Labor Day 2009

Still early and no plans have been set in stone for the rest of the day but we've got a vague intention to get up and out and do something different than we normally do on a long weekend. Then again, we may do nothing at all. Don't we do enough during the week? Shouldn't we honor labor by taking a break from our own? We'll see. It's good to have so many choices. All we have to do is choose.

Yesterday we had Mac and Helen over for grilled burgers and fixin's and then just some good ol' fashioned sitting-around-and-jawing-time with them and the girls. The days where we can do this kind of thing are numbered so it's a pleasure to have them while we do. The weather was warm - high up near 90 and with no breeze, making it feel hotter than it was but nowhere near the blast-furnace temperatures it could've been. Made for an enjoyable day.

So we have the summer in our rearview mirror now. It's been a good one, likely the last of its kind now that Rachel's a senior in high school. Did we do all we set out to do? Not hardly but we did do a few things and that's good enough. Time to move on into Fall and the pleasures that'll hold.

Memorial Day - 2009

A pretty quiet one for us this year, but then again, most of them are pretty quiet for us. We're usually lined up to head out for a summer trip by now but due to complications with school, those plans have been put on hold. Looking to get out by the end of June but the next few days will firm that up. Meanwhile, we still stuck close to home, catching up on chores and catching a movie and waiting for the girls as they went to and from friends' houses.

Weather couldn't've been better. Warm and sunny with some showers in the late afternoon. Feels hot to us now but in a few weeks we'll be longing for the relative coolness of these days.

We didn't make it to the cemetery this year but we still thought about them. I guess that doesn't count, you have to make the time to get out there and put some flowers down, because anyone can say they remember someone but you really ought to do something about it. Well, we didn't, the first time in a long time, if ever. I'm sure they'll understand. We did put out the flag as a way to remember and thank our troops. We couldn't do the things we do without them and their families putting themselves on the line. So a hearty thanks to them.

So another Memorial Day is behind us. Ahead? Nothin' but summer. Let it begin.

Mad Max and the Meltdown

Daniel Henninger thinks the current financial crisis is linked to the trend of secularism taking over the country:

This year we celebrate the desacralized "holidays" amid what is for many unprecedented economic ruin -- fortunes halved, jobs lost, homes foreclosed. People wonder, What happened? One man's theory: A nation whose people can't say "Merry Christmas" is a nation capable of ruining its own economy.

One had better explain that.

Yes, one better. Click through this post's title for the whole thing - he makes a pretty good case. But the best part of his post may be the caption to this picture:

Mortgage-backed security survivor.

Ain't it the truth?

Veteran's Day

Clara was off so I took off as well and we took Mack and Helen out for breakfast at The Waffle House to honor Mack for Veteran's Day. (Mack served on a minesweeper in the Pacific during World War II.) The very least we can do.

Nice breakfast, a nice visit, and a beautiful fall morning. Mack wore his Navy reunion hat to commemorate the day and we'd put out our flag at home just before we left for the same reason.

Not many Veteran's Day's ahead of us where we can enjoy their company. I'm glad we took the time and I'm glad they agreed to go with us. I think they were, too. Hope so, anyway.

4th of July, 2008

We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and had the ol' folks and Aunt Adoree and Uncle Don over for dinner. Baked beans, potato salad, hard-boiled eggs, chips and then for dessert, ice cream and chocolate cake. Things done about right.

After they left, there was still much of the day left. The 4th is the one holiday that really gets started once the most of the day has passed. We headed out to Yukon to a park where the Oklahoma City Philharmonic was slotted to play. (Yeah, I know: what's the Oklahoma City Philharmonic doing playing in Yukon? Well, they'd played in OKC the night but their main gig was booked out of town. That's the way it's been done for the last few years so go figure.)

We made it to the park at around 7:30 and staked our claim:



Emily brought the dogs and Rachel brought along her latest beau:



Hmm. Don't quite know what the gang sign she's flashing signifies. I'm sure it's something positive. And it looks like it's required to be flashed for all pictures:



As we waited, some of us grew a little more intensely patriotic:



A local C&W band played and then around 8:30 the Philharmonic took over. We weren't far from the stage and the acoustics in the open air were excellent from where we sat. The variety of music was impressive: patriotic numbers, of course, and movie themes and Oklahoma related pieces. Some vocals, too. Wonderful.

The fireworks started right when the Philharmonic finished a little over an hour later. Piped in music accompanied them and the display was mightily awesome. We had great seats for that, too, but we were a little downwind so that some of the debris landed on us. Poor Pepper lost bladder control after the first barrage while she was sitting on Emily's lap but Rachel's friend was a good enough sport to hold her throughout.

It lasted for a good thirty minutes and ended with applause. We hiked back to the car, loaded up, headed home. On the way home, from the Interstate, you could see other fireworks displays out in the distance. Amazing that there was so many but then again maybe not so amazing.

A great country and a great celebration.

Memorial Day 2008

Emily and her dogs at the cemetery, Memorial Day, 2008. She loves her dogs and she'd take them everywhere she went if she could.