18 December 2017

Things I Learned About While I Should have Been Napping

The caracal and how cats always land on their feet; they can twist their spines in two different directions at the same time (whoa!). I will have to remember the caracal when the kids are coming up with cool soccer team names.

The Battle of Messines.  That was sad and interesting and then sad again with the fiancĂ©e who lost her man in this battle.  She never married, lived to 100 and was buried with a picture of her fiancĂ© in her hands.

Trench warfare and the design of the trenches to save soldiers from shellfire; a series of rectangular switchbacks, like the top of a castle wall. _|¯¯|__|¯¯|__|¯¯

Secret tunnel warfare in which miners were paid 3x more than the soldiers to dig tunnels under the enemy. The British "undermining" the German mines (packed with explosives) like the game Dig Dug.

Kartoffelstampfer. German stick grenades had handles like batons and were called potato mashers. They had an "idiot's guide" on the handle to indicate how long the fuse would last once lit (5 seconds).

I fell asleep during the nature segment and woke up in battle. Maybe I shouldn't nap with the TV on...