You kids today have it made...

When I was a kid, there was a war around me. People burnt in the streets (or what was left of the streets), houses were bombed and the atillery shot the roof off our house. Then when the war was over, we found a lot of amunition in the forests around us. We made heeps of gunpowder, put a few handgrenades into it, ran powder behind the next tree and lit it. Made some nice craters that way - I was 8 years old.

Then the winter was extremely cold - minus 38C. With no coal and only scraps of wood from the forest that was no fun either. Food was quasi non-existant and I still am puzzled how my mother put a meal on the table.

People who have not been in the middle of a war can easily talk about "collateral damage". I know what collateral damage looks like and it is less funny if you are part of it.

I watched the Olympics in 3D, it was great.

Yes, they take a bit getting used too, but after a while it's OK.

whs said:

When I was a kid, there was a war around me. People burnt in the streets (or what was left of the streets), houses were bombed and the atillery shot the roof off our house. Then when the war was over, we found a lot of amunition in the forests around us. We made heeps of gunpowder, put a few handgrenades into it, ran powder behind the next tree and lit it. Made some nice craters that way - I was 8 years old.

Then the winter was extremely cold - minus 38C. With no coal and only scraps of wood from the forest that was no fun either. Food was quasi non-existant and I still am puzzled how my mother put a meal on the table.

People who have not been in the middle of a war can easily talk about "collateral damage". I know what collateral damage looks like and it is less funny if you are part of it.

Thank you for sharing.

Those pictures I attached are from another 'war' scene - the Russian invasion of the CSSR in 1968. I happened to be in Prague for business that day and took those and other pictures. That was not funny either. A lot of shooting around us and we were stuck for 3 days because the Russians had blocked all the bridges that led to either Germany or Austria. But we eventually made it out of there.

Wolfgang,
Amazing story and pictures. The closest to war I've lived through were the Watts and Rodney King riots. On a hugely lighter subject about fond memories growing up I attach this picture. I only wish that it could be printed in scratch and sniff mode ! lol