Anyway, this past weekend we had a "long" weekend. We worked late on Friday, early on Saturday, and again on Monday...so it didn't really feel like that long of a weekend anyway. This coming weekend we don't have to work on Saturday at all, so although we worked late this evening, it will feel like a longer weekend than last--if that makes any sense at all.
Memorial Day always makes me puzzle a little bit. I just find the whole tradition a little bit odd. Not that I have any problem honoring the soldiers that have fallen fighting for freedoms. I grew up doing that, too...just on Remembrance Day...and we didn't decorate graves by the masses or have picnics and play frisbee at the cemetery. It is just a little weird for me that all of a sudden, seemingly out of the blue (because I never can remember when Memorial Day is coming--I didn't grow up with it) the graveyard is alive with the vibrant colors of flowers, wreaths, and little windmill things.
But a holiday is a holiday, so it must be celebrated.
On Sunday, we had dinner at my family's house. I think I ate almost the whole pot of mashed potatoes by myself--I used to do that when I was 10 but haven't for a while. I like to think that Rachel ate most of them. We played games well into the evening and also got to look at some of my dad's new stained glass projects. I think that they are really good and that he should go to an art show and sell them...but, it's hard to part with something you created. We are running out of windows though, so we'll have to do something eventually.
The macaw on the left is the one he just finished. He made the one on the right a while ago. It's not the best picture, but I took it, so that's understandable.
The rose he recently finished
For his next project he's working on a 3-D frog. I think that will be really cool to see when it's finished!
On Monday, after working, we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End with Andrew's family. I was having a hard day and was pretty emotional the whole movie. Apparently a lot of people didn't like it, but it made me cry and I thought the ending was rather touching (the part after the credits, not before).
We then went and had a nice barbecue dinner at Andrew's parent's house.
It was nice to not have to think of anything to make for dinner two days in a row! I love it when that happens!
We then went and had a nice barbecue dinner at Andrew's parent's house.
It was nice to not have to think of anything to make for dinner two days in a row! I love it when that happens!
Hmm... interesting thoughts about Memorial Day. It might shed a little light to notice that the US takes very little notice of Veteran's Day (aka Remembrance Day). I'm not sure why that is. I think it may be partly because it's not just started after the World Wars... check it out. http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html
ReplyDeleteIt would appear that Memorial Day predates Veteran's/Remembrance Day by 50 years. That would explain its entrenchment in US tradition and its divergence from November 11... as it started an AWFULLY long time before anyone knew there would BE a November 11th. There. :) I think that about covers it. No, I'm not saying it's better. Remember, my Grandpa fought with Canada in WWII. I'm just saying there's a reason that it exists and is so widely participated in.
So a friend told me the ending. Nancy I thought that was even more depressing...poor kid :( Anyway I think it is nice they keep the graveyard scene so peppy...in Mexico and in Asia they often do similar things...and dump favorite food and drink on the grave. In mexico it is the day of the dead celebration. It can get a little crazy.
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, that's kind of why I think it's such an odd tradition--it really is more like the day of the dead than I imagined. Like, I always read about such things in books about Asian countries (and Mexico)...but I never dreamed that such a thing would take place here.
ReplyDeleteI think it is just a tinge of culture shock coming out every time I remember how they celebrate it. I should be expecting it by now, I know, but somehow each year I forget...and then am like, "What in the world! Oh yeah..." Every year.
Not really opposed to it, see, just always a little taken aback.
Haha. Maybe it would help to know that in the Middle Ages and yes, even today, Saints' Days were/are celebrated on the day the saint DIED, as opposed to the day the saint was born... With a big feast and mass and all sorts of stuff... cause the death date was seen as they day they were born into the Heavenly realm, and so naturally should be the subject of a massive drinking party. :-D Ok. Maybe not quite that. But perhaps that's some sort of connection to why graveyards get all peppy and decorated on days like Memorial Day and the Day of the Dead? Or not... lol. I'm a medievalist. I'm always coming up with good reasons why everything is medieval.
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