously "printed"  NEWSLETTER^© part.

By the way, I have just completed transcribing the journal I kept during my tour in Viet Nam over 30 years ago and publishing it to a web site. You can go there at your leisure.  The site is http://www.oocities.org/battlelog.  

In rewriting this Journal I came across some activities I had forgotten all about.  In the month of December, I made contact with no fewer than four of the men I served with in Viet Nam.  Boy, what a treat that was, after 33 years.

I hope you enjoy the items below, respond to them or tell me about them, or suggest others.

Quote for this issue: "If I had my life to live over again, I'd live it over a delicatessen." (Unknown)

This first photo is the mystery object for this issue.  It shouldn't be too difficult. 
 Can you tell what it is from the photo? 
 *A row of stadium seats?   
 *WWII Barricade

This second photo is our mystery subject.  Can you tell me who it is?

    This shouldn't be too difficult, either.  
    It's a Worden, male.  Beyond that, 
    I can not or will not tell you, although 
    I know who it is.  

    If you are having trouble identifying 
    the man in this photo, and after you 
    have exhausted ALL attempts at 
                    guessing; 
        place your mouse arrow over the photo 
            and click it to reveal the answer.    

Get More Quotations

What are the top ten signs that you are growing old...?

10. There is more hair in your hairbrush than on your head.
  9. You find yourself looking for "slip-on" shoes rather than 
     the lace up kind
  8. The only reason you are willing to listen to MTV is you are 
      too tired to change the DIAL.
  7. You can clean your teeth while getting a drink of water 
     at the same time.
  6. No one notices when you cut your forehead shaving.
  5  The newspaper is late and you get upset because you 
      can't check the obituary page.
  4. When you have to bend over to tie your shoes, 
      you look around to see if there is anything else 
      down there you need to do before you get back up.
  3. The hair HAS slipped off your head and is now rapidly 
      growing down your back and out of your Ears.
  2.  YOU'LL TYPE A FULL PAGE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS 
      BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO MAKE THE effort 
       TO TAKE THE "ALL CAPS" KEY OFF.
        And the number one way to tell when you are growing old...
  1. I FORGET!!!

We try to be as current and precise as we can in this NEWSLETTER.  However, we have run across some news headlines in other publications that tend to be less than clear in what the article may be all about. I invite you to read over the following list and see what I mean.  Did they really say that?

1. Include Your Children When Baking Cookies
2. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say
3. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
4. Drunks Get Nine Months in Violin Case
5. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
6. Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
7. Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
8. Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
9. British Left Waffles on Falkland Islands
10. Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
11. Clinton Wins Budget; More Lies Ahead
12. Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Told
13. Miners Refuse to Work After Death
14. Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
15. Stolen Painting Found by Tree
16. Two Sisters Reunited after 18 Years in Checkout Counter
17. War Dims Hope for Peace
18. If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last a While
19. Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
20. Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge
21. New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
22. Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Space
23. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
25. Typhoon Rips through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

WE'VE LOOKED AT LOVE 

FROM BOTH SIDES, NOW!

Do you have relatives that fought in the War Between the States? Some call it the Civil War.  Others call it the war of the Northern Aggression.  I have discovered, and I am listing below, several sites that may be of interest to you.  If you are a history buff,  you may want to make an attempt to look up a relative and determine what outfit he (or she) fought with, or in what battles they fought.  Just click on the link and it will take you directly to the site.  

http://colo1.midtnn.net/Catalog/catalog.htm

http://www.usafa.af.mil/dfeng/index.htm#cwarres.htm

          http://www.oocities.org/heartland/Plains/4057/civilwar.htm 

And by all means, if you come across any more good "link" sites, please let us know so we can pass them along next time.  

Joe Zahringer received this next article from one of his and Mary's square, dancing friends.  No, that didn't come out right.  It was a FRIEND WITH WHOM THEY SQUARE DANCE, not a square friend who dances.  Well, anyway, this really brought back some memories and so I wanted to share it with you as well.  It's sort of long, but you'll enjoy it.  I know! 

Let's go back.......

Remember any of these?

Let's go back . .

