Memorial Day 2011

I am 66 years old! I have celebrated many Memorial Day holidays.
My earliest memories are of riding on the Boy Scout float down Edison Road in Lydick, IN. The parade began, I think, at the far western end of Edison Road, near Mutt's gas station...or maybe it began at the school on Quince Road, moved south to Edison and then turned east...it moved slowly past Clyde Peterson's store, the tavern, Marge's Beauty Shop...on past the Hardware Store, and the Gleaner's Hall, and the Ice Cream Parlor...then up the slight hill where it passed the front yard of my grandparent's home...and ended somewhere not too far past Chip Baginski's house...I think.
The parade took place during the running of the Indy 500, and so we had our transistor radios tuned to "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Mario was my guy! And those Andy Granatelli turbines, remember those? A.J. Foyt was the bad-guy...not really sure why, just never did like his style, I guess.

I don't remember decorating graves. Maybe we did and I just don't remember it. My father had served in WW2...and my uncle Don had served, I believe...maybe there were more who had done so. I don't believe we had any family members die while in service to their country.
I do remember times when I have been disappointed in the over-the-top celebration of war and militarization on Memorial Day.
So far as I can tell the intention of Memorial Day is to honor those men and women who died in America’s wars, but it is not to glory in militarism or bless war. From the beginning of what was then called “Decoration Day” in 1868, and its post-WWI promotion by a lady named Ms. Moina Michael, the focus of the holiday was/is to honor our war dead. Early on there was an emphasis on supporting the many widows and orphans war leaves in its wake. And, decorating the graves of the war-dead has always been part of the celebration.
I live in a place where a 500-mile race just might be the biggest thing happening this Memorial Day Weekend. We often do that, don't we: turn old holiday celebrations into new and different holiday celebrations. Maybe there is room in the 3-day weekend for both.

Not Always What It Seems...

I play golf.
That is to say, I own golf equipment, have enough money to afford greens fees, and can set aside time on most good-weather Thursday mornings to navigate 18 holes layed out over some often quite beautiful acreage.
It is not to say, I PLAY GOLF like folks who can actually PLAY GOLF.

Do you like the photo?
Serene, isn't it? Relaxes you just to look at it on a computer screen.
Would you like to be in the picture? Just somehow lifted away from where you are right now and plunked down in the picture...say reclining on that knoll just in front of the tree straight ahead?
Yeah, me too.
But it isn't always what it seems, is it? Whatever the "it" may be.
That beautiful scene marks the fairway just in front of a tee-box...it leads to a not-so-large, textured green about 545 yards away. Its a par 5. For me, maybe a 6 or 7.
It looks great...but it can be the start of a really terrible score if you cannot hit the ball straight and long, and then putt with some skill.
Somedays I am up to the challenge. Most days, I am not. (Whoever invented this "par" thing, and why isn't this particular hole a par 6 or 7?)
But it is inviting. And it is a beautiful patch of land. And the fact tha I keep returning to the challenge says something about how addicting trying to get it right can be...even if the challenge is not always what it seems.
FORE! (That's not my score, that's just what I am supposed to holler when it looks like my golf ball may be headed in your direction instead of where I aimed it.)

One More Memory of Back In the Day

I cannot remember the first drive-in movie theatre I went to. I am sure it was with my parents...and most likely it was a Walt Disney movie. I am sure we went in a Studebaker. Probably it was the theatre on Western Avenue between South Bend and Lydick.

There are still a very few drive-ins open for business. There is one on HWY 67 north of Martinsville...and every time I drive by it I remember how it was back in the day. The refreshment stand. The folks who arrived in their pick up truck, pulled into the slot backwards and viewed from lawn chairs on the truck bed. The third feature, which was usually a loser...although once in a while it was a winner: I saw "Night of the Living Dead" as a third feature with my boys when they were quite young; also saw a flick titled "Homebodies," which, if you can find you should give a look.
I saw my first 007 movie at a drive-in.
Date night was always better at the drive-in.
Defrosters being what they were in those old Studebakers (the only car my dad drove while I was growing up, and my first car, as well), it was often times not the best movie viewing at the drive-in.
It was often too cold or too hot at the drive-in, but watching a movie on a screen about the size of a big barn was worth it, I guess.
Probably I wouldn't really enjoy going to a drive-in theatre these days, but there are times I think I sure would like to give it a try.