Hi Everyone-

I’d like to thank you for reading the stories on my blog, crittersandcats.com. I’ve posted a total of 125 stories, now, and hope you’ve found something that makes you laugh or means something to you. I started writing these little one and two page stories for my kids and grand-kids to tell them about Pat and I and things we’ve been involved in. I also wanted to remind the kids of some of the things we enjoyed or suffered through together.

One person asked if I enjoyed living in the past and he thought that I must miss the “good old days”. I had to tell this guy that the good old days are right now. A lot of my stories took place 50 or 60 years ago but could have happened this week. The year doesn’t really matter. What’s important or funny is what you were doing or thinking back then.

Today is a wonderful example of a good old day. I can hear my wife doing things in the kitchen. That’s amazing in that she received a Pacemaker two months ago. Though there have been some other medical issues, we are getting through them. She is still talking and laughing and petting the cat and feeding the hummingbirds and sitting in the swing and holding hands with me. She is making the most of every day. Back in 1950 or 1960, those so-called “good old days”, I would have lost her. Thank God for the technical advancements we enjoy today.

I haven’t been in the mood to write or do much lately but I’ve got a few more stories and will start posting them. They probably won’t make you feel any smarter but maybe I’ll get a laugh or grin out of you.

If you haven’t had much time to look around the blog, the stories can be categorized. On the right side of your screen, scroll down a few inches and you will find the heading, “Categories”. Listed below it, you will find Birds, Cats, Critters, Horses, Kids, and the rest of them. Just click on the one you want. This makes it a little quicker to get to the subjects you like best.

Dave Thomas
June 21, 2016

I can’t remember exactly what year it was but WWII was still going on. Our friends, the Watsons, had invited our family to take a drive one weekend to Peabody, Kansas to see the Prisoner of War Camp.

Peabody is a small farming town about 60 miles northwest of Augusta. It’s surprising to think that it was the location of a German prisoner-of-war camp during the war. When I was older, I learned how it came to be that there were several prison camps in Kansas and in other states as well. During WWII all of our able-bodied men were either in the service or working in a job that was critical to the war effort. There was no one left to plant or harvest the crops that were so desperately needed. A lot of the women were working in the factories as “Rosie the Riveter” or some other much needed capacity.

Someone came up with a plan to use the captured German prisoners as farm-hands and it worked out well. If you would like to learn more about it, check the Internet. I did a search on “German P.O.W. Camps in Kansas” and found a lot of information.

Getting back to our trip, we kids were a little bit apprehensive about going. Every day we heard the news about the Germans killing millions of people. We heard about how they gassed them and some people were skinned and lamp shades were made from the skins. Altogether, we thought we would be facing some real monsters and the idea was pretty scary.

We got there and the compound was a large area contained by chain-link fencing. The place was full of men in black uniforms, some sitting and some standing, and all of them just taking it easy. Our Dads, Al and Frank, went up to the fence and started talking to a couple of the older men who spoke English. After a time, Jack and I got a little closer so we could look things over. What we saw were a bunch of young guys much like we would see on the streets of our town. This was not the dreaded SS. They may have been brave and loyal soldiers but they were just kids. They were probably thankful for 3 squares a day and a chance to work without being shot at.

Well, more lessons learned. You might enjoy spending a few minutes researching this.

Dave Thomas
May 10, 2016