Sunday, May 26, 2013

Memorial Day, 2013...Lest We Forget...

American flags along the way in Fairfield...
A most impressive display as you cross the bridge over the Saugatuck River in Westport...
 In front of the Fairfield Town Hall, a memorial wall remembering those
residents who died in World War I, World War II, Korea, Viet Nam, Persian Gulf...
A poem left at the base of the memorial...
 Fairfield Town Hall...
The First Church Congregational across the road from Town Hall...with blankets staking out a front row seat for the Memorial Day Parade on May 27, 2013...

102 comments:

Coreen said...

Fairfield is a town that borders my town, it is a shore town on Long Island Sound, several miles of beachfront, home to about 60,000people, a mostly upscale town in Fairfield County & quite a desirable place to live...

Coreen said...

This morning on CBS Sunday they
mentioned that it is estimated by
2036 there will be no more veterans of World War II...

Carol said...

Thanks Coreen. Great post. You always can be counted on to do great patriotic posts. Is that your car in pic #7?

Carol said...

Coreen, there are some new episodes of LIM coming on now.

Coreen said...

Well, CT is one of the 13 original colonies...& really like seeing that flag flying...

The flags on the bridge just make you smile when you see them...they are put up before Memorial Day, usually til after Veterans Day, started after September 11...

Coreen said...

Yes, that would be my car in front of the Town Hall...

Yes, to the LIM, this hour reruns from last week, the new ones start at 9...

Carol said...

I have seen some of these LIMs. Will check out the new one.

Carol said...

I've had another craving. I was craving some spinach artichoke dip in little filo dough pastry shells. It just sounded like it would be a good idea. I got some of those shells yesterday, made my dip and put it in those little pastry shells. Yum. I ate too many. That was supper.

Carol said...

Renee, did you get to see the Boston game today? Heard on my vehicle radio that it was quite a thriller, right at the end they pulled their asses out of a big crack. Hope ya got to see it.

RebelliousRenee said...

Coreen.... beautiful pictures! What a pretty area you live in.

My area is mainly small towns.... the "big" town closest to here is Peterborough with a population of about 8,000. There's a band with players from the towns and they are in much demand on Memorial Day. We had our parade last Sunday... as that's the day we could get the band. They will be in Peterborough today.

RebelliousRenee said...

Carol....
I did see the Red Sox game yesterday. I thought for sure they were going to lose.... they were down 5-2 in the 9th inning. They managed to score a couple runs and then load the bases with 2 outs, when our center fielder, Jacoby Ellsbury, who's been in a big slump came to the plate. He hit a double and brought in the tying and winning run. Good way to come out of that slump.

The players all rushed him and gave him a huge group hug on the pitcher's mound. Rick and I were jumping up and down and hugging too.

Coreen said...

Memorial Day is starting out really nice...big contrast to the last week from hot, humid, cold, rain, wind to a fresh air, sunny day...

In keeping with this day, to those who have served & continue to serve...thank you...

jan said...

Coreen, thank you for a beautiful Memorial Day post.

jan said...

Love the pictures especially the one with all the flags over the bridge. Church is beautiful.

jan said...

I don't think any food cravings are weird. We all have them.

My former DIL who lives in Phoenix came by to visit this morning with my grandson (and her son), Ben and his girlfriend. Ben lives in Alb and works at the Ford place where his dad works (middle son, Terry). DIL is flying back to Phoenix this morning. I fixed breakfast for everyone. A typical NM breakfast - makings for an egg and sausage burrito. I also had plenty of fruit. It was a good breakfast.

Carol said...

Amber did a great job with Skyfall.

Carol said...

Now, on the Voice, it comes down to who has the most charisma and does the best song. I think Amber scored with both.

I wouldn't want to choice who should be eliminated anymore. They're all too good.

jan said...

As usual I loved what Sarah and Michelle did.

jan said...

