Celebrating The Fourth, Travis and Troops Everywhere in Style

This is a special day. It is a Fourth of July to end all fourths for me because today my grandson who returned from two tours of duty in Iraq is finding happiness by marrying his sweetheart at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Thanks to my writing friend Yvonne Perry for suggesting that I post this on this blog. It makes a perfect celebratory wish for him and for all our troops on this day.


http://tr.im/oH3t

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence. Find it at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1599240173/

How Iraq's Sand Is Like Iris--Mother's Day 2008

Below you will find the letter I sent to my grandson after receiving from him a bouquet of iris on Mother's Day. It seems very private but then it occurred to me that it is also very American, about generations and love and really, what our soldiers are doing over there or -- if that doesn't describe the way they're thinking about it now -- then it may be about what they thought they would be doing over there. He is serving in the tradition of his father, his grandfather, his Cousin Joe, his Great Uncle Bob, and Great Uncle Jim, and another Great Uncle he has never met, Doug. Veterans all.


Dear Travis:

How I loved the flowers on mother's day, though the sand you mentioned from Iraq's deserts--unblooming ones I must presume--would have been adequate. It's the thought.

As it turns out, the flowers were iris. So, if it's the thought that counts, they made me think.

Your great, great grandmother Ruth Howard (the one who is a main character in This is the Place) raised iris. Raising iris is different from planting iris or just having some in your yard. She had a patch of them just beyond the side yard where that huge Mormon family sat in Adirondack chairs. There were some 40s /50s style metal lawn chairs there, too, a tad rusted. And the clothesline. I think it was made so the ropes could be taken down during family parties but those ropes were supported by poles where wasps liked to build their nests. They were cozy homes for the wasps, hollow with nice little holes for them to ease into and out of. Good hiding places. One never saw the actual nests, only the comings and goings. Once I leaned against one of their entrances (or perhaps exits). Someone didn't like it much and he (or she) stung me in the armpit. That's the first time I noticed the holes were there. Before that they had just been good places to hang from your knees.

Anyway, beyond that yard, all nice and green and shaded by an apple tree that put out the bitterest, hardest, greenest apples of all time, was the iris patch. Beyond that the chicken coop. Chicken manure made very good fertilizer for the iris so it was nice and convenient. Grandmother putzed in that patch. She crossed iris with iris to see what she would get. A little pollen from this applied with her finger to the female organs of that. She also tried for size, I think, because her iris were huge, as big as the biggest California-grown grapefruit. And the colors. Some had mismatched petals, the top ones that curved up different from the ones that made a skirt. Some glittered in sun like mica. And not just the color of Van Gogh's irises. Oh, no. Much too plain. These came in pink and gold-orange, the color of sunsets. Blues and lavenders, the colors of Utah skies in summer.

Grandma liked to give tubers (for they are tubers, really, and not bulbs) to people who came to visit for she kept them nicely divided so they didn't lose any of their energy and life. By dividing them her iris she kept them forever young. It worked that way for Grandma, too. Because she was always busy and interested in something she remained feisty and fun until she died in her 90s. The olds woman in Hollday, Utah at the time.

Getting a tuber from Grandma was a treat. It was always a surprise the following spring to see what color would come of those roots that looked like giant rat turds. Grandma produced miracles with her iris.

You did, too. (-:

Love,
Grandma Carolyn

PS: You can see that iris have been influential in my life. The cover of one of my book's of poetry (co-authored by Magdalena Ball) is covered with iris, courtesy of an artist friend, Vicki Thomas.



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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.

Master Photographer Chronicles Effects of Iraqi War

"Inside Geographic, (p. 160)" National Geographic's monthly informational and promotional segment features Eugene Richards. His poignant photos of the abandoned houses on the plains of North Dakota inspired me to write a poem but he is also the author of War Is Personal, "a series of phtographic and written essays about people--in and out of the military--whose lives have been changed by the war in Iraq." Of course, I knew that those who visit this blog would want to know about it. He is using a $50,000 grant for photography from National Geographic to write it.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.

Why I'm Proud of My Silver Lion

My grandson is a Silver Lion. I have a blue and silver ribbon on the bumper of my car that proclaims he is a hero. Of course, not many know why he is a hero nor will they be able to tell by the ribbon. But here is the reason.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48812

This, quoted from the article, helps explain why I am so proud of Travis and his comrades. It says:

"Not only does the aid [providing propane tanks to Iraqi villagers] provided by the soldiers help the local population, it also is a way for the soldiers to reassure the people of their support.

"'What we did today made an immediate impact on the villages," [one soldier] said. 'It helped to strengthen the local trust of coalition forces.'"

What a treat it is to see our troops providing peaceful solutions to problems rather than war-like ones.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.

Giving Support Where Support Is Needed

Credit where credit is due.

The Marine Corp allocated an additional $30 million to some bases for family readiness programs. That includes support groups, and counseling. Considering that many soldiers are rotating from US bases to Iraq in wahat they call "seven and seven" (meaning seven months here, seven months there) such extra support is not only fitting but necessary. According to the LA Times, many Marine families have endured two, three, even four rounds of duty in Iraq. Please see the element at the bottom of this blog to learn some of the small ways you might contribute to the support of our soldiers.

If any blog vistitors would like to research the article in the Times, it is by Tony Perry. It appeared Thursday, Jan 10, page B3.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.