WWII Weekend in Reading, PA

Most people who know me know I love history. I love first person reenactors the most, followed by fabulous docents, historical sites, and historical fiction. Anyone who can bring history alive to me, especially anyone who teaches me something new about history, wins a warm spot in my heart forever.

A few years ago someone told me about the Reading Air Show. They loved it, but based on the description (air planes flying about), it did not make it as a priority in my life. World War II history has never really captured my interest like Colonial history has, perhaps because my history teachers never seemed to get that far in the curriculum. My one grandfather served overseas, but died when I was young so I did not grow up with stories about the war. My other grandfather was stateside throughout the war. 

Then in 2013 I met a WWII vet named Andy. I interviewed him about his war experiences, and wrote a book it. Unfortunately Andy died less than two months into the project. While I finished the project to the satisfaction of his children, I still wanted to do more. This weekend, two and a half years after Andy's death, I was able to do that "more" by attending the 25th Anniversary World War II Weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania and getting inside a B-17, similar to the one dropped bombs from during the war.

The event was huge! How huge? Afterwards we found out several different friends went to the weekend at the same time as us and we never crossed paths. 


We had complete beginners' luck this day. Our parking spot was the last on the bus, and the first off. 

The event had tons of reenactors and cosplay. I couldn't tell who was there officially, and who came in costume for fun. They were all awesome. 

Different places in WWII were represented. When we walked in our gate we were in a small village during wartime France. You just wanted to speak French. There was also a section of GIs in "Germany." As well as a section of Russian soldiers.

FDR's processional

The event had tons of WWII era bicycles. Enough for Don to consider making a bicycle calendar out of it for next year (he has already made three bicycle calendars: bicycles from WDW, bicycles from Disney parks, and as seen from his bike rides).

The event had airplanes flying in formation and doing tricks. 

The event had WWII vets. We met a man from the Russian army. Unfortunately he did not seem to speak any English, but it was still cool he was there.


The event had planes we could walk through. We went through the D-8 pictured above and a Neptune P2V from the Korean War.

The event had shopping. It was like Disney for adults.

Reading my description, I am not doing the event justice. There are huge parts of the event we missed -- such as hearing Abbott and Costello, or the Andrews Sisters perform. We met one WWII vet, but there were others at the event (hopefully ones who spoke English). I spoke with a couple of people about Andy's book, and showed it to them, but I was not able to find anyone who knew/knows Andy's friend Joe, who served with him and lived/lives in the Reading area (I don't know if he is still alive). 

We are assuming this was on purpose

The weather was absolutely perfect. The people attending the event were lovely. We did not encounter any cranky people. The biggest issue of the day was the line to exit looked about 45 minutes long. Parking lots were so far away people had to ride in school buses to get to their cars. Of course most people wanted to leave at 5:30 when the planes stopped flying and the entertainment stopped for the night (go figure!). We had a date with a B-17 at 6:10, so we were in no rush to leave. By the time we left, though, the gate we came in was locked and there was not much information about what gate was open (talk about a potential fire or other crisis hazard).

We are already talking about returning in a future year. Probably not next year, though, as the event conflicts with 8th grade graduation.

Middlesex County History Day

Three weeks after enjoying the Spirit of the Jerseys State History Fair I was thrilled to learn Monmouth County has a similar event. Well, it wasn't as similar as I had hoped. It was a day to celebrate Monmouth County history. Ashley and I drove up to the East Jersey Olde Time Village near Rutgers University for the event.

I really should have taken more pictures. This event different from the Spirit of the Jerseys event in that this one focused more on learning about different trades and less about learning about different historical sites. They did have tables set up under a giant tent, but that felt secondary to me. We met a furniture maker, a clock collector, someone who paints pictures in reverse on glass (the details are painted first), and someone who paints in the style of Victorian black boxes. Alas, I did not take pictures of anyone but the blacksmith. I only took his picture because I found his outdoor "furnace" so fascinating.


We did spend time listening to Stacy and Kim play fife and drum music. Ashley and I had a turn at trying to play the drum.

