This is Daddy in his Australian hat that my sister got him for his birthday. He prefers to wear baseball caps but let's face it, this is better protection from the sun! And it looks so good on him! G'day Mate!I just talked to my Dad tonight on the phone and he told me that he is just a few days away from his sauerkraut being six weeks in the crock. What? Didn't I mention that he grew 32 cabbages this past year and after giving most of them away, he decided to make sauerkraut out of the few cabbages he had left? He is excited to be able to make the sauerkraut recipe that Meks from www.librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com gave me but with his own sauerkraut! This jogged some memories of Germany for him...
Daddy was drafted into the army and was sent to Germany in 1945, just after the war ended. He said that mostly he guarded bomb sites. There was so much destruction and devastation. "Those people had nothing, I tell you, NOTHING." One of the things that really made an impression on him: He witnessed about thirty people, men and women, standing out in a field in a perfectly straight row. As he watched he realized they were holding sticks, and they were turning the earth over in order to plant. When he describes this, you can still hear the wonder and amazement in his voice. "They were doing this with STICKS, just sticks, into that hard ground..."
He said that there was so little food that men would come to the army camp and beg for work, any kind of work, just for the smallest amount of money or even just for food. When the children would ask for chocolate, he said hardly any of them would refuse. I know my Daddy didn't refuse them...
I love to talk with my Dad and ask him questions about what he has seen and what he THINKS about all that he has witnessed in his life.
And what will he be doing tomorrow, you ask? He's driving to Demorest to meet a man who will sell him some blueberry bushes. How many? Oh, just 20 blueberry bushes, that's all. "Go big or go home", that saying reminds me of my Dad!
Your Dad is a great guy, Kay, and I am happy for you that he is still around, and hopefully for many more years to come!
ReplyDeleteHow nice that he will use my Mum's recipe to make his own Sauerkraut! I am sure you'll let me know how it turned out.
Stuttgart was badly bombed in WWII; my hometown Ludwigsburg wasn't, because of the castle and there being no industry worth bombing. Legend has it that the Americans wanted to use the castle for the higher-ups in their administration and so they preserved it.
The first few years after the war, the castle grounds were used to grow vegetables to feed the hungry townspeople. Those who had their own gardens were very lucky, and used every square inch to grow something edible (and they deemed edible almost anything, even what we discard to the compost heap today).
Your Dad's land with the pecan trees looks beautiful, and out of the 20 blueberry bushes, I am sure much good will come!
Librarian,
DeleteYour story of the castle being preserved so as to serve as a headquarters reminds me that the very same thing was done here in Georgia. During the Civil War, there are only a few beautiful houses left from that time and that is because they were used for the same purpose, for the Union Army officers...Do you know of Sherman's March to the Sea? After the burning of Atlanta, he and his troops marched to Savannah, coming through the little county that I live in, and they basically burned everything in their path, destroying railroads and any food growing in the fields...
My Dad has such vivid memories of Germany, yet, even with all the destruction, he still has very fond memories of it too, and says you could still see what a beautiful country it was...
I'll let you know how your Mom's recipe tastes with my Dad's sauerkraut, made from his own cabbages!
No, Kay, I've not heard of Sherman's March before; the Civil War is not a topic taught in much detail in history class over here, I'm afraid.
DeleteYou know - the funny thing about the Americans sparing Ludwigsburg for the castle is that they actually never used it! Instead, it belongs now to the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and contains various museums, galleries, concert and theatre venues, two chapels (very popular for weddings), two shops and the state rooms that are open to visitors on guided tours.
I think it's a wonderful that folk from two countries which were at war within our parents' lifetimes (and my brother's)are now linked by instant communication and the sharing of recipes. It makes me think the world ain't such a bad place after all!
DeleteScriptor,
DeleteI meant to mention that my Dad dated a girl in Germany who had stood for hours to shake Hitler's hand. Now, when he told me this as a child, I was shocked. "Didn't you worry about what people would say", I asked him. His reply? He shrugged his shoulders and said, "War was over".
Now, you might think that perhaps he was not touched by the war since he went in after it was over but that's not true. His brother was in Patton's army and even though he survived the war, he never fully recovered from it.
