Sunday, July 5, 2009

World War II Connections



Have you ever noticed how everything connects? I've had a little chain of events that has reinforced one of my latest interests. First, we finished the school year studying the Holocaust and Anne Frank and each time I've taught it I've been reminded of how much I DON'T know about World War II. Then, Gigi who has a blog I love, mentioned that she is a Winston Churchill groupie (she's funny!) so I ordered one of her movie recommendations to see what she was talking about. Well, The Gathering Storm is one of the best movies I've seen in a while and it got me thinking about Great Britain's story during WWII. I ordered another Churchill movie (kind of a snoozer) and rested my curiosity for a while. Then (see the photo below) my parents and I drove up Highway 20 in Washington State and stopped in my mom's hometown (Concrete, Washington) and my mom showed me this very place where she stood on the roof watching for bomber planes during WWII. This was a Girl Scout duty and very frightening. She said she had no idea what she was supposed to do if she saw a plane! See the little tower below on the left? That's where she stood!


Then, Little Jenny Wren mentioned the old movie Mrs. Miniver, so I ordered it from Netflix and I watched it today. Again, I was reminded of all the bombing in England during the war and I was fascinated by this movie even though I missed an important part because I went upstairs to get some jellybeans. If anyone can tell me how the young bride died, I'd appreciate it.




Later, when we had finished our dinner, I felt compelled to do something other than blog, so I ordered a book that Amazon recommended to me (they are good at this and I'm an easy target) and I remembered that at the wedding we went to a week and a half ago, two sisters I met had also sung this book's praises, so I ordered it on my snazzy Kindle and now I'm reading it and it's about post WWII England! Isn't that kind of strange? So, anyway . . . I'm taking the hint and letting my reading theme for the summer be World War II. So, I guess it makes sense so close to July 4th and all. Tomorrow, after I take Bill to the airport (he's off to Australia) I am going to the library. Thank you for stopping by, sweet blogging friends! What's your reading theme?

6 comments:

Elizabethd said...

The Guernsey etc etc is one of the loveliest books I've read. It conveys the horrors but also the bravery of al that happened on the little island. I loved it.

Gigi said...

Hi Pom,
That's so intesting about your mom -- can't imagine!
I love "Mrs. Miniver" -- so great! Greer Garson is so classic. The young bride died from a bullet wound when the German airplane flew over their car shooting at the ground -- at least that's what I think happened.
You might like watching "The 1940's House" too -- Netflix has it.
Blessings to you,
G

Anonymous said...

Hello Pom Pom!
WWI is a fascinating topic once you really get into it, though I have to admit it sometimes feels kind of morbid to be interested in it! :P Pre-war Germany might also be of great interest to you. I studied it as my main History topic when I was doing my highschool qualifications. Surprisingly you can see why so many people voted for the Nazis when you delve deeply into it.
History is a wonderful thing to learn about and I think also very important if we're to avoid repeating its mistakes.
Okay now I sound like my teacher... eek! Signing off now :P

Bez xxx

Unknown said...

Hi! I just figured out how to do comments, I am not very Blog Savvy.

But it is funny how things are so coincidental like that. I get that all the time. And speaking of such, I just decided this summer to start reading non-fiction and more history books too. I feel that I am lacking a lot of important knowledge in these aspects and want to fulfill that. Let me know if you come across some more good reads.

Thanks for you comments, I just read all of them today (again, I am still pretty blog illiterate.) But they were very helpful as I was feeling discouraged lately writing.

LOVE YOU! MISS YOU.

Kristi Burns said...

I am reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society right now too. We can talk about it.

Baley Petersen said...

I love love love how themes pop up in reading/tv/movies/discussions. It happens to me all the time. My favorite theme was when everything was about oceanography.

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