On the South Side

A group of us went out for breakfast at Ginghams before we headed over to the cemetery. In attendance were: Myself and Emily, my Dad and step-mom Judy, sister Becky and Steve, Dad's boyhood friend Bill with his girlfriend Sandy (childhood girlfriend of both Jim & Bill), Bill's mother (you call her either Mrs. Wooten or Mom), and two of Bill's kids with a couple of their kids. Oh yeah, and Aunt Mickey and Uncle Gene, too. Steve (Becky's fiancé) is an active Boy Scout Leader and he's spent the entire day yesterday out at the cemetery planting some of the 150,000 small American Flags at the headstones of all the servicemen. He was nice to go along with us again; I'm sure he could have enjoyed relaxing at home. Then we all met back at Jim & Judy's place for a very nice outdoor lunch on the patio next to the pond. Later, after the crowd thinned out, some of us stayed for a second helping of dessert and a game of "marbles." That's a game t

One of the things I've been struggling with lately, concerning this blog, is, as I really got into my second year of writing, it hit me hard just how repetitive my life is. I'm going to the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery tomorrow just as I did last year. ( Here's some pictures from that day.) I don't want to simply repeat everything I've already written about...so...what? What shall I say? Well, upon looking back at my posts from last year, it appears I didn't write about it at all. I took and posted some pictures from the day, but I didn't write about Memorial Day at all. I suppose because we're in the middle of a controversial war, the usual pat phrases don't quite do their job. I happen to believe that our military is in Iraq guarding our freedom. But, I'm trying to imagine how I would feel if I didn't believe that. During peace-time, there are accidents of all sorts in the military when people are hurt or killed. We say they ar

I followed American Idol this time around. I didn't get to see all of the episodes, I didn't try that hard, but if I was home, I'd watch it. It struck me as I was watching the very end, after Carrie had been "crowned," that it really was very much like the old Miss America Pageant. The suspense and the emotion are genuine because one of these young singers really is going to have their life changed with the decision. The emotion is an indulgence we allow ourselves because it's "just" entertainment; it's not really important. These kids just want to be singers and that's a good thing. Pure entertainment is a wonderful thing. Pop Music and Comedy does it for me and most of my entertainment intake is from those two areas. I have to confess though, I do watch some pretty inane TV sometimes. I like shows that have little or no substance whatsoever. I like shows where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. And, you know which is which throughout