What an amazing dad you have! At a time when many would be content to sit with their feet up he is keeping busy, which I think is a much better way to live. I don't think I have ever seen a pecan tree before!
ReplyDeleteTerrible the effect war has on the lives of 'ordinary' people. Forced to fight, and then to experience such terrible conditions of deprivation afterwards. Heartbreaking.
Kay if you check out my blog I have sent you an award!
Dear Tracey,
DeleteMy Dad is a great guy! I have written about him before, showing him at the sunflower festival which is just down the road from where he lives.
My Dad was only 18 years old when he was in Germany so what he witnessed had a profound effect on him.
An award, for me? How sweet! Thank you!
What a smashing dad, and a real treasure trove of memories.
ReplyDeleteHis hat looks just great!
SP
Dear SP,
DeleteYou have written of your great Dad too...and somehow, when your mother isn't...the best, shall we say, it makes you appreciate your Dad even more.
I will tell him that you said so! Maybe that wil make him wear it more often!
I love the hat, too! It reminds me of the one my dad used to wear during the summer while he worked in the garden. He was a very passionate gardener, and very good at it. And he was very active, just like your own father. I think he was busier during his retirement years than while he was working. Sadly, my father is no longer with us. It'll be five years this weekend. I really miss him. I hope that you have many, many years ahead with your dad. He sounds like a very special man!
ReplyDeletePlowing Through Life (Martha),
DeleteYou must have gotten the gardening "gene" from your Dad, your flowers look amazing! I am sorry for the loss of your Dad. I know what you mean, my Dad is busier since he retired but is very happy, can you tell from his photo?
He really is a great guy, I promise you will hear more about him if you visit my blog! :-)
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI like to think that I did inherit a gardening gene from him :) That's a nice thought!
DeleteI am looking forward to hearing more about your dad on your blog. Yes, he looks very happy!
Summer's Memory on Oct. 12th...that is one of the posts that I wrote about my Dad. It took me a while to find it! Should I put things into categories on my blog? I don't know how to do it! :-)
DeleteHi Kay, Congratulations on your Liebster award! Your dad looks and sounds like a kind man. I'm sure you really enjoy listening to his stories. Love his hat :)
ReplyDeleteDear Jane,
DeleteThank you! My Dad is the greatest! And I can't get enough of his stories, he is so funny and interesting.
And he is so well informed. If anything happens on the news, I call him up, but he already knows about it from several sources and formed an opinion that he is happy to share with me.
Oh, and another vote for the Australian hat! I will tell him!
It's great that your dad can share these stories with you, and you share them with us. I love hearing my Mum and Dad's stories of growing up during WW2. It's hard to imagine what they went through living without so many of the luxuries that I take for granted. thanks :-)
ReplyDeleteWendy,
DeleteYou're not kidding...my inlaws in England were evacuated from London as children to escape the bombing. My father-in-law and his sister were in Edinburgh for TWO YEARS! I know that England and all of Europe suffered for years after the war...
What a lovely pecan grove! Pecans are my favorite nut---you are so fortunate to have a steady source of pecans. And now blueberries---wow! And you are fortunate to have such precious time with your Daddy. I regret so that my children never got a chance to know their grandparents. My Daddy was quite the vegetable gardener, too. He had a HUGE garden every year.
ReplyDeleteYour Daddy looks great with his new hat!
Dear Beth,
DeleteMy Dad is great! And beside the pecans, he also gives me fresh eggs, cabbages,turnips, rutabegas, green peppers, okra, peas, squash, sweet potatoes and also, he cans tomatoes and vegetable soup and he stocks me up with those too!
I am so grateful to have him around and he is "Papa" to the grandkids!
Oh, and do you say "Puh-cahns" or "Pee-cans"? I say it the first way, but my Daddy says it the second way, go figure! Any way you pronouce them, I love them too!
Well, funny thing about that, Kay...I pronouce "pecans" both ways, most likely because my parents did! Although they were native Southerners, they spent several years in the Midwest, so picked up some of the Midwestern ways of speaking. So they went back and forth with their accents, usually depending on who they were talking to, and I ended up a little confused about how to pronounce certain words. :-)
Delete