Memorable

Memorial Day is one of those holidays that I've come to love more and more for it's meaning and not just for the fun that comes with it. I always seem to have a really good, solid cry over it because war is dumb and I just can't believe we participate in it still. How about we  stop killing each other, okay? Great, I'm glad that's settled.  As per tradition I read Flanders Field and the Gettysburg Address. We also watched the Memorial Day concert on PBS the night before which is the worst. Oh, it's just awful, the crying that goes along with this every single year. I mean, the things these soldiers and their families go through are truly devastating. I thought about Grandpa and all of his war stories. Did you know he got shot in the keister with some flak while flying over Germany? He always said he didn't want the Purple Heart because he didn't really deserve it just for bending over at the wrong time. Well, does anyone really deserve a war wound? Regardless, I'm grateful for him and his wounded behind. I'm grateful for them all. I'm also grateful for the people who choose to be peaceful. For leaders and diplomats and everyday folks who say, you know what, I'm not going to go blow that guy up because he stepped on my land. Let's talk it out instead. 

We did have fun this weekend. It wasn't all weeping over sad stories. Camille and I headed up to the mountains to see Lynn and Jeep's new house in Lake Arrowhead. In general I think I'm a beach girl. Give me a chair and a book and the sun and the sand and the waves crashing and I'm set. Until I go to the mountains and then I'm definitely a mountain girl. Give me a deck with some scampering squirrels and the wind blowing through the pines and all that fresh mountain air (what makes it smell do heavenly?!) and I feel like a new woman. Fortunately, California has both beaches and mountains so I don't have to choose. I'll just tell the Wealthy Benefactor I need both.

There was also homemade boysenberry ice cream and a picnic in the park and bocce. And I slept in and then read in bed for hours. The weekend was a dream. Let's do it again next year.