THANK A VETERAN TODAY

 I'm up ... I'm up, bleary eyed and yawning like crazy.  The old brain is a little slow ... okay, a LOT slow ... after a late might of meeting after meeting, but I DID remember today is Veterans Day.  A BIG thank you to all who served in order to keep our country FREE.  We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

The Merced Sunrise Rotary sets up this Field of Honor every year to represent those who have passed on, as well as those currently in the military.  It's an amazing sight to see, and if you haven't walked through one and read the stories on the backs of the pictures attached to each flag, you're missing out.  I'm always shocked to see how many kids I went to school with, now honored with a flag.

The Veterans Parade will take place this year, thanks to the Elks Lodge float carrying not one, but TWO Grand Marshals.  Here's our very own Pearl Harbor survivor Frank.  He's 102 years old, an Apache Indian, which is what I think makes him so tough!!

Boy has he got stories.  I've sat down with him many times talking about how he took care of the soldiers horses when he was a kid in Arizona.  That's our tie ... I'm familiar with many of his haunts back in the day.  He doesn't really care to talk about the things he saw and did at PH, but said he would gladly do it all over again.  This is probably the only time I ever saw him without his headband ... after all, he's an Apache.

I'm pretty sure I won't make the parade today.  After last night's epically long meetings, I'm pretty beat up this morning.  Sitting at a table for four straight hours discussing everything from woo-hoo that was a great Octoberfest party they had, to handling the normal complaints and problems was a test of tenacity.

SO many tabled items to be hashed out again next time.  It doesn't help that the meetings now start one hour later, meaning even though I get up at the same time, I'm now staying up even LATER than I EVER wanted.  They are lucky I didn't fall asleep at the table.  

Even not having my caffeine fix, didn't help me fall asleep, which made for more of those lovely nightmares.  Maybe I need to contact Chris, who promises to give me a Tarot Card reading in every single email he sends me ... about three every day.  

AND I have company.  Thank goodness it's Cyndae who doesn't care if I cook or not.  She said Cooper was a good boy and just sat on the couch.  I don't think she has seen the video of the REAL dog in that cute little body.  At least he wasn't lonely while I was gone.  

So ... shake a lot of hands and thank a lot of Veterans today for their service in making this country a great one.  You never know when we may need their service again.

In the meantime, if you are in the area, dinner will be served free of charge to Veterans and one guest  from 2:30 to 6:00 at the Elks Lodge.  It's a tradition we've maintained every year for ages.  

Remember

THANK A VETERAN TODAY