It's an interesting document, with lots of articles directly on-topic, an excerpt from Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried, and some articles less directly about the memorial.

One of the articles is by Lynda Van Devanter, who was a nurse at the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku; these photographs, both of which were taken at the 71st, are among the illustrations. (This article, too, is a book excerpt, from Home Before Morning.)

My office phone rang. Since it was an external call, and I didn't recognize the number, odds were it was either a vendor or a wrong number. Nope; Lauren Morgan introduced herself as an editor with Boston Publishing, and she was working with Vietnam Veterans of America on a magazine issue. They'd found a couple of my pictures on Flickr, and wanted to use them to illustrate an article. I asked which photos they were planning to use, which she described, and I said sure. We talked about some details for a few minutes, and the conversation ended.

She called again last week, asking where to mail the complimentary copies. Those showed up yesterday. They're really quite beautiful; much higher quality than I anticipated. I do find it odd that she contacted me at work; while I've always known it was possible (I've had the same work phone number for 20 years, and it's available on the web), I'm reasonably certain it's easier to find my home number, which is where I usually field out-of-the-blue calls.

I bought my copy of The Things They Carried shortly after the book was first published, and heard Tim talk about the book this summer at Macalester's reunion. Delighted to share a magazine with him; certainly never expected it to happen. Haven't read Home Before Morning, but I've just added it to my Amazon wishlist.

Though it's well into October, the trees remain stubbornly green. Joan and I went out looking for color on Saturday, with little luck; I got a few worthwhile pix, which I'll doubtless post to Flickr, but the color distribution was one tree here, another across the field.

Took this on yesterday's lunch break. Colors are finally changing....

For over a century, this grain elevator was the main reason for Mulliken.  This railside complex was the farming community's touchpoint with the larger world.  They'd come to buy seed before planting, then return to sell the grain they'd grown from the seed.  This routine made for an interesting, seasonal parade of vehicles on Potter Street.  July's winter wheat harvest was a particularly busy time; trucks, tractors, and trailors would line Main Street day and night as the farmers and staff would struggle to get the grain from truck to hopper.

That's gone.  A few years back, a fire gutted the office.  The owners rebuilt.  Then the contents of one of the silos got wet, rotted, and stank up the town.  They cleaned it up, but that crop was a total loss.  The business limped on for a few months after these disasters, then failed.  The place was vacant, except a few stray cats,  for a couple years; a family converted the office into a home and has now lived there for some time.  They're now removing the ancient buildings, and the silos.

Photo taken October 5, 2003. Camera: Olympus Camedia C-50

The Army took this photograph.

I was drafted in late June, and reported to Detroit's Old Fort Wayne for induction on June 25. This photo was taken at Fort Knox a few days later to accompany a press release sent to my local newspaper. After sojourns at Forts Knox (Kentucky), Gordon (Georgia), Huachuca (Arizona), and Baker (California), I spent most of 1971 in Pleiku, RVN (several of these photos are mine).

Like most vets, I consider November 11 to be uniquely my holiday.  Blessings to all....

Discovered this essay while chasing links for today's note. Worth a look for anyone who served in the Signal Corps in Vietnam....

I got some cash for Christmas in 2001, and earmarked it for a digital camera. What I wanted--a small, smart, high-resolution camera--wasn't yet on the market for a price I was willing to pay, but it was clear that I'd find one within a year. About a year ago, I went shopping, and found this.

Things to like:

• It's small, & it's light-weight.
• It's pretty savvy about handling light and focus.
• It's sturdy. I've dropped it several times, with no apparent ill effects.
• It can be set up as a fully manual camera.
• The batteries are decent. (But you really need to carry two charged batteries at all times.)
• At its normal setting, the memory card holds about 100 pictures. This is configurable; I occasionally decide to push the resolution up.

Things that I have issues with:

• It's a little slow to start up.
• It's a little prone to argue with me about settings.
• The LCD is pretty dim.
• The batteries occasionally fail earlier than I anticipate. I may add a third to my normal kit to combat this.
• It doesn't handle high contrast particularly well.
• It's not a good camera for garden pictures, as the shortest focal length is about four feet.

All in all, an excellent and convenient camera. It's a good deal less serious than my Nikon, but it's terrific for most purposes.