Memorial Day

This is the biggest weekend of the year for gearheads like myself. There's the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, the Indy 500, and the Coca Cola 600 at Lowe's. It's the unofficial start of summer. People are vacationing at the beach and the mountains, fishing, camping, cooking out, and enjoying their families, friends, and life in general.

But there is a very serious side to this holiday. When I was young, my Grandmother refered to it as Decoration Day. It was the day when the survivors of fallen service men went to the cemeteries across the country and hung bunting and flags on the graves as a sign of gratitude and respect. As a Boy Scout sometime in the middle of the last century, I took part in a parade each Memorial Day. We marched through town to the local cemetery where there was a ceremony, speeches, and a rifle salute honoring the fallen heroes.

Today it has become something different. As with many things in our society, it has morphed into a celebration of thanks for all who served. While I have undying gratitude for all who wear or war a uniform, Memorial Day should be reserved to honor the fallen. It is the day we should reflect on the sacrifices made by our fallen service men and women, and honor those who gave all that we might enjoy the blessings of Liberty. It is the day we should remember those who gave the last full measure so others could live free. It is the day that we should honor those who's love for Country and comrades was greater than their love for life.

These heroes should have our undying gratitude and be honored as the most revered patriots that our country has produced. My nephew said it very well here.

Please do not think that I am trying to slight the serving Military. They are doing a service so great that every day should be reserved to honor them. I personally thank every service man or woman that I meet. Do not think that I am trying to slight those who served in the past. We have Veteran's day to honor them. But Monday is Memorial day, when I will remember and honor those who gave everything to ensure our freedom.

Fly your flag at half staff (or lowered to horizontal) until noon tomorrow, and remember those who made it possible for the races, family gatherings, and barbecues to continue. We are blessed to live in a country where patriots abound.

Stay well, and offer a prayer of thanks for those who fell and comfort for those who mourn their loss.

Happy Mother's Day!

Best wishes for a truly happy Mother's Day.

To my Mom for giving me life and teaching me the value of family.

To my Mother-In-Law for giving me Marilyn.

To my Wife for giving me nearly 40 years of happiness, support, companionship and 4 beautiful children.

To my Daughter and Daughters-In-Law for all the happiness you and your families have brought me.

I hope you all are as blessed on this Mother's day as I am to have you in my life.

Ketchup...

...or Catch Up if you prefer. I've been a little slack in my reporting lately, so I thought I would bring y'all up to date with a recap of the last couple of weeks.

As you probably know, I spent the last 2 weeks in Michigan visiting with my Mom, Madison, Rufus, Chester, Jack-Jack, Shaggy and Jag while Amy and Geoff went off on a cruise. It was quiet, hilarious, gross, and great by turns. The quiet times were when the dogs were kenneled, the cats were asleep, Mom was reading, and Madison was at school. I occupied my time by photographing the fauna in the koi pond and reading, too. The hilarious times were when Madison was decorating the house for the return of her parents. Rufus, the yellow lab, is afraid of balloons. Chester, the Nova Scotian Duck Tolling Retriever, on the other hand, loves them. He leaps in the air to snap at a stray balloon, and occasionally succeeds in popping one. The gross parts involved cleaning kennels. Chester had over-indulged on the rawhide bones, and truly looked distraught at what had happened overnight. The great times were everything else. It was high spring in southern Michigan, and the trees were blooming, the tulips were up, and the azalea in front of the house exploded while I was there.

Tuesday of this week, I, sadly, had to leave to come home. A couple of observations about the nature of drivers in the various states. The less traffic there is, the better the drivers behave. If the car has a Michigan plate, the odds are about even that the driver thinks he is Mario Andretti, and takes an attempt by a car on cruise control to pass as an insult to his manhood. I played leapfrog with one car all the way from Dundee, MI to Piqua, OH where I stopped to eat. The bozo couldn't hold a steady speed to save his soul. Once I got out of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee were a breeze. The drivers were polite and few and far between. Georgia, on the other hand, is like Michigan. I think the Interstate route numbers are really a warning of the number of Idiots per mile. I-75 is right up there.

After a brief decompression on Thursday, I spent some time at the range yesterday. Two weeks had not significantly degraded my ability with the pistols. It was a good time, despite the fact that Jon had to cancel at the last minute.

I promise to be more interesting the next time.

Stay safe.

Happy Birthday, Laura

I hope it's a great one.

Everybody in Saline (especially Grandma) sends their best wishes for a truly happy birthday.

I plan to celebrate by heading for home.

See you soon.

Dad

Happy Anniversary, Missy and Jon

Has it really been 4 years? It seems like yesterday we were commuting back and forth to Stone Mountain to get ready for the wedding.