Aw rats Carol. I should have taken a picture of our breakfast this morning. It was really pretty.

jan said...

Wow! I agree Carol. Amber did a great job on Skyfall.

jan said...

We went to see the movie, ...Gatsby this afternoon. It was very long but it was good.I read the book years ago and remembered some of it.

Carol said...

It was risky doing an Adele song but Amber sure pulled it off. That was Adam's idea, wasn't it?

I do hope that Usher's and Shakira's peeps make it through since they only have one left each. Shakira has Shasha and Usher has Michelle. I really like both of them.

Carol said...

Jan, the prof critics were 50/50 on
Gatsby but the audience liked it like you did...according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Carol said...

I wasn't too keen on the song Judith did tonight. I guess it was a young person's song.

Carol said...

In case someone didn't get to see Amber doing Skyfall..

Amber doing Skyfall

Carol said...

Seems that Rutgers is having trouble finding good help.

Coreen said...

Rutgers fiasco...a topic on sports talk radio this weekend...

Not sure if it goes anywhere though, since if they dump the woman AD, they may have to reconsider the basketball coach hired to replace Rice, who it turns out never did graduate from Rutgers...which was a short story, then dropped by the media, which has now latched on to the woman AD
difficulties...

All that aside, honestly, if you look back at sports coaches over the years (men & women) likely find that more than less used
combative rhetoric to keep their
teams motivated...remember no such thing as PC just a few years ago...

Carol said...

It was interesting reading memories of the past on TV today. We certainly have come a long way baby. There were some good things about the good old days. College tuition was one. People actually talked to each other instead of texting. We have more people and less communication now. No one wants to actually talk to each other any more.

Carol said...

That was supposed to read TM not TV.

Carol said...

I'm so happy that both Usher's and Shakira's artists, they each only had one left, got through.

Carol said...

If you haven't seen the Voice elimination, you may be surprised with the outcome.

jan said...

I hated to see Sarah Simmons leave. Judith was not one of my favorites. Would not surprise me to see the 16 year old win.

jan said...

I was sewing tonight and taped the voice and watched it later.

jan said...

I have been fascinated by the trends of the younger group - teens and twenty-somethings. A large majority would rather have a cell phone than a car.

Carol said...

Jan, I wasn't that disappointed with Judith's elimination. I think she'll make it. But it did surprise me that with all she already had going for her that she needed the Voice. She worked backup for Michael Jackson for gosh sakes. If that doesn't get you moving, nothing will. She's pretty and has a great talent. Maybe that's not enough. Fate Coreen??

Carol said...

I was disappointed losing Sarah. I liked her voice. I coulda bought her stuff. I bet she could do some cool original stuff. I wouldn't have done same with Judith.
She would be too hard core for me. I wonder how Sarah woulda sounded doing Skyfall?? Probably good.

You know, country is very popular. I just Googled it and....

Yeee Haw! The Country music genre surpasses even classic rock to hit number one in popularity!

Even that New York City now has a country station. People need to do a little crying in their beer these days. Almost everyday unfortunately. Too bad I don't like beer. Most country music isn't hard core country like it was in the past.

If you noticed, Blake still has all his three country artists, everyone else is down to 1. I think Skyfall saved Amber even though she was good. Sarah may have made it if Amber hadn't taken her with that Skyfall. Some of it is the choice of songs and the coaches push those selections even though I thought that this week, the artist was supposed to be making the choice.

Shakira was really sweating that she may have given Sasha a less popular selection to sing. She was ready to take the blame if she got eliminated.

RebelliousRenee said...

Carol...
why didn't you add a memory of your own on TM...

and speaking of hamburgers.... a friend and I will be meeting for lunch at the local cafe today... I'm gonna get me one of their big fat juicy hamburgers.

RebelliousRenee said...

Jan...
I've read that today's 20 somethings don't want to own a car because of the expense. Also because today's parents indulged them by driving them around.

