Veterans Day - part 2

You probably thought Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th, right? Well, it is. But for some reason, the local buffet restaurant decided to celebrate this evening. It is always crowded on the 'free dinner for veterans' night, which was from 5-9 pm. They really went all out. Employees stood outside each entrance, handing out stickers to each veteran. We attended along with our daughter and son-in-law. So we had a Vietnam vet and an Afghanistan vet.



Since son-in-law had to be back by 7pm for a class, we decided to go early. We actually got there shortly after 4:30 to find they were already letting folks in. The line was even relatively short.



The tables inside filled up quickly. Since the 4 of us were sitting at a table for 6, the manager soon came along and asked if we'd mind if 2 other folks were seated with us. They were an interesting couple. He turned out to be the fellow who started the unit son-in-law is currently with.

Later, as we were leaving, the line was MUCH longer. There was a fellow stationed out in the parking lot, singing various patriotic songs to provide entertainment for the people waiting in line.






The line went clear out the door and to the end of the building! Another employee went down the line of waiting people passing out cups of hot cocoa. There must be a lot of veterans in the valley and tonight they all came for dinner.

Memories

Memories are odd things. Over time they fade, only to be revived by random odors, sounds or conditions. It was the annual program today presented by the children at church. Here it is mid-November with Thanksgiving soon to be upon us. All of these combined to strongly evoke a memory from 1996. It was totally unexpected...like a flashback. One of the little girls in the program expressed her feelings of joy, knowing she would someday see, and get to know the grandfather who had passed away when she was just 3 years old.

Suddenly, there I was, 14 years ago, a couple of days before Thanksgiving, standing in a conference room in the office area of the high school, waiting for the principal to go get my daughter out of class...preparing to tell her that her grandfather had unexpectedly passed away...the grandfather who had given her a special blessing just a few days before...the grandfather who allowed my children to fill his hair with barrettes and hair ribbons...a grandpa who loved them no matter what...a father-in-law who treated me like one of his own children. I think it was the first Sunday in forever that I didn't have kleenex with me. Big mistake!

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is a really big deal in this area. It is nice to know it is not just an odd thing squeezed between Halloween and Christmas. The local high school sponsors a big assembly to which any veterans in the community are invited and honored. In addition to music by the choir and band, a 21 gun salute is performed by a local veterans group.






The honored guests...the veterans...were invited to sit according to which branch of the service they were or are in. While the band played the songs associated with each branch of the service were played, vets who served in the various branches stood to be honored while their song was played. Some stood for more than one song. One, whom I know well, stood for Army, Navy AND Marines.



Our family had 2 representatives at the assembly.


In honor of some of the vets from my family I decided to post some of their pictures.




Here is my grandfather, Ernest, who served in California and France during World War I. He is the fellow on the right.



Next is my father, Verlin, who served during World War II in the states and also Guam.






Third is my husband the woodworker during the time he was a Marine. He served in Vietnam. Later he served in the 'Cold War' in the Navy Reserve and the Army National Guard.





Last is my son-in-law, Ron, who is currently serving. He spent some time in Afghanistan. He is the bearded fellow in the center of the bottom picture.






Thank you to those who serve.

I looked out the window, and what did I see....

I think maybe I'm feeling a bit like Scrooge this year. It seems like 50 years ago...maybe even 30 years ago...we celebrated Halloween and then had nearly a month to consider Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving, Christmas decorations magically appeared in the stores. Between then and Christmas, houses were decorated. We always had a real Christmas tree, so we didn't put it up until mid-December to make sure it wouldn't lose all its needles before Christmas.

Halloween was pretty much about neighborhood trick or treating and costume parades at school. Thanksgiving was about gratitude, dinner, family and pilgrims. Christmas certainly had commercial aspects, but not nearly like it is now. Now we have to be PC and ignore the whole reason for Christmas.

Now apparently the 2 holidays that rake in the most cash are Halloween and Christmas. More and more, Thanksgiving is just being squeezed out of the running. We skip directly from Halloween to Christmas. I don't have a problem with folks who like to decorate, but really...Christmas lights put up on November 1st? Here is the scene down our street...taken the day after Halloween.



What ever happened to the reason for the season?

A swimming pool no more

We've had the big hole behind our house for a while now. We started considering that maybe we were meant to have a swimming pool out there when the rain started to fall, but today the weather was beautiful..especially considering that it is now November! The grass is still green, some leaves are still on the trees, but the 'swimming pool' idea died today as they came to pour footings for the house to be built there. Once the concrete was in, they brought forms to prepare for pouring the walls. We look forward to seeing the huge mounds of dirt disappear.

Sunset

There is no real reason for this post other than I loved the sunset I could see from the back of our house the other evening. The picture doesn't even do it justice.

The 'Bye-bye' Game

Some years ago one of our young grandsons delighted in the game of shutting himself in a dark closet and then jumping out to surprise people. Now, his young sister seems to have developed the same game. Could it be heredity? At Great-grandma's house is an enticing pantry closet. It is a step up from the rest of the kitchen, which means that from inside, even a short person can reach the doorknob!

She waits patiently for someone to open the closet to get something, then scrambles inside, shouts 'bye-bye' and shuts the door. Of course, the best part is popping out to greet everyone outside the door. I think she could play it for hours. I KNOW she can outlast me!