Musings of the Chronologically Challenged™ Fourth Generation

 
COUNT -- Do Not Question -
My Blessings

For no discernible reason, other than the remote possibility that Oral Roberts came through my bedroom last night without waking the Rottweiler, my vertebrae behaved much better today. There have been so many things I've been wanting to post about for so many days that I hardly know where to begin during this little respite from pain. I'll start with a follow-up to my flag post of November 14, which was:


TAKING DOWN THE FLAG

The flag at the front of my house had an especially sad appearance on Veteran's Day. The terrific, unceasing winds that blow here at the ocean make a flag's survival time very brief. The tattered end had concerned me for several weeks and I vowed that if it could make it through Veteran's Day, I would retire Old Glory and start with a new one next year. My daughter has a colleague whose husband is a former Marine, now on disability. He performs a public service by properly disposing of worn out flags. I'm going to send my flag to him in Greenville to assure a correct burning ceremony. I feel better about it being handled by a veteran.


THE FOLLOW-UP
Flag Burning Ceremony

Telephone call from Miss Edna (the daughter)

Miss E: Hey, Mother. Wanted to tell you about my conversation with Brian.
Me: Oh, you've already talked with him?
Miss E: Yep. I called him tonight and told him I had a big favor to ask of him, and he said "What can I do for you, darlin'?"
Me: He's a sweet boy alright.
Miss E: So I told him about your obsession with the Marine Corps and admiration for everything Marine, your patriotism, and your worn out flag, and how much better you'd feel about burning it if a bona fide Marine conducted the ceremony, etc. And Brian said "Sure, I'll do that for your mama, honey."
Me: I knew he would. A real dear, that Brian.
Miss E: Then I told him "There's just one catch to it, Brian." "What's that?" he asked. "Well, Mother said she'd be ecstatically happy if you would perform the burning ceremony wearing your dress blues."
--------------------------- Looooooooooooooong pause ----------------------- At which point I just couldn't hold it together any longer and I guffawed. "I'm only kidding, Brian." I said. "Oh, thank the Lord," says Brian, "I couldn't get in those dress blues anymore!"

About two weeks later Miss Edna called me to report that the flag ceremony had been held and Brian asked her to report on it to me. He said that his wife helped him with the ceremony and at the end they both saluted. Now I call that a wonderful gesture from a young Marine to make an old biddy happy. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Brian and Gina. Semper Fi and God Bless America and the United States Marine Corps.


>^..^<

>^..^< Here's a fun little Christmas exercise you'll really enjoy. I would love to see the finished product of the Charming Guy, plus GOC-Atlanta and GOC-Winston Salem. MOF, you fellows, if you take on this fun little time waster, would you please email the results to me?

>^..^< JUST IN: The French Government announced today that it is imposing a ban on the use of fireworks at Euro Disney. The decision comes the day after a nightly fireworks display at the park, located just 30 miles outsideof Paris, caused the soldiers at a nearby French Army garrison to surrender to a group of Czech tourists.

>^..^< If you're not keeping an eye on The World of Leshaun Fossett, you're missing some great stuff from a budding writer, and possible future leader. This kid has it going on. Have I ever lied to you? And please leave him a comment so he'll know you stopped by.

>^..^< Until the next time, Dear Friends and Gentle People. Thanks for the respite, Oral. Please sneak in again soon.
posted by HCL at 10:50 PM