After a wonderful 11-day break to celebrate the holidays, I'm back at work at Hammock Publishing. Not that being off meant loafing around.

As noted in my bio, my wife and I are fortunate/crazy enough to live on what we call a mini-micro-farm with about 18 acres of pasture. For the past year, we have been "foster parents" to horses rescued by a local group, Volunteer Equine Advocates Inc.. We keep some of the rescues while they are awaiting court action to remove them from their owners, and also once they are available for adoption. The number changes, but we have about 11 horses now and two donkeys, which we have claimed.

For some reason, horses want to be fed early. So it was out the door at 7 a.m. every day to mix up their various rations, fill watering troughs and give a little TLC to them. Other volunteers feed in the evenings, while I am still at work. I like mornings, so the "chores" are usually pleasurable, except when it is raining and the mud reaches my ankles.

By the way, horses are cute and all, but the donkeys are by far the most fun, being quite intelligent, curious and vocal.

I was privileged to speak today (Jan. 10) to the Old Glory DAR Chapter in Franklin, Tenn., which had invited me to talk about American Spirit Magazine, which we produce for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

Although it's been over 3 years since I was the editor, they invited me because the chapter's program chair is the sister of a DAR member in my hometown, who had asked me to speak to her chapter a couple years ago. Small world, small towns.

Membership dues for DAR don't include a subscription to the magazine, so the Society exhorts its chapters to encourage members to subscribe. Circulation is climbing, and, we discovered after my first speech, making a presentation to a chapter can spur members to sign up.

Part of my presentation appears in our case study on American Spirit. I also gave considerable props to the Hammock design and production folks who work magic turning words into images, and naturally to American Spirit's editor, Jamie Roberts, for making each issue a jewel.

About 35 members and several prospective members attended the meeting at the Williamson County Public Library's main branch. It was a stormy day - rain and thunderstorms punctuated my talk. Then, just as I was about to leave, sirens started to wail. The librarians announced there was a tornado warning—a funnel cloud in the area—and herded us all into a hallway away from windows and outside doors. So we had a chance to chat for about 20 minutes until the all-clear sounded. There wasn't any panic, but everyone was subdued - we know tornados can hit any time of the year. (In fact. Clarksville, Tenn., got slammed almost exactly 9 years ago.

It was a memorable ending to this American Spirit road trip. Pictured here with me are Susan Walker, Old Glory Chapter Regent; Dee Smothers, Old Glory Chapter Program Chairman; and Ann Blevins, Old Glory Chapter Magazine Chairman..

Very few people will ever go to a trade show where the major selling points for most of the products offered are either how lethal they are or how good they are at preventing the user from becoming a casualty. The Marine Military Expos are just that kind of show, and I am at the 2008 Marine West Expo, sponsored in part by our client the Marine Corps League, aboard the US Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton, CA.

With palm trees dotting the dry landscape and many of the housing units built in the classic Southern California Spanish style, large parts of Camp Pendleton, CA, look like most other small California coast towns. There are shopping centers, McDonalds restaurants, Starbucks, a paintball range, fire stations, signs for dances and other events at the Staff Non-Commissioned Officer Club, little kids with moms in tow walking on the sidewalks to playgrounds.

But there is a sense of purpose and intensity here you don't find in most small towns. Most of the Marines here have either done at least one tour of a Middle Eastern combat zone, or are training for their first deployment, or getting ready for their next. All of them want to take the best gear they can into the fight, to do unto the enemy and keep the enemy from doing unto them.

That's the purpose of these expos, to bring the people who make military gear - from socks to rockets - face to face with the Marines who use the products - more than use them, whose lives depend on them. The Marines are not shy about expressing their approval or complaints, nor about offering suggestions to improve the item. And the vendors are eager to hear - many of the representatives here are retired Marines or veterans of other services. Their knowledge helps their companies, and meeting their fellow warriors keeps that knowledge fresh.

