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Leading up to their visit I rather felt like the guy on the horse with the bandaged head, kinda half-dead. Wasn't sleeping well, just generally out of sorts.
Amazing what a few days off in good company can do.
However, I find myself severely unmotivated to write fiction. Not sure why (ahem, lower hit counts on the recent postings) but there it is. As much as I love the Napoleonic Era, it's not everyone's cup of tea.
Of all the fictional stuff I've done, World War II seems to be a favorite, particularly when Americans are involved. I get it, no, really I do. Can't please all of the people all of the time.
Anyhoo ...
In yet another blow to my fragile morale, had this for page hits during my mini-sabbatical:
I can be a whiny bitch, neh?
So yeah, things are going to be slow for the next cuppla. Gomen nasai.
Maybe I should write about politics.
Heh, like that's gonna happen ...
Oh, one more thing, sorry Beans, but day two of "no clown videos."
I should work on that.
Well to quote Martha, time spent with the relatives is "a good thing". It seems that the further you go back in History the less it becomes "me and mine" to many, go figure. The eras you write about have no drop-off for me but then one of my two majors was History..... :) Day one of "no clown videos" yesterday was a good one up here, a MRI showed no tumors in the lungs, surgery back in early August removed a small cancer from the left lung, no chemo, no radiation. Now an MRI every six months for five years. Even on a cloudy day the sun can burst through.
ReplyDeleteNow that's some good news!
DeleteBeing praying for this as well Nylon12 - Wonderful news!
DeleteThanks for the prayers. And thanks for all the work you two (and others Sarge) put into your blogs, it gives an old fart like me something to read early each day............ :)
DeleteTB - +1
DeleteNylon12 - 👍
DeleteReally good news!
Delete👍
DeleteReading a morning cup of your fiction is much better than creepy “puddles” videos. This site remains my first stop of the day Old Airforce Sarge.
ReplyDeleteFranknbean
I plan on doing a couple of background posts, sketches of the Napoleonic Wars so that readers unfamiliar with the period might better understand the context of the story. But I'm not going to quit, just a wee pause.
DeleteIs that what you call a bathroom break? A wee pause?
Delete🤣
DeleteSarge, I too enjoy any era fiction you write - although I do know the deflation of my ego when I spending a great deal of time on a post that I feel I nailed only to get almost no commentary or views, and then the counter moment when a random thought generates all kinds of comments.
ReplyDeletePerhaps some of the challenge, as you comment above, is that we may be less familiar with Napoleonic era and wars (I sure am, anyway).
I'm going to try and remedy that lack of familiarity over the next cuppla.
DeleteAh yes, the deflation of ego, I know it well.
I like Puddles. But then the EX was a professional Christian clown. Only thing that ever truly terrorized me as an adult were my Drill Instructors and First Sergeant. Lol I also like Napoleon and History. So whatever Sarge post's is totally awesome too. Time spent with grandkids is the best time. Awesome site.
ReplyDeleteThanks catfish, we aim to please.
DeleteProfessional Christian Clown? Not sure I've ever seen those three words strung together in such a fashion, but I can see how that might work.
Time spent with the grands is priceless.
I am not gonna say that a PCC, well, isn't the Pope one? Because that would be rude and political and not a lot of people would get it...
DeleteHeh.
DeletePCC's were big back in the '80's (I guess). Especially amongst the Assembly of God people.Which my wife was at the time. As another way to reach children "with the good news". What ever works I guess. Beans since my French Huguenot ancestors had to flee France eons ago I agree with you.
Delete👍
DeleteI like your fiction but I will admit that it's easier when I can remember who/what the characters are. I don't usually watch videos and clown videos are ever further down my list of ways to spend my time (my time is the most valuable thing I have...).
ReplyDeleteI am reading "Seven Men Of Gascony", a good read about something I was totally unfamiliar with until your fiction (and recommendation) brought it to the table in front of me.
It has me thinking about how different the world (& attitudes) were back then, how different life was then.
I do have a tendency of thinking that my life is/was how it's been... I don't live in a world where a cut finger or a stubbed toe may lead to my death, where getting something to eat today is not a given, where EVERYONE was drafted into the army to be part of someone's dream to control the world. It is hard to imagine living in a place where an army of 200,000 is marching through my backyard while living off the land and to have that not be particularly unusual. Hard times.
The 30 Years' War and the 100 Years' War were real things that generations lived through. I think you can see some of that in my Ancestry.com DNA results from northern & eastern Europe....
Speaking of the Thirty Years War, check out the 1971 film The Last Valley with Omar Sharif and Michael Caine. It's very good.
DeleteThe 100 Years War was a kind of bad war, kind of like the Crusades (early ones.) The Thirty Years War was more like the American Civil War but with the bad Crusades (like the Albigensian one) thrown in just for extra fun times. Bleh.
DeleteWon't disagree!
DeleteSecond on The Last Valley (Sarge, I think I originally got the recommendation from you). Great movie.
Delete👍
DeleteEveryone needs a palate cleanser at some point. I tend to hoover the pickle plate though. So, you had a week off, the rest of the rota got to play, and we all had a good time. Wins all round.
ReplyDeleteI have a difficult time with the warfare of the distant past. It may be a needed skill going forward, but I have a hard time connecting. World War Twice was the generation of the mentors of my youth. And I wore out the books in that section of the library in school. That familiarity didn't breed contempt but curiosity.
