Flag In

Ray’s flag went in on Saturday, May 28, 2011. Joe and I took advantage of a few moments of sun out of another rainy Saturday and drove out to the cemetery.

My grandfather’s flag, he fought in World War I, received the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, also went in, with flowers for him and my grandmother.

Joe bought a couple of flags for me from good old Wal-Mart and I had purchased Wal-Mart’s red, white, and blue fake flower arrangements for graves, so we were set.

It was a nice late afternoon, as car after car drove into the cemetery. My heart always thumps a little faster when I see all the flags displayed throughout the cemetery. Memorial Day is truly a day to remember our veterans and our loved ones who are gone.

It’s been a battle this spring to get the yard work done and my garden in. We’ve had a tremendous amount of rain, along with some chest beating storms, although nothing bad has happened in my neighborhood.

A tornado ripped through north Minneapolis last Sunday. My son has been over there, yes, he’s one of those locust type contractors, offering roofing services. It’s a poor area of Minneapolis, probably the area that is least able to handle a natural disaster, because so many other types of disasters are a way of life over there.

In spite of the weather, I finally was able to finish my garden work just before the weekend. The flowers are potted, the vegetables are planted, the garden has been weeded (for now), and it’s time to sit back for a bit and ease into summer living.

Now if summer would just show up, that would make it easier to ease.

This weekend has been coolish, cloudy, and rain has moved through from time to time. A round of storms rolled through this morning, although the severe stuff went north of us. The sun still hasn’t really made an appearance, but the air is warm and humid.

Oh, that humidity feels so good. I just love being warm and a touch sweaty. I opened up all the windows, catching the sultry breezes, and my bare feet are warm enough now not to need socks.

This spring has brought some interesting birds to my backyard for the first time. Joe bought me a hummingbird feeder. I hung on it a short staff fastened to the deck railing and filled it with nectar. The other day I turned my head, and lo and behold, there was a Baltimore oriole feeding from it. I’ve seen them soaring through the trees. I’ve never seen orioles in my yard before, so that was really cool.

Then yesterday, I saw a bluebird. Again, I’ve never seen a bluebird anywhere I’ve lived before. I managed to get a few photos of it feeding off seeds that had fallen into one of my hanging planters.

The nice thing about holiday weekends is that the traffic is so light around town. I wish it was like this all the time.

Asher and his new girlfriend Angela came over with her 11 month old baby, Audrianna. The boys were with their mom, so it was just us. Asher grilled, and we talked, and the baby sat on the kitchen floor with a spoon and a pan and was happy as a clam. She wasn’t intimated by the dogs or the cats as they kept sniffing her out.

I don’t watch Saturday Night Live, but Asher and Angela kept saying, “What’s up with that?” Which I guess, is a skit on SNL. Asher showed me a video of it from Hula.com. Funny. Pretty soon we were all singing, “What’s up with that?” while Audrianna waved her arms around. It’s fun being silly.

I bought a new fire pit earlier this spring and we broke it in last night, roasting marshmallows for s’mores.

It’s been a nice weekend, even if the weather isn’t totally summer-like. It’s always good not to have a schedule and just have each day flow. I worked out yesterday and this morning. I’ve cut the grass. I’ve done laundry, but it’s at my own pace.

Of course, I have many thoughts of Ray today. Three years and three months have gone by without him physically in my life. I’ve reconciled myself to it, but I don’t like it. I miss our lives together. I still cringe whenever I hear married couples say ours, we, and us. Those days are over for me. It’s just ME now; me, mine, and I. Ugh.

Joe is coming over later this afternoon and we’ll grill brats and enjoy potato salad and other summer goodies. Even though our weather isn’t quite summer yet, we’re almost there. At least, it isn’t going to snow for a few months.