What, you may wonder, do socks bring to a military operation? Ask any ground-pounding infantryman - feet are subject to a world of woes. A seamless-toed sock that wicks moisture away from the feet, cushions sensitive areas and even fights foot odor can make a difference in how effective a grunt is, how fast he or she can move, and thus, in whether they come home ok. Don't even get me started on boots …

And Pendleton's Marines know about pounding ground. Now in its 66th year as a Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, CA, sprawls over hundreds of thousands of acres of what would otherwise be prime, overly developed California coastline. Originally part of a gigantic ranch when Spain controlled California, Camp Pendleton became US Marine turf in the early days of WWII. After training in its sere, rugged hills and surf-whitened beaches, tens of thousands of Marines embarked for battles that are part of Corps legend - Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Tarawa, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Today it trains Marines for battles in the Middle East, and for missions around the world, including humanitarian efforts such as the aid to Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr tore through that nation.

The two-day show will be attended by an estimated 3,000 Marines, from privates to generals. The local newspaper, the North County Times, covers Camp Pendleton closely and has an interesting article about the show. As one general said today, his peers don't buy much - they wait to hear from their corporals, sergeants, master sergeants and gunny sergeants about what's worthwhile and what's not. If the Marines want it, I want one, too.

Posted by Bill Hudgins on January 16, 2008 6:11 PM | Permalink

January 22, 2008

Books for Wounded Warriors

With all the books we sent to the
Wounded Warrior Battalion

During the recent Marine West Expo aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., I joined several members of the Marine Corps League including Lt. Gen. Olmstead, former commanding general of the base, on a visit to the Wounded Warrior Battalion West. Around 29 Marines now comprise the WWBW; they have room for 36 and hope to build a facility for more than 100. The formation of the regiment last year gave formal structure, recognition and place among the Marine Corps' various units, all of which are important not only to the individual Marines who deeply miss their previous units, but also for the Corps and veterans services to be able to focus on helping these brave men and women. All want to remain in the Corps; not all will make it, and for those, the Corps is working hard to help them transition successfully back to civilian life. (Note: If you want someone who will work hard, take any task and get it done better than you could imagine, these are the people to hire.)

Before I left for the Expo, we pulled together 30 or so books from review copies sent to Hammock Inc. for our various magazines. Most were on military or Marine history, a few were novels and one, "The Sandbox," was a collection from U.S. military bloggers. Most of the Wounded Warriors were touring the Expo when we arrived, so we talked to the major in charge of the battalion, one of his sergeants, and a Corporal Ricco, whom Lt. Gen. Olmstead had been asked to look up for a mutual friend.

When we go to Camp Lejeune in April for Marine South, we'll take some books there, as well. The Marines also love video games, in part because they grew up playing them but also because they help re-establish manual and in some cases, mental, dexterity.

Posted by Bill Hudgins on January 22, 2008 3:34 PM | Permalink

January 30, 2008

Think Globally, Warm Locally

We Hammockians (there has to be a better term than that!) find all kinds of media fascinating. One constant refrain in discussing any medium these days is involving the audience, making the medium more interactive.

That's not new, of course. Recently, in a box of miscellaneous items that belonged to my late in-laws, I ran across an example from the 1970s. Ron Kaiser, who was then the reigning weather god at WTVF News Channel 5, put together a Snow Probability Calendar for the winter of 1973-74.

Kaiser went through weather records dating back to the 1880s, logging days on which snow fell. To his surprise, snowfall seemed to cluster around certain dates from November through March.

Kaiser didn't provide specific numbers, but grouped dates according to high chance of snow, moderate, and little or none. In the calendar, high chance dates were printed in white, moderate in blue, and little or none, red. The calendars also plugged the "EyeWitness 5" news and weather forecast times and upcoming holiday specials.

Distributed free and by the thousands to loyal viewers, the calendars were a (deceptively) simple and fun way to engage the audience's attention for five months. I'm sure many viewers logged snowy days on them and compared the results.

Now, I'm not qualified to offer an opinion on global warming (not that that seems to deter too many people), and my time in Nashville goes back only to 1982. But my memory is of colder winters, and my Nashville-bred colleagues here recall the same thing, as well as lots more snow.

So, just check the calendar pages and make your own call. Hint to Lelan Statom: How about updating this calendar - with today's computer power, it should be pretty easy.

Posted by Bill Hudgins on January 30, 2008 5:27 PM | Permalink