I wouldn't sweat the hits. Some horror is kinda fascinating (looking at you Puddles) This is a good pickle barrel to hang around. Loads of interesting conversation....
I'm going to do some history-teaching in the next cuppla. But yeah, WWII was the generation before me, lots of memories.
DeleteCrusty Old TV Tech here. Clowns have always creeped me out. I'm more of an Ernie Kovacs kinda guy than Clarabelle, though Red Skelton was a favorite of mine, with Freddie the Freeloader. No the usual creepy clown. Welcome back Sarge. I was getting into the early 19th century story, but wherever you go next, it'll be consumed with gusto. Raising an Evan tonight in your honor.
ReplyDeleteI've always been ambivalent as regards clowns. Too many holding political offices.
Delete1. I barely squeaked through Am Hist, a requirement for a BA. I did however, take every single undergrad chem course available, plus quite a few grad courses due to a very tolerant, well-connected advisor, plus two minors, one in math and one in Soc/Anthro; history was very definitely not my thing.
ReplyDelete2. My overwhelming interest in WWII stories extends back to nine months or so after one of the latter battles of the Franco-Prussian when my grandfather's father came home, allegedly slightly wounded and with three frost-bitten toes. The product of that reunion with his wife, my grandfather left Europe (actually from around Budapest or so, not Danzig where the rest of his family lived) in '25 with most of his kids (my father wanted to finish up his education and didn't leave 'til '29), but leaving behind the greater majority of his family in Danzig, all of his first wife's family in Rostock, and a smaller portion of his second wife's family in Budapest, all of whom he corresponded with up to the time of death in '64.
My elder girl cousins have this voluminous correspondence hoarded away somewhere, not allowing anyone, even legitimate historians to look at it - typical.
Grandpa, however, whenever he received a letter(s) would read it aloud to the family in the original language, my Dad usually translating for whoever was there on the weekends: therefore, my interest in and memories of the vicissitudes of an average European's life during WWII written in German, Kashubian, Polish, Czech and Hungarian.
Kashubian! I learned something new today, fascinating stuff.
DeleteI think that the current political climate and last Tuesday and the cliffhangers may be getting everyone down, so that may be affecting your page count. I mean, we can know exactly if someone won the Powerball, where the ticket was sold, what time, get video feed from the store where it was sold and track down the winner within 24 hours, if not sooner, yet we 'won't' know the results of elections for weeks, maybe a month?
ReplyDeleteAnd that's if the election was a clean, relatively hinky-free one, unlike what is going on in Arizona or what happened in Pennsylvania, twice.
that last sentence: that's asking an awful lot of me to come anywhere close to believing that "if"
DeleteIf it weren't hinky,the present POTUS wouldn't consider throwing his hat in the rink for '24 - the elephants might step (ahem) on it
Beans - That right there is a distinct possibility.
Deleteboron - Sad, innit?
DeleteVisitor stats can be skewed by the bots, so don't sweat those.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I confess I have a hard time following the Napoleonic folks. No speakee de lingo, and I have a hard time keeping the names straight, but the actual story line is (as always) excellent. Struggling a bit on the context, so I look forward to more background.
I look forward to all your posts, and you don't HAVE to provide a daily fiction installment. Share your observations on home remodeling (in words of fewer or more than four letters). You gotta have some old Chair Force sea stories you'd tell buddies at the bar. IIRC you did living history (reenactment) stuff in the past. Tell us not just your experiences, but interactions with visitors, lessons learned about the gear which differed from preconceived notions.
We'll read whatever you write.
Oh, no creepy clowns, although that guy does have an "interesting" voice and take, which I shut off part way through the first one.
Finally, thanks to Beans for all the news from Latchyouway, home of the Gators.
John Blackshoe
I will leave the creepy clowns to der Beanster. As for the rest, we'll see how the background stuff goes. And yes, the freaking spambots do skew the stats.
DeleteWe shall endeavor to carry on.
We all like to know more about you and yours. There’s a lot of story there. BTW, how did you prepare the koi for the grand kids? Probably not blackened.
ReplyDeleteOuch! You and Virgil, wanting to eat my koi.
DeletePolitical posts? Nah, you've got a high paid contractor for that.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't want a breach of contract suit on my hands!
DeleteLike several others above, I pretty much enjoy all your posts. The WWII ones really hit home with me:
ReplyDeleteI was born shortly before Pearl Harbor. Many of my teachers / mentors / co-workers had served. I found most of them to be rock-solid individuals without a bit of panic in their makeup, patient and generous with their time (I can't say the same for many in later generations). 1952's "Victory at Sea" left a strong impression on me, as did Eisenhower's steady hand in governance. One of my co-workers was a man named George Elliot, who had been one of the two radar operators at Pearl who had spotted the incoming stream of Japanese aircraft and had reported it, only to be ignored.
I am still amazed at what those guys (and women) went through, and what they accomplished. I never tire of reading about them, fact or fiction, and remain in awe. I include the other side in this as well. Although they served hateful, evil masters, I don't think most of them were aware of this until it was too late. They lived (if they were lucky) through the same hell as the "good guys".
That's something I try to portray, humans on both sides, stuck in horrible situations, just trying to survive.
DeleteThanks for reading, Charlie.