Hurrah for the Ground Observer Corps!

We had a pleasing holiday weekend, including a small gathering on the Fourth of July for a few friends. We served only patriotic American foods: hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato chips, macaroni salad . . . though it has to be admitted that we did have fruit salad in case anybody brought a Communist who couldn't eat red meat.

Our friend Pat Rogers brought a completely evil version of macaroni salad . . . with bacon! It was all I could do to restrain myself from secreting myself in a corner and gobbling it all down myself.

I was pleased to be able to reward Pat, not for the macaroni salad--- for which we will all be rewarded with heart attacks--- but for the fact that (under her nom de internet qtera) she solved one of my Mystery Plane quizzes by recognizing the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa ("Peregrine").

Her reward, as the photograph shows, was a deck of Second World War airplane recognition cards, as approved by the Ground Observer Corps. So now she can tell a Macchi C205 from a Kawasaki Ki-61, assuming that she can't already.

The cards are also fully functional and can also be used to play good American games, like poker.

A fine, patriotic time was had by all, until it was time for all the heart attack victims to stagger back to their vehicles and their homes, secure in the knowledge that if the Axis try to bomb us, we'll be ready for them.