Oct. 5, 2003
On this day in 1954 I enlisted in the U.S.M.C. My mother, my father, and if I remember correctly, my younger brother, Carl, saw me off at the Trailways Bus Station in Lawton, Oklahoma. I was sworn in at Oklahoma City and welcomed some hours later, after my first commercial flight, to the US Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California. Nobody is prepared for that!
Last night I attended the bazaar at Spring Creek Elementary School. It was sponsored by the Folsom Community Club. Folsom is the district, formerly a small town or village, I believe, but presentlly survives with the Community Club, the Folsom Cemetery on Lower Spring Creek Road, and the Folsom Volunteer Fire Department, of which I am a member. The bazaar started with a huge homecooked, potluck supper ($5.00 all you can eat) and was followed by an auction. Some of the items auctioned were quilts, artworks, homemade pies, cookies, and fudge; there were embroidered pillow cases, dresser scarves and handmade rugs. The affair started at 5:00pm and lasted until about 10:00. The proceeds went to the club and perhaps to the school. Being a new guy in the community, I am not exactly certain of all the intricacies of these things, but this I know for certain. Private grievances and animosities, personal conflicts for an event like this are set aside in favor of family (it's amazing to see the high level of cooperation, togetherness, and love expressed within families) and community, which takes precedence over disunity almost as if the community were a congregation, but this community, beyond religious beliefs and practices, is secular. In this community of personal and familial differences the word neighbor becomes a verb. For good or ill we neighbor one another, for example we keep or do not keep our fences. One is good neighboring; the other is not good neighboring.
At the end of today, unlike this day in 1954, nothing appeared for which I was not prepared, no major shocks to the system, only the normal quotidien upsets that one experiences simply by virtue of living. A portion of my family watched me depart those many years ago, this evening I watched the memory of that day coming into my consciousness, and I welcome its presence with not one single regret.
On this day in 1954 I enlisted in the U.S.M.C. My mother, my father, and if I remember correctly, my younger brother, Carl, saw me off at the Trailways Bus Station in Lawton, Oklahoma. I was sworn in at Oklahoma City and welcomed some hours later, after my first commercial flight, to the US Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California. Nobody is prepared for that!
Last night I attended the bazaar at Spring Creek Elementary School. It was sponsored by the Folsom Community Club. Folsom is the district, formerly a small town or village, I believe, but presentlly survives with the Community Club, the Folsom Cemetery on Lower Spring Creek Road, and the Folsom Volunteer Fire Department, of which I am a member. The bazaar started with a huge homecooked, potluck supper ($5.00 all you can eat) and was followed by an auction. Some of the items auctioned were quilts, artworks, homemade pies, cookies, and fudge; there were embroidered pillow cases, dresser scarves and handmade rugs. The affair started at 5:00pm and lasted until about 10:00. The proceeds went to the club and perhaps to the school. Being a new guy in the community, I am not exactly certain of all the intricacies of these things, but this I know for certain. Private grievances and animosities, personal conflicts for an event like this are set aside in favor of family (it's amazing to see the high level of cooperation, togetherness, and love expressed within families) and community, which takes precedence over disunity almost as if the community were a congregation, but this community, beyond religious beliefs and practices, is secular. In this community of personal and familial differences the word neighbor becomes a verb. For good or ill we neighbor one another, for example we keep or do not keep our fences. One is good neighboring; the other is not good neighboring.
At the end of today, unlike this day in 1954, nothing appeared for which I was not prepared, no major shocks to the system, only the normal quotidien upsets that one experiences simply by virtue of living. A portion of my family watched me depart those many years ago, this evening I watched the memory of that day coming into my consciousness, and I welcome its presence with not one single regret.
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