3 Rs

I'm aware I have not posted in awhile. I don't really want this blog to become all baby all the time. But I'm a little consumed by that already. I do feel a lot better, but not yet consistently good. And I'm still very tired, I think that may be in part due to my thyroid and not just the baby. We'll see at my next doctor appointment when they do bloodwork.

Unless you are anti-television, I’d guess you’ve noticed the new fall season has started. I don’t watch a ton of television and these days I watch everything after the fact thanks to my DVR. I’ve had to make some cuts but hopefully it’s only temporary. I’ve CSI, Desperate Housewives, and even Heroes. I just don’t have time to keep up. But I’m thinking once I get through The War miniseries from PBS that I’ll have more time for old favorites or maybe something new like Pushing Daisies.

Speaking of television, and specifically The War I have to comment on it. In fact it’s what’s brought me back to the blog. I’ve always been interested in history. I’m not sure if it’s genetic (my dad’s a history teacher, or was) or because I was raised grading history tests, playing teacher using TEs my dad opted not to go with, and watching history-related television (and current events of course). In any case, I love to read history based books. I especially love those that are nonfiction but read like fiction (i.e. Devil in the White City) or those that are completely fiction but whose author is so well-versed in the time period they are writing about that you can believe the backdrop of the story nearly completely (i.e. Philippa Gregory novels).

My grandfather fought in World War II and it’s a part of history I have particular interest in. I think it may actually be because I didn’t hear stories from him about his experience, but saw his photos. I’m in the middle of episode three, The Deadly Call. Most of the episodes are similar, footage run together with the narrator explaining the battle, background, etc. But a good portion of this episode dealt with life at home, specifically with the raw materials people gathered to help the war effort. Tin, scrap metal, aluminum, even left over animal fat from cooking was all needed by the military. D was watching with me and noted how amazing it was that the time of greatest Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle was in the 1940s. Everything was rationed and everyone took part in recycling. People cleaned out their garages and kitchens for metal to donate. They cleaned and crushed cans for weekly pickup, and they saved their used cooking fat in containers and dropped them off at collection centers. Meanwhile a good number of areas around Columbus don’t have recycling programs. And I’m sure even in areas with recycling a large number of households don’t utilize it. Weird, and sad.