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United States, North Carolina, Carrboro, English, Paul, Male, 56-60, All Music, All Food.
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Paul Hinrichs:
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Sunday, March 23, 2003 |
Once I Was A Soldier
In April 1965, they sent me the letter. In June, I got on a bus with 20 other guys from Henry County and we rode to Cleveland, where we took the oath. The next day, we flew to Columbia, SC. It was the first time I'd ridden on a plane. On the way, I saw a beautiful circular rainbow outside my window on the left side of the plane.
We didn't sleep the next three days. After they shaved our heads, they put us out in the sun to wait. Everyone got terrible sunburns. By the time they took our pictures for our ID cards, skin was peeling off.
One day it was 106 degrees F and they told us to scream "To KILL!" when they asked "what is the purpose of hand-to-hand combat?" That offended my inner sense of morality at first, so I just moved my lips. Then they said we sounded like we didn't mean it, so we would get no water to drink until we were loud enough. I was parched. To my eternal shame, I screamed "To KILL!" as loud as I could, and they gave us water.
I did not go to Viet Nam, thank God for that. I have no idea what might have happened to me or what I might have done. A Vet at work asked me if had had been and I just said "no." He had been. He shook his head and said "Jesus must have sure loved you." I shook my head too and remembered that rainbow.
7:24:27 PM 
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 and the salmon are done.
4:06:54 PM
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So we had a pizza instead.
3:36:08 PM
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Gotta tell ya', as the day wears on, that decision to pop a top on a can of beer at 10am seems pivotal. Now I'm making a pizza using some homemade sauce I canned last autumn. I look out at the pine siskins chompin' on sunflower seeds at the feeder and wonder aloud how they get their itty-bitty beaks around a seed nearly half the size of their heads. My only regret is that I didn't get any Peeps at the store to wash down with the beer, even after Miss Feva invited Mr. Jones over with this article. Mmmmm....sugary chicken-shaped marshmallows all in a row. Cold beer. Pizza. It coulda been a trifecta.
2:39:37 PM
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"shock and awe" returns 28,500 Google hits.
"peace and quiet" returns 186,000
Who am I to argue?
12:27:39 PM
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So here's the picture of the Bradley smoker. I call mine "Omar," though it could have been "Bill." The little sidecar on the left feeds in "biscuits" made of wood chips. Each one pushes along a line of other biscuits inside the smoker. As they reach the end of the line, they smolder on a heating element for about 20 minutes, then they are pushed off into a bowl of water to extinguish them. There is an additional heating element along the rear of the smoker.
12:07:44 PM
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Smokin' The remaining filets (minus the casualty) are getting a heavy dose of alder smoke. The braided cable is a thermometer probe. It's 114F in there right now.
10:42:12 AM
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Why 10am is a good time for a beer
The salmon have started smoking, after about 8 hours just sitting in a 120F smoker. I dropped one of the filets onto the porch when I pulled out a tray to photograph it. I had an impulse to toss the camera. NPR has cancelled their regulat programming to give full time war coverage. I spent the whole day yesterday sleeping. Some woman on NPR says that Saddam is like a naughty child and now he needs a spanking or we'll lose our credibility. A GI went nutso and threw a couple grenades at his commanders, an officer on the air says he will be "severely ostracized" by his peers. Rumsfield is saying that it would violate the Geneva Convention for Iraq to display POWs on TV. A beer would aid my digestion. Maybe I'll get pissed, in honor of Tony Blair. Am I with us or against us? Amid the shock and awe and noise of war, the opening of a beer can is a gentle peaceful sound.
Now I'm convinced. Join me if you'd like.
10:11:03 AM
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