{M}emor{IA}l Day
I need to confess something.
And yes, it involves liquor. Lots and lots of liquor. I bet I piqued your interest, didn't I?
My confession? I'm addicted to the show "Mad Men".
There, I said it. I'm addicted to "Mad Men". I can't stop watching this show.
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They drink lots of liquor on the show.
Lots.
Set in the 1960s, it centers around a group of ad men on Madison Avenue. Evidently that was a very stressful place to work and these guys needed glass after glass of scotch, or bourbon, or whiskey to get the job done.
So when I saw this nifty little travel case for scotch and bourbon it made me think of "Mad Men" and I had to buy it.
For a dollar.
I love tag sales.
My new lens. You can read about it here, for all you photography people.
I found it in a garage, under a table, inside a brown cardboard box. No scratches, or dings, or rattles. It works just perfectly.
$2.00.
Shocking.
I really love tag sales.
Dinner with some good friends on Saturday night.
We ate outside since it was such a wonderfully warm evening.
The older people were outside, the younger ones inside. Game playing, and laughter, and good conversation.
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What a great day. I got to spend the morning with J and P, and J's friend A. We had to drive way far away to get our cameras cleaned. While we waited for the camera man to clean them, I introduced the three younger ones to tag sales.
They had never been to a tag sale. Flea markets, yes. Tag sales, no. So we drove around the small town we were in, looking for tag sale signs, meandering up and down back country roads in search of a bargain.
They were amazed at the prices you find things for at tag sales. A walked away with a brayer for free and a T-square. He bought it for a dollar.
Beside the liquor travel case and the camera lens, I found another bargain but I'll save that for a different day.
K was marching. Waving her flag. Trying not to drop it.
Hot, sticky day.
Our town does a short program at the high school before the parade starts.
Veterans perform an MIA ceremony as part of the program. An empty chair is placed on stage with an MIA flag draped over it. We are reminded that there are still over 73,000 soldiers MIA from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.
73,000 men and women that never came home. And their families don't know what happened to them.
I don't know how they live not knowing.
Children and parents lined Main Street to watch the parade.
Running, and laughing, and playing tag.
Too young to know what MIA means. Too young to want to cry thinking about all those MIAs.
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At the high school, they do a roll call of all those from our town that gave their lives in service for their country.
Boy scouts and girl scouts carry a poppy for each one killed and place it into an empty helmet.
It hurts to watch this part of the program. So many lives lost. So many families in pain.
Thank you.
It's not enough.
But I mean it.
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
- Lt. Col. John McCrae
Thank you for this post. So very heartfelt.
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