The Holiday

My graduation weekend continued yesterday. I went to a party for my nephew and followed that up with a party for the granddaughter of a friend. It was a busy day. Capped it off with a long drive home and a night in my own bed. Sweet dreams followed. This morning I’ve fed the cats and checked the morning Glory, the latter is marking a steady climb up the trellis, and there’s a heavy wind blowing. There you have it. News and weather.

Today is Memorial Day, originally Decoration Day, in which we celebrated the Union Victory in the civil war. Now we’ve lumped all our wars together so here’s to the Spanish American war, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq and any other place where US soldiers have lived and died. It will be a day of gratitude and platitudes and picnics. Usually, I’d be with friends and family at the Nueces River but it was graduation weekend. So, maybe next year.

Now it’s off into summer and that looks to be busy this year. Mostly I’ll be grandparenting, which is good and fine with me. I wish gas prices were a little cheaper because I have a lot of driving to do but it’s a free market and that’s just the price we pay, besides, it will go down at some point and I don’t want to be a complainer while I wait for the inevitable. So, maybe today, I’ll just go sit in my pool and count my blessings.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale