Memorial Day addenda…

Even after now four years, it felt strange to watch the ceremonies at Arlington on TV, rather than watching it there. The laying of the wreath is very solemn, and even with all the dignitaries and media there, John Q. Public is still welcomed and allowed. Based on my experiences, ‘most’ of the public attendees were retired or former military some for the first time, others who lived locally and had been there multiple years.

Ammo.com has a good piece on the history of ‘Decoration Day’, HERE. And commenters Tom and Beans linked to the article from Tom Cotton, Arkansas’ Republican Senator, who is ex-Army and did a tour with the Old Guard, HERE. It talks about his tour at Arlington, and is well worth the time.

For me, I watched it on TV, then started prepping for the cookout I was hosting yesterday. All of the guys were ex-military in one form or another, and we all share that sense of loss of men we knew. It’s kinda frustrating to be thanked for my service on a day like yesterday, since it’s REALLY about those who never came home. We all agreed on that, but deal with it, each in our own way.

And my friend and long time commenter, Stretch and his wife stopped in from Virginia for a few hours while on vacation.Β It was great to see them, and a good time was had, along with some decent burgers.

Apparently our little town is ‘right off’ their list of possible retirement places according to Stretch’s wife. Something about seeing us on TV regularly for our ‘weather’… So we gave them a few recommendations and a few places to stay away from (Dallas, Austin, Houston).

As usual, the talk turned to guns, as Stretch is one of the group that got together regularly to shoot in Northern Virginia when we did the fund raisers and fun shoots. Not that ‘that’ is a rat hole we go down routinely… nah… πŸ™‚

Comments

Memorial Day addenda… — 11 Comments

  1. Glad to hear your Memorial Day was a success, old friends are great to visit with.

    Yeah, that area of Texas is notorious for ‘exciting’ weather, keeps a person on their toes. Keeping a weather radio turned on during the peak periods is a good habit to cultivate.

    We live waaay south of you so our weather events is possible hurricane hit and high heat / humidity about eight months of the year. Perspiration Incontinence. We sometimes wish to move up higher for at least 2 – 2 1/2 months of more cool weather, but wife is a ‘fraidy cat’ of tornadoes, I don’t blame her too much for that. Those suckers come out of nowhere.

    Be safe.

  2. Funny, but one of the things I miss about growing up in Texas is the unpredictable and often violent weather. Not that I want to encourage death and destruction, but there is something awe inspiring and beautiful about big thunderstorms. Was just at a wedding in Maryland on Saturday, in a nice venue tucked up on the side of a good sized hill. After the outside ceremony, the reception was held indoors, which was a good thing since a long line of serious storms worked their way over the top of the hill and crashed around us. A bunch or us watched from under the portico until the spray started hitting us from all directions. So as long as there is no death or serious damage, I’m all for the reminders that man is puny compared to Mother Nature (The arrogance of those who think man can ‘fix’ the climate is astounding to me – not that we should be a poor steward of our environment, but one volcano eruption can totally negate any attempts by us to fix things).

  3. I could recommend the Texas Hill Country, we live about 30 min NW of San Antonio and we seem to be too far South for tornadoes that amount to much and too far North for Hurricanes. As the summer progresses out humidity drops and when it is 95 in Dallas it is 85 down here and the evenings outside are delightful. Every few years we do get some heavy rains up to eight inches in less than two hours so you don’t drive through water on the roadway and turn your car into a boat. Summertime and the livin is easy.

    • Hmm – must be up around Comfort or thereabouts ;-).
      I’m in the NW part of SA, feels more like small town USA (lived in one of them for a long time in the PacNorWest) than being in the 7th largest city in the USA.
      Good part is Military City ™ has a lot to recommend it without feeling like an urban cesspool……….

  4. jrg- True! And all valid points!

    Tom- Yep, I ‘like’ seeing what is coming, unlike living back east. The sheer majesty of the big thunder storms is amazing, and no, we will never ‘control’ the weather.

    WSF- So… you’re as crazy as we are??? πŸ˜‰

    Old Tex- I actually pointed them at your area! πŸ˜€

  5. Your Memorial Day sounds very nice. Old friends and a BBQ work very well.

    We had snow yesterday morning, but it was cold and windy all day. I had high hopes of getting out and doing something/anything, but it wasn’t in the cards.

    Memorial Day is always a melancholy day for me.

  6. Well, in defense of the people who thank you for serving on Memorial Day, I have found over the years that there are some survivors who didn’t. Walking shells.

    And, unlike before 9-11, at least people are noticing, in a good way, veterans. Used to be all veterans were the forgotten ones by John Q. Public, rather than just the homeless and downtrodden ones that we should be supporting over the illegals (but that’s a whole different rant.)

    Glad you had fellow vets to hang with on Memorial Day. It helps with the coping and the stresses that show up later after service.

    And as to weather. There is a quiet thrill in watching an approaching (NON DANGEROUS) storm, lightning, wind, lashing rain. Mrs. Andrew and I used to drive up to a local hill to watch big storms come pounding towards us. God’s fireworks can be quite pretty as long as one is in a safe place. (Always wanted a house with a glassed in cupola on the top just to go watch storms… Sigh…)

  7. Gomez- Thanks!

    LL- Here too. But didn’t you hear, we’re supposed to have the hottest summer on record, and this spring is supposedly the second hottest in recorded history… snerk…

    Beans- Good point. And I’ll pass on the glass cupola! LOL

  8. Hard to beat a gathering of friends & BBQ.

    Never been were there are many tornadoes, and not too sure I want to. But I love thunder storms, all that energy, sound & fury.

  9. Thanks for your kind comments.
    It was great to put a face (and accent) to a few of my favorite bloggers.
    San Antonio proper has been move to the No Way! list. Smarter Half was on a bench and a crack deal went down … at the other end of the bench!
    Double thanks for recommending the National Museum of the Pacific War. Totally enjoyed it AND the town of Fredericksburg.