TheBanyanTree: Memorial Day

[Margaret R. Kramer]

They are dead; but they live in each Patriot's breast,
And their names are engraven on honor's bright crest.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Where is everyone?  When I was driving to workout yesterday, the roads were
deserted.  I pass a golf course on my way to the club, and there were just a
few people playing golf.  The parking lot was only a fourth full.  The club
only had a handful of people sweating it out on the cardio machines, but I
expected that as it is a holiday weekend and people are gone or just doing
other things, so working out isn’t at the top of the priority list. The
normally extremely busy road I take to the tanning salon was almost bare
pavement.  Did a catastrophe happen and left me out?

Well, I think a lot of people went out of town because it’s actually a real
summer weekend and not a cold rainout.  And it was HOT yesterday.  Our
thermometer reached 95 and the official temperature was 97 degrees.  We
missed tying a record for that date by one degree.  So, I think a lot of
people who weren’t out of town were either hibernating in their air
conditioned houses or at the beach.

I didn’t turn on our air conditioning until 5:30 pm.  I dislike using it,
especially when it’s hot, but not humid.  Yesterday wasn’t too bad for
humidity, but this morning, it feels steamy.  A front is approaching us and
as it gets closer, I’m sure the moisture is going to gather right up in
front of it.  But when the inside of our house was 91 degrees and our poor
dog did not move from his spot in the kitchen all afternoon, then it was
time to introduce a little cool comfort.  And we needed to sleep in relative
coolness later that night.

As everyone begins to filter back into town and the beaches are abandoned in
preparation for a work and school week, we’ll be grilling and playing
croquet and just relaxing in our backyard.  In spite of the fun and the
heat, we will take a moment to remember the people have and continue to
sacrifice their lives for us.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so
it's all right.
~Maya Angelou