Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Memorial Day at Frank and Ellie's, 1998
Windermere, Florida


The lake bumped the sand
causing the water to wrinkle
at the end of the long grass slope
that started back up at the house

The slope was lime green and shadow leaves swayed across it in the breezy heat
The barbecue was smoky with hamburgers,
and the table was piled with bowls of cole slaw, potato salad,
pickles, catsup and mustard

We sat under towering oak trees
with black angled branches
and a white blue sky
that held the heat in like
the lid on a pot of corn on the cob

Bessie the dog ran through the trees and into the lake
while the four small boys splashed in the water
and Grandpa shouted advice about their plastic raft,
him being an old Navy man

The furniture in the house was American Primitive,
dark wood-spoked chairs on an intricate wood floor
and bright orange crate labels from the family business
hung framed against pine slat walls

A small American flag waved out of the large spoon pitcher on the stove next to Grandma’s three layer chocolate cake, and the childrens' popsicles were red, white and blue
and left their mouths patriotic with color

It was Memorial Day that warm Florida Monday
We didn't mention it, but it was there. Z

(Between the burgers and the ribs, the chance to have a day off in the sun with friends and family, stop a minute or two and remember who made all this possible. Memorial Day is for memories. Blessings to you who lost a loved one fighting for our freedom, and blessings to you who are missing someone now who’s still at it. We owe them a lot. No, we owe them everything.)

Thanks to Mustang for the wonderful Memorial Day Video!

A REMINDER FROM THE PROUD MOTHER OF A MARINE WHO RECENTLY CAME HOME: George Orwell once observed, "People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

Thanks, Joan.