Goodbye, San Francisco

Before I tell about getting out of the Navy, I want to add I was in San Francisco several times while stationed in Oakland, usually during the day. We saw the sights, which didn’t compare with New York’s, of course, and we saw a great matinee of “Rhapsody in Blue,” which was sweeping the country. We found great places for lunch and walked in parks and took pictures of ourselves. I shopped at I. Magnum’s Department Store, in its book department, naturally. In some book store I purchased copies of German I and German 2, never dreaming I would eventually study the language in college. The books were in Gothic type and had no English. I loved trying to translate them. English is from the German, therefore the two languages have many cognates. “Hand” in English is “Hand” in German. All nouns in German are capitalized. But “gift” in English is a present while “Gift” in German is poison! Take care.

One weekend, while I was still posted at the WAVE barracks downtown, two or three carloads of Wave officers and NCOs drove to Yosemite National Park. When we were doing something in the sports field, such as hiking in a national park, we were allowed to wear civilian clothing and we did so on this trip. I remember delicious chicken with a dip served in baskets at a stop in Merced. We slept in cabins at the park, where we heard the roar of water all night long, if we were insomniacs. At least one was. Those cabins no longer exist, I heard.

So the day came when I received, in San Francisco, my honorable discharge from the Navy, after fourteen months of service. I said goodbye to friends and boarded the train for Alhambra, California, where an interesting relative would recognize me instantly, never having seen me since I was a baby. To be continued.

♥