Happy Thanksgiving!

True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not. - Seneca

Wishing everyone a happy and meaningful Thanksgiving! - Dominique

Image by Dominique Allmon©2015

240 Years of the US Marine Corps

The US Marine Corps Silent Drill

"Mere words cannot express what it means to be a part of the most amazing and elite fraternity in the Universe." - Sgt. James W. Allmon, USMC

"I love the Corps for those intangible possessions that cannot be issued: pride, honor, integrity, and being able to carry on the traditions for generations of warriors past." - Cpl. Jeff Sornig, USMC, in Navy Times, November 1994 

For the last 240 years US Marine Corps was and continues to be a brotherhood of a very special brand of men, and relatively recently, women. They are the few, the brave. As Gen. William Thornson of the US. Army once said, There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.  

 

The Marines are the first to go and the last to leave. Their courage and bravery is legendary. And they are never "ex", not even "former" Marines. A Marine is a Marine for life. He only wears a different uniform when not in active duty anymore. But only the Marines know why.

Happy 240th Birthday US Marine Corps!

Dominique Allmon

 

 Image source here

My Shadow

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, 

And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. 

He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; 

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed. 

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow-

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow; 

For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball, 

And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all. 

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play, 

And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way. 

He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see; 

I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me! 

One morning, very early, before the sun was up, 

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup; 

But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head, 

Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed. 

By Robert Louis Stevenson

From The Golden Book of Poetry (1974)

Image: Portrait of a Child, 1922

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