A Day Off

Happy Veteran's Day!

On Wednesday, Nick's Cub Scout Den did the colors for the Veteran's Day assembly at school. Nick lead the boys, bringing in the American flag and leading the congregation in the Pledge of Allegance. I was proud of him. Many of the kids sang or read poetry and essays. Then the veterans stood as we applauded them. There was a slide show honoring many others. I hadn't been to this assembly before. I was surprised to see how many of the students had family members in the military, in many cases, more than one. It was moving, thinking about how these soldiers were willing to give his or her life for our country, for our freedoms.

That must be a strange experience for a soldier. I've heard that soldiers in uniform are thanked profusely when they go anywhere in public. I wonder if it's embarrassing for them. It would be for me if I were in that same position. Still, it's so much better than what we did to our soldiers during the Vietnam war, yelling at them, calling them 'baby killers' when all they'd done is have the nerve to be drafted into an unpopular war. I wonder at the damage done to those soldiers, the homelessness, the way so many of them went off kilter. Post traumatic stress disorder. I know the name for it now and it is common, even now, for our soldiers to come home with it and struggle to get treatment for it since it falls under mental health. Oh, I believe our culture is so backward when it comes to mental health. Even the phrase, 'He's gone mental,' stands in the way of people getting the help they need.

But these days, our veterans are revered, at least within our country.

The whole family is home today, since the kids are off from school and Mike took a vacation day. I like these days.

First, I slept in because Mike woke up early and took on house-training duties with the puppy. He also opened the door for Adrian, who came over early when his mom left for work. We goofed off and had bacon and eggs for breakfast, then got our act together.

Then, the guys dropped me off at a quilt show and headed up to the gun range. I was excited about seeing the quilts, but sad that I missed Adrian's first time shooting a real gun.

So far, we have taken him to swimming and karate lessons, taught him to ride a bike, and have taken him for his first ride on a horse. We've done a lot with 'our boys.'

Still, sometimes I like doing the girlie things like baking and quilting, things the boys don't want to do with me. They benefit from the results, though.

Now, we're going to Sky High so the boys can jump. I'm not jumping today. I'll use the time, and the break in the heavy rain to take the puppy for a walk. Mike's going to get some work done. I don't know why he never jumps. Maybe his knee bothers him more than he says.

Later on, we'll get everybody into their uniforms and head over to a ceremony to retire old flags. Did you know that what they do is burn tattered flags to take then out of service? Puts flag-burning protests into perspective, doesn't it?

Thank you for listening, jb