Winter comes early to the Atlantic coast, and we Southern Californians really felt the bite of the wind off the ocean. The walk from the hotel to the Officers Club really gave a taste of Atlantic winter. However, as we were to find out, that wasn't the only cold we were going to endure.
Finally orders came through to go to Ft Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma. We were given several days' travel time, so we took the time. We left Virginia and headed through Kentucky and Tennesee. Truly beautiful states. Even in the winter. When we went through the Great Smokies, it was a truly thrilling site. We could see rolling mountains for miles and miles, and there was a haze that gave the mountains their name. As for sheer grandeur, there's nothing on this side of the world to beat the Rockies, but the Great Smokies roll on and on, seemingly forever. I recommend the view.
We travelled on through Memphis, and once again a view of the Mississippi River, but in daylight this time. Now that is some Big Muddy! Lemme tellya. The bluffs at Memphis are pretty impressive, too. Okay...
On through Little Rock, where we paused for a moment, and Ft Smith, Arkansas, briefly through Oklahoma City, then finally Lawton.
My husband checked in at Hq, and I believe he got a list of rentals available in the city. At any rate, we found a one-room plus cubicle for the bedroom, upstairs in one of the older homes in Lawton. I had some monk's cloth yardage and made a curtain to hide the "bedroom," is it was the first thing one saw when entering the apartment. Apartment, I call it. What it was was one big room that served as living-dining room, with a small kitchen tucked into one corner of the room. The bathroom took up the rest of the space at that end of the room. I can't remember where we hung our clothes, but it seems there was a small closet to the left as we entered the apartment.
We had our first Christmas there as a married couple. My husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I told him a cookbook. He told me I was a good cook, what did I need a cookbook for. Well, c'mon, how long can you exist on meat'n'spuds? I wanted to be able to cook more than just plain stuff. So, guess what, I got Erma Rombauer's edition 1943 Joy of Cooking. I still have the book.
Of course, we had to make the usual "courtesy call" to the commandant. So we ventured out one evening and left a formal calling card. During these courtesy calls, one is not expecting to be invited in. It's a mere courtesy. But the Colonel and his wife were "old school," too, and they informed us that they would be pleased to visit us at such and such a date and time. If it was convenient. Convenient? Of course it was. Do you tell your commanding officer, "Sorry, we won't be home then"?
You're thinking that I was a little nervous? No, not a little. A whole LOT!! Here I was still a bride, knew from nuthin' about military courtesies and stuff, but I had a pot of coffee and and some neat little cookies to serve when they arrived. It was all very civilized. The Colonel's wife asked me if I played bridge, and would I like to join the women's bridge club. Gulp! Of course, I'd be delighted.
If any of you reading this know anything about rank in the military, you know how important it is. (There was a jibe: The higher they go, the ranker they get.) We wives introduced ourselves by our husbands' rank. Oh, horrors, here I was at a bridge table with women 10 or more years older than I whose husbands were lieutenants. Here I was, a mere child, with *gasp* a Captain! for a husband. Oy!
Well, I must say, I didn't let a little rank rankle me. I played a very good game of bridge.
More about Lawton and Ft Sill tomorrow....
Shalom