It is obvious that you have grown closer and your love has deepened in the time since we dodged rain showers at your wedding.

I wish you all the best and many, many more.

May you always have enough.

Love,

Dad

Saline

Well, I arrived yesterday around 10:45 after a 2 1/2 hour drive from Piqua, Ohio where I had spent the night. For those of you who are interested, I have discovered that LaQuinta really means "Behind the Cracker Barrel".

The afternoon was spent trying to get my land legs back after a couple of days in the Jeep. Entertainment was provided by two cats, three dogs, a niece, Mom, and Amy all trying to adjust to a new face in the house. Around 4:00 PM, Amy tried to turn into someone who looked like they were going to a party at 5:00. At 4:55, Geoff called and said they were blowing off the party. Amy took less than a minute to change back into her comfy clothes and de-stress. By 8:00 PM, they were on the road toward Florida and their cruise.

Dinner was ordered from the local Pizza Joint, and Mom and I had salads while Madison ate pizza.

This morning, I was up at 5, skulking around, and letting the dogs take a turn on the leash in the back yard. I don't think I'm quite up to chasing them down, and I'm reasonably sure they would ignore me once they got out of rock-chucking range.

The weather is great, but they're predicting thunder this afternoon and evening, then cooler for the next few days. It's been around 80 and breezy so far.

As you can see from the pictures, Mom, Madison, Rufus, and Chester are all doing well. I'm adjusting, too. I miss all of the southern folks, Marilyn especially.

More later.

Stay well.

On the Road Again

In about 3 hours, I will be drudging through the remnants of Atlanta's morning rush, heading toward Saline, Michigan. Some time tomorrow, I will be there to visit with my Sister and Brother-in-law briefly before they head south for a cruise to Belize and the Carribian.

Once they're gone, I'll be visiting with my Mom and niece, Madison until they return.

I'm going to miss all of you while I'm gone, but it will be good to see my Mom for more than a couple of days.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Surprise! Surprise!

This morning, bright and early, we crammed Gracie into the cat carrier and took her to the vet to be spayed. The plan was to have her fixed and let her roam around outside since she spends a great deal of time sitting by the storm door twitching at the birds and squirrels.

Well, friends and neighbors, the phone rang about 10 minutes ago from the animal hospital. It seems that Gracie, despite 2 or 3 previous trips to the vet, is actually George.

Potential psychological damage to the cat aside, (from 7 months of calling him her) the plan stands. The vet said they would neuter him, and we still plan to let him roam and hunt small animals.

Like I told Marilyn, the only sure ways to be sure about a cat's gender are to witness the birth of kittens (thankfully, we won't have to be living through that), or to pick up a scalpel. I guess even experts can be fooled.


As long as I'm on the subject of psychotic cats, I guess I should update y'all on Gizmo. She (yes this was confirmed by the vet) has been outside for about 4 months. She spends her time sleeping on one of the chairs on the front porch, or driving the birds in the front yard to the back, then chasing them to the front again. She's doing quite well, and waits patiently by the front door each evening until we feed her.


Stay well.

Happy Birthday, Sara!

Twelve years ago today, we were in a hospital waiting room anticipating the birth of you, our first granddaughter. You were a very special little baby, who had major surgery six hours after you were born, and spent the first six weeks of your life in the neonatal unit at Children's Hospital in Atlanta.

That sick little baby has blossomed into a beautiful young lady, who is a joy to be around. You brighten our lives with your enthusiasm and smile. We are truly blessed to have you in our family.

Grandma and I love you a lot.

I hope today is your best birthday so far.

V

Things are never dull around here.

Yesterday we were blessed with a visit from our youngest Granddaughter, Violet. Her mom had to find a dress for a formal function tonight, and shopping with a 16 month old has been described to me by people who know, as being akin to the innermost circle of Hell. Marilyn intervened, and the result was that we spent most of the afternoon entertaining and being entertained by Vi.

The weather was beautiful, and we spent a lot of time in the back yard just goofing around. I had spent a couple of hours prior to the visit riding around on the lawn tractor, sucking debris from the last round of thunderstorms out of the yard. I was on the mower when Vi arrived, and she looked at the tractor like it was some sort of really loud toy. When we got around to playing in the yard, she took to the tractor like it was the big red toy that it is. That's when the inspiration hit. There was a box in the shop that contained a pink pedal tractor that was purchased before Vi was ready for it. She's still too short to push the pedals, but she can shove the thing in circles with the best of them.

With considerable help from Miss Violet, I managed to get the thing assembled, and she loved it.

The visit ended later that evening when Missy came to retrieve her daughter. I think she had been away from Vi just about long enough to start going into withdrawal. It must be tough to be a child who's unloved. :)

I've truly been blessed by my family.