Unlike Spirit of the Jerseys, this did not feel like a full day event for us. We went early because I was helping out at Laura's ordination reception, but we could have easily have left later and waited for Don to come home from his bike ride as we were only there about an hour. Ashley was very polite when someone tried to teach her about Colonial games -- giving her the same spiel she gave when she was 6 and volunteering at Rockingham. I was proud of her for being so sweet. That is the challenge with continuing to visit historic sites, it takes a lot for us to learn something new. When we do, it makes it all magical again.

Stacy and Kim taught us about a soldier's day as represented by different fife and drum calls. A furniture maker showed us how he scores the wooden inlays to give them texture when he makes furniture in the Federal style. He also showed us the difference between furniture from the same time period, but different states (some were more ornate than others). The clock collector showed us a kitchen clock. Why is it a kitchen clock? Because you can use it to set an alarm that loudly announces when your bread is done baking.

There is nothing like first person re-enactors, though, to make history truly come alive.

Spirit of the Jerseys State History Fair

As a local history buff, one of my favorite events each year is the Spirit of the Jerseys State Fair. Most every historic site in New Jersey comes together for this one day event, often held the day before Mother's Day, to educate the public about what makes them special. Looking at past blog posts, I see we went in 2011 when it was held at Allaire Village. That was not the first, nor the last time we attended the event, but the only one recorded in the Pillsbury Press.

The fair has a history (pun intended) of changing locations. For a few years it was held in Washington Crossing State Park (on the New Jersey side). Then it was at Allaire Village. This year it was held at the Monmouth Battlefield State Park. Save the date of May 14, 2016 for when it will return to Monmouth.

When we arrived this year it was drizzling just enough to keep down the crowds, and for the vendors to be a little dampened. Our first stop was visiting Lenape Indians we know through Churchville Nature Center. Come to think of it, that is in Pennsylvania. I never did figure out who they were representing. Later wer saw people from Waterloo Village. They are excited to be open for more hours this year. What hours? Who knows. Their website is out of date, as is their Facebook page and a phone call only elicited a promise to mail me some information when it becomes available. Mail, as is US Postal Service. 

We continued to make our way through the main path, past the old-fashioned bicycles, to the auditorium (we're no dummies). We paused to look at the precursors to our bicycles (see, something for everyone). We had a lovely visit by Martha Washington where she told us about the First Ladies who came after her. George Washington popped by for a visit, too. 

 As you can see, that was under a tent. We then went indoors to learn more about Emily Roebling and Molly Pitcher. We spent about 90 minutes listening to them in a very, very comfortable room. 

By this point the sun was out, and it was more crowded. We bumped into Debbi and her family, and Holly and her boyfriend. We visited the New Jersey Hall of Fame Mobile Museum. The one person we had not seen yet was Amanda, who promised she would be there all day making dinner over an open fire while she represented Rockingham. Well another stroll along the main path (this time towards the car) and we spotted her tucked away from everyone else. I think they wanted to be able to contain her open flame. Dinner smelled delicious.

Ashley was invited to check out a race car. We are in trouble in four years when she gets her license!

As always the event was too short. It is a lot of work for only 5 hours.

Always carry your camera

Today Catie (my cute, girly bike) and I went for a 15 mile ride. As I was leaving the driveway I realized my camera was still at home. Since I wasn't planning on riding any place new, and it was a pretty overcast day, I decided to leave without it.

Big mistake! As I was riding on the Lawrence Hopewell Trail on the Lawrenceville campus I heard happy sirens. You know, the kind that announces Santa Claus is coming for a visit, not the kind that says MOVE IT -- we have a CRISIS! I pedaled up to Main Street where I saw the Special Olympic torch bearer about to switch to another torch bearer. I took these pictures with my 4 year old iPod, but think of how much better it would have been with my DLD (Dinky Little Digital). *sigh* I swear I saw a torch when it was live, not seeing it in my pictures.

Had I returned for the camera, though, I would have just missed this experience.

May updates

While typing an email to a friend I realized the text could easily by transformed into a blog post to reach more friends at once, well at least the 10 of you who actually read the Pillsbury Press.

Time has been flying too quickly. May is always crazy in our house as it is our wedding anniversary (22 years) and Ashley's birthday (13 years) and end of the school year stuff (7 more days until summer vacation). Oh, and Ashley was confirmed on the 10th (Mother's Day) and preached two weeks later at a different church. Some days it feels quite non-stop. That's my excuse for not writing back sooner and I'm sticking with it!

