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Smoke from a distant fire...


A bright sun rising woke me up at about 5:30 this morning. (Note to self, close curtains at bedtime.) By the time I actually got out of bed, there was such a thick grey haze that I thought maybe I had just dreamed that sun. If you looked straight up into the sky, the bright blue was there, but the haze was all around...smoke from Canadian forest fires that is blowing across northern New England.


I went out for my walk, but I don't know that that was the healthiest exercise to do today. I could actually smell the smoke.


We worked on the deck for a bit. Otherwise it was a quiet, largely unobserved Memorial Day for us. We had our picnics while camping earlier this week and I went to the cemetery yesterday. Given its purpose, I wonder why some people so happily wish us "Happy Memorial Day" but at least I have not seen Memorial Day greeting cards. I kind of like the Rolling Thunder idea as a tribute.


As a kid, we had to memorize Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Now I have relatives in the SOUTH so I am getting a whole new education on the "War of Northern Aggression." Have you read the book, Confederates in the Attic? If our son-in-law's family wasn't actually interviewed in it, they most certainly could have been. They definitely kept the memories alive.


Of course, today, the real purpose of the long weekend is Memorial Day Sales at the local mall or shopping center. I'm thwarted in my ability to shop because thousands of other people will be clogging the roads into town for the Burlington Marathon. You know what? There will be other sales.
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  1. Arkansas PattiJune 1, 2010 at 10:30 AM

    Growing up, my family bounced between Ohio and Florida. There really were two civil wars taught in schools depending on where you live.
    To me it isn't a sale if I have to fight mobs. My bruises and aggrivation have a monetary value.

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