I know many 20 somethings... and I'm talking late 20s that still live with mommy and daddy. It's sad to see this younger generation being afraid to make the transition to adult life.

Carol said...

And the young people and I'll include even into the 30s, don't have a clue about money. They live in debt and it doesn't worry them. I worry for them even when it's not my business to worry.

A couple of weeks ago a friend came over and asked me to write a letter saying that his son hadn't worked in the previous year. He assured me he hadn't. I did. The news had just had info on how bad the student loan problem was. I asked the young man, in his late 20s, if he had to rely on a student loan. He said yes. I figured it would be in the range that they were talking about on the news...around 30 thou. He just finished his doctorate in a medical field, not medicine.

The kid said he owed 200 thou in student loans. I almost fell out of my chair. I looked to see what was the most he could make in his prof and I found that the top 10 percent might make as much as a little over 100 thou. IMO, that kid has ruined his life with that kind of loan. How long and how much will it take to pay that off??? You can't even declare bankruptcy to get rid of those loans. What was he thinking??? I sometimes think young people just stay in school to avoid getting out in the cold cruel world.

Carol said...

Renee, you guys have heard just about everything about my life. There was nothing new I could add on TM.

RebelliousRenee said...

Carol...
I wasn't thinking about those of us who post here.... I was thinking of you sharing with your fellow TMers.

Coreen.... I really enjoyed your post over on TM. I think "working long & hard" is one of the defining things about our parents and grandparents generations.

Carol said...

Working long and hard defines our generation also.

Coreen said...

Waiting for my computer guy to set up my new computer & take this one to clean/fix why its been so weird
lately...then he will set it up at my office for an additional one...

As for the voice, didn't watch much...guess not surprised that the 'fans' would not vote for
Judith, she is not what I believe the fans that vote would appreciate...& I think I mentioned that since she backed up for Stevie Wonder & Jackson, suggests that while I think she was one of the better of the group, in real life she likely is just another good voice...who gets to be a star...yes, Carol, maybe it is just fate...

As for the remaining group...I still think that the 16 year old
Danielle has a really good voice, not to mention poise & stage presence...but I do not like country sound so I would favor the only remaining r&b style singer Sasha...

The other women have voices that are all the same...really wouldn't know one from the other...& not particularly outstanding...but hey I'm not voting...

Coreen said...

Thanks Renee, I am very proud of my family's accomplishments...they did it on their own...a discussion that Carol & I have had (needless to say we are not on the same page
there)...they were not 'given' anything & as the different ethnic groups migrated to this country they each experienced varying degrees of bias, yet they did manage to work & become middle class...& their children benefited
from their hard work in the face of barriers (one of which would have been language)...in my family's home, Italian was only spoken when the grandparents didn't want the kids to know something, otherwise it was english...& even the first generation learned to speak english!...



Carol said...

I knew your parents were extremely hard workers Coreen, I just wondered how much they and your aunts spoiled little Coreen. I can picture them doing that. That little Coreen you've posted here just had that look...can't touch this.

Carol said...

I'm sitting at Books a Million drinking a frappie from Mickey Ds and looking at the books. I've started a new rehab, my own, program today. Get ready and out of the house early and go do something. I have plenty I could do
around both places but most of it requires more physical labor than I'm up for. I was feeling really good until I talked with twin. Then I got a tummy ache. Not saying its her fault but we're just a toxic combo.

Carol said...

It's like pouring vinagar into baking soda.

Carol said...

Coreen, how's Dan Browns new book? I'm looking at watercolor books. I'm planning on dragging out the art supplies Ive collected for years and play with them. Don't think I'll be as good as George Bush.

Coreen said...

Carol, as I recall, it was not in whether I was 'spoiled'(we likely would disagree on what spoiled means) but rather it was in the vein of the 'you didn't build it nonsense from obama' that I found contempiable then, still do...you had a much different view of how people succeeded & who made it possible for them...