The reality is I've been in a funk since getting the diagnosis. I've been very fixated on changing my diet and dealing with feelings of guilt. Yesterday I went back to the endocrinologist for the first time since the initial blood work and got great results, and some answers (never enough). Despite eating 6 times a day, though, I'm still hungry and still losing weight. Yeah, I know on some level that does not sound fair.

As activities are coming to an end for the school year, new ones are replacing them. Ashley has taken to riding her art teacher's horse (go figure). Ashley has started volunteering at a local animal shelter socializing feral kittens so they can be adopted. One was adopted off of my lap last weekend. He was sweet. The countdown to Europe is 28 days away. She raised about $2,500 for the trip through art and odd jobs (like cutting Don's hair). She also recently sang a solo a capella in the school talent show -- a huge accomplishment for her to get over her fear of singing in public and to be viewed as a good singer. 

I keep busy with freelance, but I'm trying to catch up to date with scrapbooking so the dining room table could return to being a dining room table. The Little Free Library saw a surge in activity during the neighborhood yard sale (we participated in it by putting large useless items on the edge of our driveway with the word FREE on them). Our curbside compost program just started today! Only 150 people have signed up in town, but they are hoping it really it grows quickly. I've ran a couple of races this month: one in Pennsylvania and one in NJ. I'm having a lot of fun with my new bike, Catie.

Don is still with Comcast (no surprise). He is making great strides with unicycling and can now go down the street on it, but can't turn around to come back.

The blog is always a place to get some updates on us. 

I think that is about it for last month. This year is flying by too quickly.

Update to the Elephant in the Room

Back in February I received a diagnosis I was not ready to accept. Still not ready to accept if truth be told. 

Yesterday I returned for my first round of blood work to see how changing my diet has affected everything in my life. To say I was nervous about the results would be a vast understatement. I was afraid that by changing my diet to drastically cut down on carbs (including most sugars and grains) and drastically increasing my intake of eggs, fish, and meat other numbers that had been fabulous would suddenly be in need of repair (or at least tweaking). I was also afraid I was not doing enough and would be forced to take medicine for the rest of my life.

Fortunately my fears were unfounded. My A1C dropped from 8.0 to 6.3! To put it in context for those of you lucky enough to not know what that means, normal is under 5.7, pre-diabetic is 5.7-6.5. To put it into further context, my endocrinologist would have been happy with that number if I had been on medicine for the past 3 months. She was ecstatic with my ability to do it through diet alone. She also told me that doctor #1 who told me my numbers were "toxic" and that I had to go on meds immediately was wrong. 

I think I heard her utter the phrase "you are not diabetic," but I was afraid to quiz her on that preferring instead to let those words rest on my heart and in my soul. Four months ago I would have accepted being called "pre-diabetic" because that means there is hope it won't progress to a disease even the ADA insists no one wants.

I have a lot of bones to pick with the ADA and their website. It is peppered with phrases that say how horrible diabetes is, and how preventable it is, too. It is not caused by eating too many sweets or carbs. It is not caused solely by genetics. It is only caused by things I have done to myself. Gee, thanks for the support.

"Eating healthy" is another phrase with which I have a bone to pick. It seems there is always a new trend. I remember uttering the phrase "I wouldn't last past lunch on the Atkins Diet" to my brother in law when he was following that fad (yes, that is the one where the leader died from a heart attack), yet that's pretty much what I am following these days (oh, God has such a wild sense of humor). I wasn't following any particular diet, just trying to "eat healthy," yet still have some sweets, the occasional apple cider, and things that make life interesting. I was eating low fat, and trying to go vegetarian. In other words, I was having too many carbs for my body.

What changes have I made since February? I now eat fish, lots of nuts, Greek yogurt, tons of salads, almond butter, spaghetti made out of squash (spaghettini) and tofu. If someone says it has low carbs and is good for me, I am willing to try it. I've given up pasta dishes (*sigh*) and most desserts (*double sigh*), but will have a spoonful of ice cream and 2/3 of a cup of rice, definitely not in the same sitting, though.

I have cut my carb intake to less than 30 grams a meal. If you don't realize how hard that is, consider yourself lucky. It means either a 2/3 a cup of rice or 1/2 a cup of beans or 2/3 a cup of butternut squash. Not both at the same time. Always pair those carbs with a protein to make it easier for my pancreas to process them. So that means instead of grabbing an apple on the go (21 grams of carbs) I am to pair it with peanut butter or cheese. 

