Grand Old Flag

Hello World, Happy Decoration Day! May 30 has been traditionally recognized as a day of remembrance, in the annals of this great nation's history, since it was first designated in 1868 to honor the casualties on both sides of the Civil War. It goes without saying that you can't have a celebration anywhere in this country, at any time, for any reason, in any way, with anybody, and not expect to have controversy, so I'm here to reassure everyone that Decoration Day is no different, and I'm not just whistling Dixie, believe me. (Please don't even get me started on St. Patrick's Day!) Although officially instituted in 1868, the fact is that many cities in both the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1866. Both Macon and Columbus in Georgia claim the title, as well as Richmond, Virginia. The village of Boalsburg in Pennsylvania claims it began there two years earlier. A stone in a Carbondale (Illinois) cemetery carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866. (Carbondale was the wartime home of Gen. Logan, the director of the veterans group that organized the first official observance of the day at Arlington Cemetery in 1868.) Approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried. So it must have come as an unwelcome surprise in 1966, when Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo in the wilds of upstate New York as the “birthplace” of Memorial Day, of all things. In a ceremony there on May 5, 1866, local veterans who had fought in the Civil War were honored. Businesses closed and residents flew flags at half-staff. Supporters of Waterloo’s claim say earlier observances in other places were either informal, not community-wide or one-time events. By golly, toss in some green beer, and you've got the annual St. Patrick's Day parade donnybrook all over again. Next thing you know, the Mayor will show up eating pizza with a knife and fork, and suddenly May 30 will start to look like Waitangi Day around here, with all the riots and political fireworks that New Zealand is famous for. Whoever said, "All's fair in love and war" wasn't counting on The Holiday Police, that's for sure. Around the old homestead, there was no such controversy, and the ever-vigilant Flag Brigade gamely ran up the colors on both Monday and Friday during the week, in recognition of both traditional Decoration Day, and Memorial Day when it is currently observed on the last Monday in May. Amazingly, the flags were not only put out in the morning amid glorious conditions, and I might add, a welcome addition to the landscape, but were remembered to bring back in later, which is not something we take for granted with the Flag Brigade around here, I can assure you. And speaking of landscapes, it must be said that ours has been much improved with a veritable sea of meadow buttercups, gracing the lawn in all areas, and cheering us with their sunny yellow faces waving jauntily in the breeze. At last the azaleas have finally come along, and even the mountain laurel has covered itself in pearly pink blossoms that are a joy to behold. Early roses have just started to pop out, while in the back yard, the hydrangea is all set to burst forth in a multi-color extravaganza of its own. Someone recently sent me a note that said, "Nature smiles in flowers," and I can't find any way to argue with that, even if I tried. Just before Decoration Day during the week was the Feast of the Ascension on Thursday, and many of us dutifully took our places in church at a special evening service for the occasion. It was very nice, and featured many joyful hymns reminiscent of Easter, so you can believe me when I say that a good time was had by all. That reminds me that the Pastor recently expressed concern that nobody pays any attention to his sermons, and he could just stand up and blather whatever he wants for 20 minutes, with no one having the slightest interest in the timeless wisdom he was attempting to impart. Au contraire, I assured him. (That's French for "You can't sleep in this pew, your snoring keeps waking me up!") Every Sunday I count the offering and take it to the bank, where they invariably ask me what was the day's message from the pulpit, and I've got to be on my toes and come up with something on the spot. After all, I can't just blithely say, "Oh, I don't know, probably something about God - he was in favor of it ..... " and still expect to be taken seriously as an upstanding member of the congregation, who should be entrusted with its weekly collections, however paltry they might be. So I can't speak for anyone else, but I can certainly say for myself that whatever he says really grabs my attention, because I don't dare get caught flat-footed at the bank's weekly pop quiz, looking like some unregenerate heathen straight out of the pagan netherworld, and a social pariah that would never be accepted in polite company - or heck, even the prehistoric dinosaurs roaming the vast unformed land masses in the primordial ooze, who had famously low standards, and I ought to know. And so now we find ourselves with Memorial Day weekend come and gone, by jingo, and the Indianapolis 500 right along with it, I dare say. This year's winner, Ryan Hunter-Reay, completed the 200 laps with a blistering speed averaging 186 MPH throughout, just barely holding off 3-time winner Helio Castroneves down the stretch, and marking the first time since 2006 that an American-born driver has won the race. In fact, the margin of victory was a mere 0.0600 seconds, the second closest in Brickyard history. The weather was not an issue, and even the inevitable crashes were relatively unspectacular, making it possible to achieve the winning speed of 186.5, just off the pace of 187.4 set last year, making them the fastest two races in the previous 25 years for this event. In a crowded field of 33 starters, England's Pippa Mann was the only female this time around, compared with last year, when 4 women drivers hit the bricks to battle it out with the boys. This year's contest was a nail-biter to the end, with the first 5 cars all crossing the finish line within about 60 seconds of each other, and the checkered flag up for grabs right down to the wire. The Flag Brigade would have been so proud. Also on the local scene, in a staggering turn of events, the Rangers' improbable season continues, believe it or not, all the way to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1994, as they eliminated Montreal in 6 games before thousands of the Garden faithful, who remarkably did not all succumb to hysterical heart failure en masse at the outcome. The scoffers may scoff, and the nay-sayers may say what they like, but there's no denying that the franchise has done much more this season than anyone could have expected, defeated teams that were bigger, stronger and better, and made it all the way to the finals while 14 other clubs fell by the wayside, one by one. That's an accomplishment that speaks for itself, and they have no need of me leaping to their defense at this point, like some gawky teenager at his first dance. They may still dance badly, but at least they'll be there when the music starts. Out west, the Kings had a commanding 3-1 lead in games, but let that advantage slip through their fingers by allowing the Blackhawks to storm back and knot the series up at 3 games each, so it all came down to the final game in a hard-fought series that pundits are calling one for the ages. Of course, we've all long since learned that anything can happen in a short series, heaven knows, and past performance is no guarantee of future success, so there's no predicting how things might turn out when the time comes to drink Champagne out of Lord Stanley's fabled Cup. Personally, my money's on Affirmed. Elle