Memorial Day

 May 28, 2018

Our weekend began with breakfast at Genesis that included more people.  Afterwards, I bought two shepherd hooks and two hanging plants at Minard's, then grocery shopped for the taco salad I'll be making for tomorrow's Vagabond picnic.  I went to the 4:00 p.m. mass, which was also a Confirmation, but not as long as when Archbishop Listecki had it a couple of years ago.

On Sunday, I made the taco salad and did other odds and ends until Peter came at about 10:45 a.m.  It is an absolutely gorgeous day for the picnic, but too warm to go hiking or walking.  Peter moved a table to a nice shady area, I put a patriotic tablecloth on and get ourselves settled.  I did some knitting; Peter read the paper.  Eunice came without Les who was waiting to get his air conditioner repaired.  Naturally, the a/c goes out in June/July, and the furnace goes out in January/February.  Eunice, Peter and I played dominoes until it was time to get our food ready and eat.  Meanwhile, Les came and we resumed playing.  My taco salad bowl was cleaned out.  We stayed until about 4:30.  The day stayed perfect.  We drove home and watched some TV; I fixed hamburgers and we watched "Deadline USA".

Peter watered the garden while I prepared breakfast.  I made a ham and cheese omelet with chives for breakfast with good coffee.  We didn't have any real specific plans for the day, but Peter suggested Wisconsin Memorial Park.  I looked it up and ceremonies would start at 10:00 a.m.  I was expecting a lot of people and heavy traffic.  Peter dropped me off in front of the area where everyone was gathering and he parked very close.  We sat in the first row next to the Postal Workers Band.  A lady wanted us to talk in a whisper, like we were in a concert hall.  And we weren't about to converse during the performance. 

There were very moving speeches paying tribute to those in the service that made the supreme sacrifice.

We went inside the building and admired the many paintings, sculptures and other art work.  We walked through the crypts and Peter recognized a few names, some that he knew very well.  I found Dr. Leone.  We met Betty and Erwin Hohl, who were going to be performing at noon.  We strolled around a little more, then found a front row seat in the chapel.  The Brookfield Civic Chorus did an excellent job offering pop tunes and some traditional music from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

The Knight Wind Ensemble began setting up and the chairs were so close to where we were sitting that no one could walk past.  There were about sixty musicians filling the chapel area.  I was so close to the first clarinet player that I could have been his page turner. 

They began with a rousing Star Spangled Banner and continued with beautiful music including "Amazing Grace", which was amazing.  I posted on Facebook and Doug Scott saw it and met us after the concert.  We were glad we had the seats that we had, because the chapel was filled to capacity.  I thanked Peter for suggesting Wisconsin Memorial Park to spend our Memorial Day.

By this time a beer would have hit the spot.  We drove to Cafe Bavaria and we each had a Krombacher that was a perfect quencher.  We also had plain hamburgers.  It was an ideal day to sit outdoors with a slight breeze.  We drove around neighborhoods in Elm Grove noticing new construction and landscaping.  The weather cooperated to make this a perfect Memorial Day weekend.

Pilsne