In the past four months I have lost 10 pounds without trying to lose weight. I am also eating 5-6 meals a day, and am still often hungry. I was told no need to lose weight (that was not what caused my pancreas to stop working), but when you eliminate grains and sugars, and are told not to have too many fats because fats make it harder for the pancreas to produce insulin, and exercise more, then there is no option but to lose weight. I've also knocked 30 seconds a mile (or so) off of my run times.

The "good" news is it is Type 2, meaning my pancreas does still produce insulin, just very slowly. The really good news is my cholesterol and other numbers did not jump past the normal range by vastly increasing my intake of meat (sorry, vegetarians, I wanted a meat-free diet to work, maybe someday I'll figure out how to make that happen for my body).

I was really hoping for better news -- such as "we are so sorry, but we mixed up your blood results with someone else's and you do not have any problems producing insulin," but even my husband admitted that was unrealistic. For now I'll keep on cutting my carbs to 30-40 grams a meal and continue to focus on what I am eating rather than focusing on testing myself. I found daily testing was stressful, and stress leads to higher numbers. Besides, the numbers were in the same 20 point range every morning, so they weren't telling me anything, and I was too stressed to do the before and after meal testing that tells something. Hearing things like, foods that work today might not work tomorrow (based on exercise and other factors) do not encourage testing. All I can do is focus on finding more low-glycemic foods and trying to stay within the guidelines. I also have to learn to let go of the guilt I've been feeling and return to enjoying life.

As with my earlier message, I encourage you to leave me a message with some encouragement. We can all use encouragement.

Organic Waste Composting is here!

Sustainable Lawrence and a select few local (and vocal) residents have been pushing for ages (2 years, perhaps 3 years) to join Princeton, NJ as the second town in Mercer County to offer curbside organic collection. What does that mean? It means everything that was once alive will be collected once a week in our new green bucket -- from pizza boxes (which you cannot recycle) to egg shells to weeds to food scraps to grass clippings to lint to tissues to paper towels (no used toilet paper, please).

Princeton started theirs in June 2011 as a 3-month trial program. One big difference is Princetonians pay for their trash. Lawrencians don't pay directly for our trash (it is part of our taxes, not a separate bill). We will have to pay $17 a month to have our compost collected. Yes, we could do it ourselves, but we don't. This is composting without the mess.

Since January it sounded like it was going to happen any day now, most likely by March. By March we stopped dropping off our compost to Chris and Sherri's house and started collecting it ourselves. I blogged about small changes we could all make. We put our names on the list in early 2014, or late 2013. We waited as the town tried to round up 300 families to participate. We got more hopeful when the town announced the trash company decided to cut the minimum number to 150 families within the town. 100 signed up. 120 signed up. 130 signed up. 140 signed up. 147 signed up. Come on! We can do it! There are 30,000 residents. Let's say an average of 3 people per household (if for no other reason than that is what we have), you are talking 10,000 households. However, you must have curbside trash pick-up to participate (which eliminates apartments and places that use dumpsters). STILL that number seems more than do-able.

And we waited. Every once in a while an article would appear in the all-but-defunct Lawrence Ledger. Every once in a while the township would send us an update. Every once in a while an update would be given to town council. 

We would go on vacation and see other places with organic waste collection -- this brown bucket was spotted on the streets of Montreal. My friends in Princeton would rave about their collection.

And still we waited. Until this afternoon when a Pensky moving truck moved slowly through our neighborhood to deliver our bucket. Our pick up starts on Wednesday June 3. There will even be a ceremony to kick off the collection.

Lawrence residents, it is not too late to sign up. The first 300 participants will receive a discount as per a grant from Sustainable Jersey.

Now the next question is, how many of the 9 buckets of compost that we have been collecting will fit in the new green bucket, and how many will have to wait until next week? There is a lot we have not been collecting -- such as pizza boxes, dryer lint, paper towels, and tissues, that we will start collecting now. I suspect there will be weeks when our green container will be overflowing, and our regular blue trash containers will remain hardly used. Wish we could swap the sizes.

I am happy be be part of this movement and look forward to watching it continue to grow.