A Moment on Veterans Day

Here we are, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Everyone has his or her own way of remembering it, I'm sure. For me it means wearing my forty-five year old dog tags complete with C-ration can opener and spending the day trying to miss the "heartfelt" politicians' speeches on TV. We mark this day to honor all our veterans in all our wars, yet somehow my mind will settle on just half a dozen men who made up the crew of a certain 50 foot boat that operated in Chu Lai and Da Nang and other little places, places who's names I can't remember or never knew.

So, wearing my tags and avoiding the speeches, I'll do what many other living vets will do today. I'll wonder. Where are my crew-mates today? What are they doing? Why were we there so long ago? What was it all for? For the ones who are no longer with us, I'll wonder who misses them. Every year at this time I allow myself to ask these questions but I don't spend a lot of time waiting for answers.

Our veterans will be remembered in many grand ways today. The bands' uniforms will sparkle. The speeches will be lofty and eloquent. The ceremonies will be traditional and dramatic. And this is probably as it should be. But I'm going to ask a favor of you. Today only, for a moment only, think about your great-uncle heating a can of beans on the hot manifold of a jeep in Korea. Think about your grandmother pinning a picture of her mother, dad and sister to the underside of the bunk above hers at China Beach. Think about your brother carrying an Iraqi flag in his pack to give you when he gets home. I'm not asking for the day. Let the politicians have the day. I'm just asking you to take time to remember an everyday moment in a veteran's life, and consider all the millions and billions of these moments that have made up our military history.

I'm glad that I was able to contribute a few of these moments myself. Today, I dedicate them to you.

Tommy Jensen

Don't Try This at Home

Sandra was making taco soup yesterday from a recipe she's used several times. We both love it. One of the ingredients it calls for is a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk salad dressing mix. Having nothing better to do than stand around the kitchen "supervising" the cook I took a look at the ingredients of the dressing mix which are, of course, listed on the packet back. The first ingredient listed is salt. The people at Hidden Valley obviously know Americans need more sodium in their diets. The second is monosodium glutimate. The third is maltodextrin. This one I had to look up. It's a carbohydrate that can be used as an artificial sweetener and is refined out of various starches like those found in rice. Then there were a couple of seasonings and something called calcium stearate. I had to look this one up too. According to Wikipedia it's "a non-toxic stabilizer and lubricant and an insoluble calcium salt of stearic acid." Applications include use as a flow agent in powders including some foods, a waterproofing agent for fabrics, and a lubricant in pencils and crayons. I was very reassured by the fact that Wikipedia said it was non-toxic. Then there was carrageenan, a "linear sulphated polysaccharides extracted from red seaweeds". I found that it is used as an ingredient in shoe polish which seemed bad to me, but it is also used in beer which made me feel a little better about it.

It's too late to make a "long story short" here but if it weren't I'd simply say "We omitted the packet of chemicals and the soup tasted great."

Stir Fried Rice

Stir frying is easy:

• Cook the rice a day ahead of time
• Slice meats thin. This makes them cook faster and more evenly.
• Do all food prep before you start woking.
• There is usually no need to add salt if you're using soy, oyster or hoisin sauce.
• Fresh is best.

Chelsea got three presents from Santa. She figured out which gifts were hers. She knew how to open the presents and spit out the wrappers. And she went immediately to Santa Mick to thank him for the present. What a smart doggy!

Chelsea's Worst Nightmare

All Chelsea wants for Thanksgiving is SQUIRREL STEW!

Mazie Comes to See Us

Mazie brought her Dad by to see us on Halloween. She left her Mom and sister Rosey in the car because they were tired. You can see in the video that Mazie is still undecided in her vote for president. In her heart she wants change but she's afraid of Obama's liberal leanings. At least that what she told me when Dad wasn't listening.

Vincent Comes to Visit

Saturday Vincent came by with his folks. He's eating "real people" food now. Judging by the way he took to the video camera we're pretty sure he's going to be a famous movie director. For the most part Chelsea stayed away from Vincent and muttered to herself. I think I heard her say, "#$*&%@!"