War Effort

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor 75 years ago today, they probably didn't plan on one reaction from the American public.  According to the Children's Bureau, the increase in the birth rate in 1942 was the largest since they began to keep records in 1915. Nine months after Pearl Harbor, in September of 1942, the rate jumped from 18.7 births per 1000 citizens to a wartime high of 23.3, and it stayed high. According to J. C. Capt, then Director of the Census, "the 1943 birth rate was the greatest in US history."

Those bombs that sank the Arizona were also responsible for the "Baby Boom." Patriotic American moms pumped out 300,000 more babies in 1942 alone (2,808,996) than they had in 1941. By 1943, the total increase in new births surpassed the number of American lives lost in all of WWII.

Peace and Quiet

It's a quiet day at the old Boggy Thicket - all the rain from the last few days has either run off or soaked in - everything is fine.

For some reason, that made me think of Schofield Barracks 75 years ago today.  Home of the 25th Infantry Division, located in Honolulu, Hawaii, it's hard to imagine a more perfect military assignment, but one day can make a Hell of a difference.

I have no idea why I thought of that today, but I sincerely hope it wasn't a harbinger of things to come.

Firemen

I have mentioned this before FIREMEN but somehow we are never quite prepared for it to happen.  

We live on a very quiet country road, on what is essentially a cul de sac - only one way in or out - so when we hear sirens (Lots of sirens) in the night, we naturally assume the worst.

If it is December, instead of a calamity, the chances are it's the Huffman Volunteer Fire Department giving Santa Claus a ride around the neighborhood on a fire truck.  

If they had come around last night, we might have been prepared, but this year they came on December 1st, and managed to scare the be-jabbers out of us once again.

Barbie Boom

 

Sony Pictures has announced that they are in the process of creating a live-action movie based on Mattel's Barbie.  It is said that their choice for the title role is Amy Schumer, the occasionally funny but always foul mouthed comedian.

If Barbie were life-sized, she would be 5'9" tall, with a 39 inch bust, an 18 inch waist, and a size three shoe.  She would weigh in at  110 lbs. soaking wet, and her Body Mass Index would make her severely anorexic.  

Schumer's stats (you can find anything on the internet) are 5'7", 38-28-39 and she weighs 160.

This could be the worst casting snafu since Paramount decided 5'7" Tom Cruse  was perfect to play 6'5" Jack Reacher.

The Shot

Last Wednesday, I took Honey to Walgreen's to get the Shingles vaccine.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but we weren't prepared for the consequences.

The Zostavax website lists possible side effects as

The most common side effects of ZOSTAVAX are:

• Redness, pain, itching, swelling, hard lump, warmth, or bruising where the shot was given
• Headache

Additional side effects reported with ZOSTAVAX are:

• Allergic reactions, which may be serious and may include difficulty in breathing or swallowing
• Chickenpox
• Fever
• Hives at the injection site
• Joint pain
• Muscle pain
• Nausea
• Rash
• Rash at the injection site
• Shingles
• Swollen glands near the injection site (may last a few days to a few weeks)

Granted, the side effects listed aren't as dire as some of the medications advertised on TV, but they are enough to give you pause.

The morning after getting the shot, Honey woke with flu-like symptoms - ached all over, with headache and nausea and a lump at the injection site about the size of a chicken egg.  Friday morning, the lump had grown to the size of a goose egg, was painful and hard as a rock.  Her other symptoms were probably a little better, but it was hard to tell.

She feels a little better this morning, and we're hoping we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Having had Shingles, I think I would probably still advise having the vaccine, but at this point, I'm pretty sure Honey would not. 

Border Blaster

When I saw this picture on line, the first thing I thought of was driving late at night in the late 50s and early 60s.  That may not be an obvious leap, but it is valid.  Here's why:

Back then, cars  had radios that could only receive AM, and about the only stations that you could pick up at night were the 50 thousand watt clear channel stations like KOA in Denver or WOAI in San Antonio. Sometimes, driving across Texas, I could pick up WSB out of Nashville.

The one station you could pick up just about anywhere West of the Mississippi was XERF which broadcast from a 250 thousand watt transmitter across the river from Del Rio in Villa Acuña, Mexico.  At times, the station featured country music (they were once the home of the Carter Family) and later Rock and Roll (Wolfman Jack) - but very late at night they broadcast evangelists like Charles Jessup from Ft. Worth.

I can still remember him urging listeners to "Put your hands on the Radio" to be healed, and promising that for a small donation, he would send you an "autographed picture of Jesus Christ."

 

Snapper

That's a 53 lb. Snapping Turtle that was rescued from a drainage pipe near Hockley, Texas earlier this week.  

The article that contained this picture said that Alligator Snappers are endangered, but I'm not so sure about that.  They are a pretty common sight in the ditches here in Northeast Harris County, and we had one living in the flood control ditch where it goes under our road that is at least this big.  He may still be there, but I haven't seen him in a while.