Remembrance

Memorial Day Has Come And Gone. 

The patriotic flags, aside 'till July
And dwindled cars have rattled by.
The cemetery so filled, is now left
Where many a soul is found bereft

For just one day, they held a spell
Cast around for those who fell.
But, in this quiet silence I find
That more than time is left behind

Who are we, the living,
To be so stingy in the giving?
Why one day for the dead,
When it's clear there's so much unsaid?

Please hear me know, oh yea of faith
And find a proper spot to graith
Not for just one day's time
But many more for those not mine

When McCrae's words have gone unheard,
Has the torch so been interred?
Have we, the living, been so blundered,
That we no longer hear the thunder?

My friends, in Flander's Field
Lie those who fought with zeal,
And often with a dose of fear.
Do we still keep them to be so dear?

Do we, at home and abroad
Become, in ignroance, basked in fraud?
Forget the food and the fun
Remember those who hold a gun.

Remember those who beat the foe
Remember those who were brought low
Remember those upon the bier
Remember before they disappear.

Spring Arrival

It's finally Spring! Yet, perhaps, I should wait till Memorial Day passes. Several frost warnings have been issued this week already!

Geography Oops

Sometimes my kids make me wonder...

On the other hand, maybe it's the summer antics kicking in...

The Power of Fresh Bread

We all know the smell of baking bread, or at least the smell of bread that has been made less than 6 hrs ago. You know, that smell that's all warm and makes your mouth water.

Well, it's no small feat to make fresh bread in my small apartment. With virtually no room to knead, I've opted for an electronic bread maker. I've recently acquired one from a thrift store (via my brother). At a value of $6 it makes a pretty decent loaf! I'm looking forward to trying out as many recipes as I can.

And, in addition to that lovely smell, fresh bread is way better than bread you get from a factory. Many types of bread that you can pick up at your local grocery store contain all sorts of preservatives. When I was co-teaching in an Applied Science class we did a lab to test how fast bread would mold over. I'll never look at white bread the same again...

So, besides the rich smell and wonderful taste of bread that I know (and can pronounce) all the ingredients, no wonky preservatives here!

Seriously, flour, sugar, water, yeast, salt, and other mix-ins make delightful creations!

Students Strike Again!

My whiteboard is often commandeered for special conferencing and random messages. Today's message involved a character most often mentioned with enthusiasm and when least expected. It invokes confusion and laughter, yet remains one of those things you just shake your head at. Happy Tuesday Tacocat...

For "short" Weather

You Know Your Shorts Are Too Short If

• You stick to your chair as you try to sit up
• You keep pulling down each side of your shorts as you walk down the hallway
• Your posterior tends to try and make an appearance when you walk or bend over
• Your shorts' legs are not parallel to the ground...they start to ride up toward your gluteus  maximus in a V shape
• Your pockets are longer than the fabric covering your legs
• You've seen underwear that covers more
• You consider wearing spandex shorts because you just can't stand the paleness of your upper haunches
• You're undergarments add color definition to your shorts
• You can feel a breeze where there ought not to be one

*If you find these shorts in the picture attractive and want to spend $60 bucks, you can get them here*

Supporting the Deceased

The weather has finally warmed up. It seems like summer has come overnight! With all this good fortune it's time to start getting back into cemetery work. I love to troll websites like Find A Grave to see if new information has been added to our internment record or if there are new photo requests. In the winter when the stones are covered, I may spend some time piecing together some of the different families genealogy using my handy-dandy Ancestry account. Maybe someday I'll be able to pass on my research to their decedents.

Back to spring (or quasi summer as it may be), after finding plots, stones, and where stones should be, it's time to spread the news about the annual cemetery meeting. We're not a for-profit cemetery. All of the members of the association are volunteers who spend their time maintaining and welcoming new interments. In addition, all of us are local and a large majority are family members of mine. I'm always the youngest one at these meetings and will probably end up with the most longevity as a member. Most members are middle age to elderly and some have become residents. Suffice to say, it's been difficult to recruit people to come and be part of the cemetery. We have notices in the paper, a Facebook page, AND send out notices. So the big question of the day/year is - How do you get more people involved?