How Far We've Come

Chapter 18

    Before we got to the big field trip pretty much all the Global teachers were hinting at, we had to go through one more small one. It was the National Aerodynamics museum trip that Mr. Marvin and Mr. Gandalf had told us about quite a while ago. The most exciting part was that it was our first indoor field trip.

    I packed my bag as usual, but this time, I didn't need to pack a rain jacket or sunscreen. Only money so that I could buy something at the museum.

    When we reached the museum, Mr. Marvin gave us an assignment to find one artifact from each "theater" and draw it, and find another three to write about. Since it was the closest, Clary and I targeted the Pacific Theater first.

    I looked around the museum, surprised to see artifacts so old and pertaining to the time period so directly. There were flying jackets, life preservers, marine corps helmets, camouflage outfits, and even medical kids for all biomes! I was especially surprised by the jungle medical kit... I mean who needed a medical kit specifically for jungles? I wrote down all four of the items and began sketching the jacket. Beside me, Clary was working on the helmet. It wasn't amazing, but it was pretty good for someone who didn't draw much.

    "Nice helmet!" I told her. She laughed.

    "I wish. Your drawing is amazing," she complimented. "I wish I could draw like you. Like, remember the drawing you did that kind of looked like Mr. Rickman?"

    Oh I remembered. I remembered that day clearly, whether I wanted to or not. I missed Mr. Rickman so much, but I was glad he was recovering. I pushed the sad thoughts out of my mind. "Oh come on," I protested. "I only draw well because I practice. It's also the same reason I'm no good at drawing landscapes. I don't practice them."

    She gave me an "are-you-serious" look, obviously referring to my landscape drawings from the previous field trip and pointed to a sign a few feet away from us. "Come on! There's the European theater, I think."

    It wasn't the European theater. It was actually just a continuation of the Pacific theater. Luckily, we met some of our classmates and found out from them where the European theater was. Honestly, if this trip wasn't a school field trip, I would be hopelessly lost.

    We drew and described the interesting artifacts from the European theater. I was surprised to find a baseball that actually had a hidden compartment. My journal entry was rather humorous in reaction to that.

    Just a regular dirty baseball... or is it? This "baseball" contains a hidden gold compartment with care packages for US prisoners or US soldiers captured by other countries!

    Clary glanced at my description and laughed, "You know, you'd make a pretty good writer some day."

    I shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile, "Eh... I don't think so. I mean, I've tried but I've never actually made it past 20,000 words."

    "You'll do it!" she encouraged. "I know you can!"

    I laughed. "Yeah let's hope so. Now, onto the Home Front?"

    The Home Front was pretty interesting. Technology was emphasized, so it was pretty crazy to see technology from so long ago. Instead of the "iPod Touch," there were records and the radio. It baffled me to see how long ago it was, not too long ago, and how much we had progressed. By this rate, we would be making clones by 2050!

    Helping the war effort was also pretty emphasized. There were Red Cross posters everywhere and people were encouraged to make victory gardens. I could almost visualize myself during the time period... growing my own food and listening to records to help the war effort. I scoffed at the idea. I hated growing gardens.