Remembering

Apparently, memorial day was a large commercial success in Central Oregon. There were many ceremonies, none of which did I attend. 

I did spend a few hours walking along the Deschutes  river, enjoying the perfect weather. 

Many of the bike and boat rental companies were sold out.

Quite the place for your office.

This from a pedestrian bridge from the upstream portion of mirror pond.

And that is a very large Juniper growing straight out of the rock then making a 90° turn upward.

Wrapped up the day with a sausage, fried cheese, broccoli and cauliflower scramble topped with pepper and feta. 

Many times throughout the day I paused to remember my comrades who did not return from our war.

I cringe when I hear people thank veterans for preserving our freedom. I believe the last veteran to die for our freedom was in the War for Independence.

Since then we've been fighting for an ideology or commercial interest. Although freedom was definitely an issue in the Civil War, how's that been working out?

Not to diminish the sacrifices that so many vets have made a but the betrayal is hard to deny. No matter how many bumper stickers you may see with "thank a veteran for your freedom".

Memorial day is not a day to thank the living for their service. It's a day to reflect on the human cost of war.

Sorry for the rant, it happens. Some day I will talk about how we treat our veterans when they leave active duty. 

Hope you're enjoying perfect weather. Ours is going to get a little too perfect for me, mid to high 80s by the end of the week.

Lots of pollen if that makes you feel any better.

 Stay warm and dodge the tornadoes.