Hobo Jungle

[webenda]

Wayne,

I am

So, Jim and Roger... you are claiming to being older than dirt like me? (No reflection on Pete.)

Sorry Jim, you are not that old yet. See the following site for age requirements:

http://www.oldasdirt.org/

[rogruth]

Wayne,

I have "fit" for nine years now.At least on paper.I still play with trains

[The Dirt]

The braided-rug went to the dump this morning.

Dad learned his lesson.




Souvenir!
Young daughter was very appreciative.

'Dad-stock' has a big day on Wall Street!

[rogruth]

OK Dirt.

[Daisy]

Nice manicure for a man named Dirt.

Hey, I've enjoyed your daughter tales, being a daughter myself. Just last week I was thinking for some reason of this thing my dad did for me when I was maybe 7. I had a Mexican pottery piggy bank we'd gotten on our big family trip to Mexico City (another story in itself). I filled it with whatever pennies and things I was able to get over the months or years or however long it took, and I was excited because my mom said I could take the money when it was full and get anything I wanted with it. So it was finally full and I couldn't fit one more penny in the slot. Then we realized the horror: they didn't put a hole with plug in the pig. It was a "pinata" deal. I couldn't bear to break the pig to get the money, and so even though I'd picked out this tiny box of 3 teeny tiny little books about fairies at the bookstore, I told my parents there just was no way I could kill the pig. I loved the pig more than life itself, and it would just stay filled with money forever and I would not get the fairy books even though I visited them every day on my way home from school and REALLY wanted them.

So my dad said that if I wanted, he would "operate" on the pig, and drill a little hole in the bottom. But he's not the best at drills. And the pig kind of shattered. He spent his entire day off one day (he worked ALL the time, so his time off was sacred) sitting at the dining room table gluing this Mexican pig back together, every little splinter, superglue sticking his fingers together, superglue even glueing his lips together when he tried to get the cap off with his teeth. What he didn't know is how much more I loved the pig after he did that than even before because I treasured his attention so much and it was rare, the pig became a symbol of his love for me, and I used to look at it and each glued crack was evidence that he cared for me.

It was my most treasured object till my mom hurled "that depressing broken old thing" in the trash one day when I was at school and it was carted off to the dump forever gone.

Anyway, just some daughter stuff back at you Dirt Dad. They notice and they care. Now about moms . . . let's just leave that one alone -

[rogruth]

Daisy

[Del Mar]

Wayne, I had no idea of the "cruise missles" until I read the book.

I had no idea that there was such a thing or that it was deployed to destroy GITMO.

The curious thing, is that there is precious little information about what finally eliminated them and/or displaced them from Cuba. The site you reference has links to documents that the sites were manned and operational as late as Nov 14, 1962. There the trail ends.

Scary.

San

[webenda]

The site you reference has links to documents that the sites were manned and operational as late as Nov 14, 1962. There the trail ends.

Scary.

San

San,

There is a lot of mis-information on the internet and everywhere else. I believe that the Naval History site is accurate.

August, 1962
CINCLANTFLT (Commander in Chief, US Atlantic Fleet), noted that the number of Soviet dry-cargo ships visiting Cuba had suddenly doubled.

24 October, 1962
The Defense Department announced that there were 8 to 10 surface-to-surface missile bases near various Cuban cities and that there were more than 30 missiles, 20 IL-28 jet fighter bombers, and 5,000 Soviet personnel in Cuba. (What! No Soviet railroad equipment? )

11 November, 1962
A total of 42 missiles were visually sighted and photographed leaving Cuba. The IL-28 sites were still fully operational at this time.

07 December, 1962.
The last of the 20 IL-28's were crated and shipped out of Cuba.

Removal of missiles and aircraft was verified by CINCLANTFLT.

The Naval History site mentions the Soviet personnel leaving Cuba, but offers no details other than they left in a hurry.

Reference: http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq90-5.htm

[The Dirt]

Daisy, appreciate it, that was a lovely story. It is being THAT kind of dad to which I aspire, though I often fall far short. I AM fortunate that I have a job in which I can feel I have done some work that means something to my fellow-man, (like your dad), but that also ends in an 8-hour day, because I AM selfish and I DO treasure my family, and having had a previous set of kids, I know how they are grown and gone in nothing more than a heartbeat.
My situation was reversed. My mom was overwhelmed, sad, and couldn't stand up to my dad, but she loved me without condition. My dad was much worse than non-existent, and I acutely remember the down-side of his parenting, and I wanted so much more for my kids. I've read your story 20 times. It's awesome. Except for the end. Leah would have been absolutely CRUSHED. I'd bet your mom never understood what she had done.
I would hope that you finally got those fairy books. That would have been the easy way for your parents, just to buy them, but look at what you would have missed. Your dad taught you the deeper meaning.

[JIM2223]

Wayne:

Your right Wayne I am not quite old enough to join your club. Getting there but I wont ever catch up, will I?

Jim

[webenda]

Wayne:

Your right Wayne I am not quite old enough to join your club. Getting there but I wont ever catch up, will I?

Jim,
Jim[/quote]
Unfortunately, it is a moving target... it will catch you. One day getting out of bed in the morning will be more painful than before and you will realize, "Dang, today I am older than dirt!"

...having had a previous set of kids...

Pete,

You get your kids as sets, like a train set? Come to think of it, My mother and father came as a set. Then they got my brother as an accessary. My wife came as a set also. Fortunately my two step children in the set are boys and not so sensitive as girls apparently are. Our one to one talks were about homework and how to fix their cars (essential knowledge for boys.) Mardi, on the other hand, has all the symptoms you and Daisy have talked about.

[Tramp]

Has trains in it. http://waldo.villagesoup.com/opinion/st ... yID=134032

[webenda]

Has trains in it.

Tramp,

With that column you hit the nail of happiness squarely on the head. It is the little things that make life beautiful. And they are always there.

[The Dirt]

Sublime!

Tramp, you have a precious gift. As always, you write with a poet's eye and heart.
Appreciate your sharing it with us.

[2railjon]

Tramp, Your writing is akin to a shining beacon in what appears to be a time of troubled dark seas. You restore my faith in humanity. Thank you.