Show and Tell

Here's a picture that needs no introduction. I'm sure you all recognize this iconic photo taken in Times Square on V-J Day. It's been the star of many of WWII documentary - plus an unending to quest to confirm just who was the nurse being kissed by the sailor.



Well, imagine my surprise when I was browsing through the LIFE photo archive and came across this photo taken just a moment later. It looks like the photographer moved closer to and just to the right of the couple. Sailor and nurse are still in full liplock. Check out the reactions of some of the onlookers!



Sheesh. I must have kissing on the brain or something...

The Show Must Go On

I made the first of my newly extended walks early this morning at the park - four laps around the track instead of three. By the end of the fourth lap, I was sweating like crazy. Partly because it was already getting hot, but partly because I was feeling the burn. By the time my car was in sight, I had to really force myself to move those feet and finish the thing. The whole ordeal took me 52 minutes, so I can check off my 45-minute workout for the day. Whew! That's the most exercise I've gotten in years!

The only thing that truly frustrates me when I'm walking at the park is thinking about all the workout opportunities I've wasted over the years because I was too self-conscious to get out there and walk by myself. I would tell myself things like, "If my sister and I could just figure out a good time of day to get out there and walk together." I'm not sure what made me so self-conscious to begin with, because there are oodles of people working out by themselves and probably an even split between people who are fit and trim and people who really have some work to do - like me! Lots of older folks working hard to maintain their health, lots of people walking dogs, lots of moms (or dads) trying to get back in shape. My super self-conscious self has always been an obstacle when it comes to working out in public, but I gotta tell you - if anybody at the park even gives me a second thought, they're probably thinking, "Good for her. Keep it up!" There's a feeling of camraderie there, even as all of these people propel themselves individually around the track at their own paces. We may be strangers and most of us may be rocking out to one thing or another on our iPods, but it's as if we're all a mutual encouragement to one another by getting out there and fighting the good fight.

One thing I'd really like to find is a great pair of cropped workout pants. Shorts always ride up between my legs as I'm walking and I'm constantly having to pull them down. My longer track pants are fine, but they're starting to feel a little warm for this climate - even at 7:15 in the morning. And though I've never really had a desire for one before this, I'd really like to have an iPod myself. Especially on these longer walks when something interesting to listen to could really make the walk go by a little faster. Hey, maybe I could even upload some of my vintage radio episodes and just replace them with new episodes once I've listened to them!

Speaking of radio, I listened to the episode of The Great Gildersleeve the other day which was originally broadcast on December 7, 1941. The program then aired on NBC Red on Sunday evenings at 6:30 Eastern, 3:30 Pacific. In other words, it's only been about five hours since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began and only four hours since word of the attack first went out over the radio networks. What's striking to me on this momentous day is just how calm the announcer and cast seem as they go on with the show. The network had not cut away to 24-hour coverage, instead they interrupted the program five times to broadcast a bulletin. The program itself was performed in the studio from beginning to end, but the network cut away from the feed several times for just a minute or so at a time.

The program was broadcast from Hollywood, so the cast and studio audience are much closer to the scene of the battle than were folks on the East Coast. And yet they seem so cool and collected, no signs of emotion or anxiety. I guess most Americans had already accepted the fact that they would be entering the war at some point. They'd listened to news of the war in Europe and in China for more than two years now. They'd seen their country mobilizing, neighborhood boys being drafted, and defense bonds being sold. Americans were mentally much better prepared for the war than they would have been had the attack on Pearl Harbor taken place in 1938 or 1939. Then again, maybe the networks weren't reporting just how devastating the attack had been. They certainly don't give any indication of the number of American lives lost and ships destroyed. The news bulletins are striking in their crisp matter-of-factness, but they are guarded. They also report some optimistic developments that later proved to have been rumors, such as a Japanese aircraft carrier being sunk off Honolulu by American forces. I guess most people listening to the news probably pictured a much more evenly matched battle taking place than was the case.

Oh, I almost forgot. Here's that wartime Gingerbread recipe I promised I'd share a few days ago. Tomorrow's vintage dinner has another wartime dessert recipe in store!

Gingerbread

2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup molasses

Sift dry ingredients together. Melt shortening in boiling water. Add molasses. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix well. Place in a greased (8-inch) baking pan and bake in moderate oven (350 degrees F.) 30 to 40 minutes.