Close your eyes . . . And go back . .
Before the Internet or the MAC,
Before semi automatics and crack
Before chronic and indo
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo

Way back . . .I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.

Sittin' on the porch, Hot bread and butter.

The ice cream man, Simon Says, Kick the Can, Red light, Green light.

Lunch Boxes with a Thermos . . . that broke,

Chocolate milk, Lunch tickets, Penny candy from the corner store,
Hopscotch, butterscotch, skates with keys, Jacks, kickball, dodgeball,

Dixie peach and Bonnie Doon socks, Mother May I? 
Hula Hoops and Sunflower Seeds,
Whist and Old Maid and Crazy Eights
Wax lips and mustaches, Mary Janes, saddle shoes and
Coke bottles with the names of cities on the bottom,

Running through the sprinkler, circle pins, bobby pins,
Mickey Mouse Club, Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle,

Fran & Ollie, Spin & Marty . . . all in black & white.

Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar, Playin slingshot

When around the corner seemed far away,

And going downtown seemed like going somewhere.

Bedtime, climbing trees, making forts . . .

Coaster made from orange crates and an old skate,

Backyard Shows, Lemonade stands, Cops and Robbers,

Cowboys and Indians, Sittin' on the curb,

Staring at clouds, Jumpin' down the steps, Jumping on the bed.

Pillow fights, "company", Ribbon candy, angel hair on the Christmas tree,

Mary Martin as "Peter Pan", Jackie

Gleason as "the poor soul", White gloves, walking to church, walking to the library

Being tickled to death

Running till you were out of breath

Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt

Being tired from playin' . . . Remember that?

Not steppin' on a crack . . . or you'll break your mother's back . . .

Paper chains at Christmas, silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington.

The smell of paste, buck bags and Evening in Paris ...

Crowding around in a circle for the 'after school fight', then running when the teacher came.

What about the girl that had the big bubbly handwriting . . . who dotted her "i's" with hearts??

Bob parties, slam books, The Stroll, popcorn balls, sock hops & hay rides.

Remember when . . . When there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyer) and the only time you wore them at school, was for "gym". . .with those great blue and white gym uniforms.

When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up and there were only three channels.

When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school.

When nobody owned a purebred dog.

When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a huge bonus.

When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.

When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then.

When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.

When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done, everyday and wore high heels.

When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, for free, every time. And, you didn't pay for air. And, you got trading stamps toboot!

When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.

When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.

When pizza wasn't delivered . . . and chicken was . .

When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.

When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed . . . and did!

When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathrooms, flunk a test or chew gum.

And the prom was in the gym and you danced to an orchestra, and all the girls wore pastel gowns and the boys wore dinner jackets and paid for dinner.

When a '57 Chevy was everyone's dream car . . . to cruise the strip, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady and girls wore a class ring with an inch of wrapped dental floss coated with pastel frost nail polish so it would fit her finger.

And no one ever asked where the car keys were 'cause they were always in the car, in the ignition and the doors were never locked.

And you got in big trouble if you accidentally locked the doors at home. No one ever had a key.

And lying on your back on the grass with your friends and saying things like "That cloud looks like a . . ."

And playing baseball on the empty corner lot with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game.

Then . . . baseball was not a psychological group learning experience, it was a game.

Remember when stuff from the market came without safety caps and hermetic seals 'cause no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger.

And . . . with all our progress . . . don't you just wish . . . just once . . . you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace and share it with the children of the 80's and 90's . . .

So send this on to someone who can still remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, Laurel & Hardy, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery ... The Lone Ranger, The Shadow knows . . . Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk . . .as well as the sound of a rotary mower on Saturday morning, and summers filled with bike rides, treasure hunts, baseball games, bowling and visits to the local public pool . . . Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar.

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we all survived because their love was greater than the threat.

Didn't that feel good.. just to go and say,

Yeah, I remember that................

Well, that's about it for me in this issue.  Remember to leave your feedback, or e-mail us directly by clicking on Linda's link on her page or mine, right here. ( Link to Mike's e-mail ) 

You can also find these links on the feedback page.

Click here to go to Linda's Page,
or click here to go back to Home Page,
or click here to go to Feedback Page.

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