Memorial Day and More

Back in April when I was at Camp Taz, we attended “Tales of The Crypt”, which is part of the Columbus, MS celebration of Pilgrimage, an annual Southern celebration.  To prepare for “Tales”, juniors at the Math and Science School in Columbus pick someone who is buried in Friendship Cemetery and do a research project about that person, including a costumed presentation which is acted in that character.  About a dozen students are chosen from their auditions to perform their presentations at the annual event, held  during evening hours at the cemetery during Pilgrimage.  Both of the times I’ve attended, a group of three students enacted Columbus’s version of the beginning of Memorial Day.  As I researched yesterday, I discovered that Columbus is just one of many cities that claim to be the origin of Memorial Day, the observance of honoring those who have lost their lives in service to our country.  In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, NY the official birthplace of the holiday once known as “Decoration Day”.  In the Columbus, MS, version, in April, 1866, an association of women decorated the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers.  I particularly remember the poem by Francis Miles Finch, entitled “The Blue and The Gray”, which was inspired by this group of women who bravely ignored the anger of the time and honored the dead of the Union Army as well as the Confederate Soldiers buried in Friendship Cemetery.

Whatever the beginning, whatever the current custom, Jim and I join in honoring all of the men and women who sacrifice so much for our country.  Although neither of us has lost a direct relative in battle, we both have ancestors and current, close relatives and friends who either have or are serving our country.

As I do every day, I took the dogs out for an early walk yesterday morning.  I’d noticed a hot air balloon off in the distance earlier, but when we went out, the balloon was right over our heads.  I really should have gone in and grabbed the camera, because just a few minutes later, the balloon landed right next to the RV park, nearly on I-25.  I was mesmerized!  I’ve seen balloons take off, and in flight, but had never seen one land.  It was fascinating to watch as the chase vehicle arrived, crew members jumped out and the process of safely deflating and folding up the huge balloon ensued.  What an interesting and fun way to start our day, but no pictures!

We enjoyed a quiet day at home, no picnics or gatherings!  Instead, we took advantage of a reasonably cool morning to polish the Castle.  This time there was no wax involved, basically, we were just cleaning off the accumulated dust and grime from the past few months.  As usual, several people who walked by invited us to clean their rigs after we finish with ours.  We just smile and mention they probably wouldn’t like our hourly rate! That usually brings a laugh, but they just keep walking by.  After all the activity, we spent the rest of the day relaxing!

Today brought more relaxation and a few errands.  A while back, I heard about a sugar-free Margarita mix, and today we finally took the time and opportunity to go to the opposite end of town, to the one liquor store listed on the product’s web site as a distributor for Baja Bob’s sugar free cocktail mixers.  We came home with several versions, now I’ll have some choices for Weight Watcher point-friendly happy hours.

We’ve enjoyed a couple of days with very warm temperatures, now we’ll have another couple of days with a cold front moving through.  No matter, we’ll enjoy ourselves anyway!