The dead soldier's silence sings our national anthem. ~Aaron Kilbourn

Thank you for all that have fought for our freedom!
A little history of Memorial Day from http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May.
Today Phil and I went on a cemetery tour, to visit all the graves of his family.  There were five cemeteries in all.
At our first stop, the local fire departments were having a ceremony at the cemetery where his maternal grandparents are buried.
Hearing “Taps” being played always brings a tear to my eye.

At the next cemetery I got a real treat. A baby blue jay had flown down from the tree, and boy, was mama blue jay upset!

She was so upset that she crapped on my arm while I was taking pictures!

I have a blue jay that comes to my feeder, but he is so camera shy that I haven’t been able to take his picture.
So I was thrilled to see this baby and mama today at the cemetery.
Phil and I spent Sunday riding around in the convertible with our Ms. Chloe.  It was a beautiful day.

I took some photos around Confluence.




On Saturday we went to a cookout with some people Phil works with.  Man, the food was sooo good!  I made a banana pudding and some deviled eggs.
I love cardinals!

I started reading a new series, Berlin Noir, by Philip Kerr
Ex-policeman Bernie Gunther thought he'd seen everything on the streets of 1930s Berlin. But then he went freelance, and each case he tackled sucked him further into the grisly excesses of Nazi subculture. And even after the war, amidst the decayed, imperial splendor of Vienna, Bernie uncovered a legacy that made the wartime atrocities look lily-white in comparison...