Happy Cooking Day

Wednesday before Thanksgiving...it's the day to chop and precook. Have fun!

Butcher Shop
Picture in Library of Congress Files

 

Masks in 1918

11 Laws to Help Stay Well

It's interesting to compare the masks worn during the 1918 influenza epidemic with the masks worn in 2020 to avoid Covid 19.  The picture below is not copyrighted and therefore is in the public domain.  So far my family and I have escaped Covid, but we're growing weary in our well doing, which is all we have to keep us well.

Most of the advice given here is spot on, even though it is expressed in the quaint lingo spoken 102 years ago. "Do not take any person's breath," the first command on the list, is an excellent thought. Now we are trying to practice social distancing and wearing masks for the purpose of not breathing the expelled breath of others.

"Keep the mouth and teeth clean" became "practice good oral hygiene" at some point in the past. This piece of advice may help us not to catch a cold, the flu, or covid. Cleanliness may help, but we all know it's not going to keep us safe.

I love the wording of the next admonition: "Avoid those that cough and sneeze." Doing so is impossible. Some of us have asthma, hay fever, or a common cold. Now the current advice is cough into your sleeve or elbow. Turn your head away from people when you cough or when others cough near you. Try to stay away from those droplets. Further down the 1918 list is the advice, "Cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze." Masks cover mouths.

"Don't visit poorly ventillated places."  That was 1918. Now in 2020, how many buildings have inadequate air exchange?

1918: "Don't use common drinking cups, towels, etc."  2020: Place paper towels in your bathroom. Did you know that commercial paper towels that are loose are cheaper than rolls?

"Avoid Worry, Fear, and Fatigue."  Good idea. We'll try.

1918: "Stay at home if you have a cold." 2020: Stay at home.

1918: "Walk to your work or office." 2020: Stat at home.

1918: "Wear a gauze mask in a sick room." Those gauze masks didn't work well. Now we know we are supposed to wear multilayered masks when we go near people. Masks are miserable, but Covid can be worse than death. 

BTW, a mask must cover both the nose and the mouth.

 

Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves You

 Shared from Kathy McKinsey's blog with her permission:

I’ve been feeling on edge, depressed, lately. As have a lot of people

 I tell myself that I really shouldn’t. My family and I are healthy. We are not having financial trouble.

 But many people are sick. Many have died.

 The coronavirus. Financial hardships. Americans fighting Americans because of racial issues, because of politics.

 It is a sad time.

 I’ve been a Christian for over forty years. I’m not giving that up. But it’s hard to find hope, for myself, to share with others who aren’t sure they believe in God.

 Recently,, in a book I read, I was reminded how writers can be encouragers. The father in this story told his daughter not to give up on God. He said if she did, then Satan wins.

 I’m going back to the simple truth to find my hope, and then the strength to share it with others. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves you.

 Jesus did everything that was needed to meet our greatest need. He is alive again, and he promises to walk beside us every day.

John 19:30: When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 Mark 16:6: “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

 Matthew 28:18-20: Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 Jesus loves you. Jesus loves me. 

Remember the Reason We Celebrate Veterans Day

Amistice Day, which we call Veterans Day so we can celebrate all our veterans, began at 11 o'clock on 11/11/1918.  Heres a quote from Wikipedia explaining what happened:

"Armistice Day is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France at 5:45 am, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the 'eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month' of 1918. But, according to Thomas R. Gowenlock, an intelligence officer with the U.S. First Division, shelling from both sides continued for the rest of the day, only ending at nightfall. The armistice initially expired after a period of 36 days and had to be extended several times. A formal peace agreement was only reached when the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year." Read more about Armistice Day.

Here's a happy picture you may have seen before.  It's an American sailor , an American Red Cross Nurse, and two British soldiers celebrating on a street of Paris on November 11, 1918.

 
Public Domain. Created November 11, 1918.

                                      World War I gunners in this photo are wearing gas masks. 

Public Domain via Wickimedia Commons

A few American nurses, who cared for the wounded in France.

Unknown Photographer, Public Domain

Belleau Wood Cemetery

                                                                               Public Domain

END OF WAR - the final minutes of WWI

This short fictional story told as a video gave me chills. War is always brutal. The Great War, World War I, was especially so.

PRE-ORDER LETTER FROM BELLEAU WOOD

Letter from Belleau Wood is a new novel being released on November 11, 2020, the anniversary of the WWI Armistice. Please allow me to share a  story about some who fought in the war and those who waited for them. Letter from Belleau Wood is a fictional story, but the events in it were brought to the mind of the author by family lore. The release date for this novel is November 11, 2020. It will first be a Kindle e-book on Amazon.

Pre-order Letter from Belleau Wood.

Love in War

Letter from Belleau Wood

Trudy has discovered that men are not always what they seem. Situations cause her to make decisions that surprise everyone, especially Trudy. She loves deeply, learns to accept the consequences of sudden decisions, and suffers hurt as she causes pain for others.  

Trudy and Jeremy are childhood sweethearts “as close as ribbon cane syrup and pancakes,” but distance strains their romance when they both leave their small Mississippi town to attend college.

A touching tale of young love during wartime. --Kirkus Reviews

RELEASE DATE OF KINDLE VERSION: November 11, 2020