Half way through Inferno, its an easy read...seems that when an author has success with a formula, they tend to follow it, at least until it doesn't sell...Pretty sure it's already #1 on the NYT best seller's list...

The premise is based on the planet is overpopulated & a loonie who wants to 'clean' it up by releasing a plague to give the survivors a chance to make a 'better' world...

Dante's 'poem' is the vehicle for Langdon to solve the mystery...not sure if the church is targeted, as Brown did in da vinci & angels & demons...but it is a tourguide's view of Italian cities so far...

Coreen said...

And the new computer is set up, but the computer guy took the old one & has to get all my old stuff
onto a disk & bring it back to re-load(I thought he would do that today, but no, has to come back)...so I had to remember the password to get back in here...I really hate having to pick so many different passwords, especially those that require letters, numbers, a certain amount...it is such a pain...

Carol said...

Is it a desktop computer Coreen?

Not sure if you are liking the book Coreen. You are probably enjoying the tour of Italian cities

RebelliousRenee said...

It's gonna be a scorcher today... wearing shorts and sandals for the first time this season....

I'm not a fan of Dan Brown's.... I find his stuff formulaic and he moves his plots along with coincidences... not very good writing, IMO.

However.... I'm glad he gets so many people to read books... and he does live in NH.

Coreen said...

Yes, its a desktop, am not a fan of laptops...

Brown's book is a summer beach read...easy to figure out the next move...again once an author finds a successful (profitable) format, seems they repeat it til it isn't a best seller...think patterson, grisham & the rest...but hey who am I, they are all making money at writing these books...

Coreen said...

It's already getting warm & humid here Renee...guess through the weekend until the temsp drop back...switched the a.c. back on yesterday...

Have been wearing sandals for a couple of weeks (I do prefer sandals) pulled out the capris/pedal pushers too...

RebelliousRenee said...

Wow... what a beautiful day we had today. It's in the mid 80s... but no humidity... and a light breeze blowing. Absolutely perfect!

Now it's time to barbecue the steaks.... YUM!

Carol said...

Enjoy your steaks Renee.

The weather was nice here also. I got my house lawn mowed. I have a drain plugged up there. I haven't even lived there for months and a major drain under the house is plugged. When I think things are bad, I just think to myself, not as bad as Oklahoma. The Weather Channel is chasing storms all over that area today.

Carol said...

Jan, are you OK? Haven't heard from you in a couple of days. Hope your doing something fun. Are you working on that t-shirt quilt?

jan said...

Carol, Nice to know I was missed. Sorry for staying away. My knee suddenly got very bad Wed. and I was in extreme pain. Went to urgent care this morning. Bless John for squiring me around and getting my meds and a walker. The doc thinks it is a torn ligament and that is what I thought too. Don't know how I did it. I am taking salsalate 2000 mg/day and I have taken 1500 mg already today and I can tell a difference now. John went to walmart and got me a walker which the doc recommended and that is great - to be able to get around without putting so much pressure on the leg. Also I have been off of it all day and keeping it elevated. Doc did say stay off it for most part about 5-7 days and then gradually begin activities again.

jan said...

Not Walmart - but Walgreens.

jan said...

Probably won't work on the quilt for a week or more. For some reason, working on the quilt seemed to make it worse this past week - so will work into that gradually.

jan said...

I have taken over the couch. John is sitting in one of the recliners now. There is not much room for Ryley but she has found a spot on all my pillows. She does not know what to think about the walker.

jan said...

I have always liked John Grisham's books for night time reading before bed. Have not read his latest. I found a free book at a yard sale - a biography of Robert Oppenheimer written in 2005. Name of it is American Prometheus This is a good one. Well researched. I have just gotten into it. The authors write well. I do like well written biographies.

Carol said...

Jan, do you think you will eventually need a knee replacement?

jan said...

