Keep the Coffee Comimg

This morning at 62° is a bit chillier than it has been, but it is still beautiful. The air is filled with the songs of birds. The dogs stay outside enjoying the sun. Nala sleeps by the back fence. They know how to enjoy a beautiful day.

My frenzied cleaning continues. Yesterday I cleaned the fridge, moved cans off the floor into cabinets and swept and washed the kitchen floor. I also vacuumed all the twigs and the pieces of bark Nala brought inside and chewed. She has changed tactics. I have thwarted her inside thefts so now she brings outside in. That, at least, is easier to clean.

When I was a kid, I loved spring. Gone were the winter clothes: the heavy coats, mittens, knee socks and the pink long underwear which went to my knees. I wore my spring jacket even on a chilly day. I would never admit to being cold and backtrack to winter. I walked under a canopy of leaves on my way to school. The sidewalk was in shadows. Most of my walk was a straightaway. I walked passed the tracks and the old high school. The houses were so close to the sidewalk I could see into some living rooms. They were always dark in the mornings. A few cars would pass but mostly it was foot traffic, kids, on their way to school.

The best lunches my mother packed were always just after she went grocery shopping. That was when we had desserts like something from Hostess. I used to like the pack with the three cupcakes. It always seemed a bargain of sorts. I remember a commercial on TV advertising those cupcakes. A guy said if you were lucky you’d find some cupcake behind your teeth, and he’d then put his finger in his mouth and pull out some cupcake. Even I, a kid, thought that commercial a bit gross.

My dance card for this week has its usual entries. My car is filled with trash and recyclables so I’ll get my dump sticker tomorrow and empty the car. Tonight and on Wednesday morning I am busy with my uke practice and lesson. The only new event is a uke concert on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday I can rest.

For special days, I have traditional postings. This is one of them.

Memorial Day is a day for reflection and a day to give thanks. It is a day for honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military, those who gave, as President Lincoln once said, their “last full measure of devotion.” This is my annual tribute. 

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. It originated during the American Civi War when citizens placed flowers on the graves of those who had been killed in battle. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead.” While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860′s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in General Logan, Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, giving his official proclamation in 1868 designating May 30 as a memorial day “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.”. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.