Don't know Carol. I did not see my primary today. I have an appt with him in 3 months. I will tell him about this then and ask for an MRI to be sure we know what it is. The pain is a little less tonight.

RebelliousRenee said...

Jan...
so sorry to read about your knee and your pain.

let me send you a cyber hug... (((((((Jan)))))))

glad Ryley is there with you. Pets always know when you're hurting and can be such a comfort.

Carol said...

Jan, maybe you should see an ortho person, one with a conservative reputation but I'm sure your Internist can order some tests to see what the problem is first.

Carol said...

Just heard that they released that woman they had in jail in Mexico claiming she was trying to hide 12 pounds of marijuana under her bus seat. I guess you heard that story? That was such a set up. What kind of idiot would try to sneak over 12 pound bundle of marijuana out under a bus seat? The woman and her husband looked like they could be poster children for Christian Mingle.com. She had gone to Mexico for a funeral and took a bus. I think this incident should keep people here from going to Mexico. It's too dangerous these days.

jan said...

Glad to hear they released the woman in Mexico.

Thanks for the cyber hug Renee. It was lovely. Yes, pets are interesting little creatures. She was sitting on the couch with me and came over and licked my painful knee last night.

John and I were talking last night about how we have had her only since Sept. 2012 and how much she is very much a part of our lives now.

Slept better last night than I have in about a week so the anti inflammatories must be working. Still hurts though.

jan said...

Just got a call from my son here in Alb. GS had 2 seizures last night. dislocated his shoulder with seizure - took him to hosp -put shoulder back in place and he had another seizure -dislocated shoulder again. Now in surgery to put shoulder back. Son said GS does not remember if he took anti seizure med yesterday morn. Hope that is it. I am sure his neuro will re-evaluate him soon. Am worried.

Carol said...

I'm at my house waiting for our river resident mechanic to come get my gold cart. It needed new batteries but after sitting here for a year, it will need a lot more. I think when I get it fixed, I sell it. Don't need anything else to take care of.

Carol said...

How awful Jan. I'm starting to fell like wherever we look, there's crisis. Let us know how he does. I'll keep him in my prayers.

Carol said...

Back a year ago, when I was listening to some of the renown psychic predictions for that 2012 end of the world stuff they said the world wouldn't end but we would have plenty of challenges that would force is to pull together as a community. I'm starting to think they may have been right.

Carol said...

Sorry about all the typos. I'm on iPhone typing with my thumbs.

Carol said...

I'm stuck at the house waiting so I'm watching the View. They just cited some research that indicates that westerers have dropped intelligence 14 points from 1884-2004. One factor they suggest is that women of high intelligence are having less children.

jan said...

Thanks for prayers Carol. We are saying prayers too. He is out of surgery now and that went well. Will have to have another surgery on his shoulder in a couple of months. Do you remember his dad had dislocated shoulder when in HS. Has had 3 operations on it. Not a good thing But I understand they know more than did back then.

jan said...

John bought me a basket this am for my walker. Now I can do a little more for myself. But not doing much. At least I can get to Bathroom and get my own food and water and snacks.

RebelliousRenee said...

oh no Jan....

here's an even bigger cyber hug... (((((((((((((JAN))))))))))))

I hope your GS gets better soon.
And please take care of yourself.

Carol said...

Watch those snacks Jan. They did a number on me when I was chair bound. I have a eating disorder, I like to eat too much. I've even wondered if I tore my stomach eating too much. My stomach problem has cured that for now.

Another thing...be careful with the NSAIDs. Those prostaglandin inhibitors will inhibit the mucous lining of the stomach. That's what keeps the acid from eating through your stomach lining. When I was at the max of my pain I tried to sneak in just one OTC ibuprofen every 4 hours. I could never take the regular dose without having terrible low gut pain. I probably went thru a couple of bottles. That may be what happened to my stomach.

Carol said...

One conservative thing you can do when you are past the pain Jan is to strengthen your quad muscles. They help support the knee. Use very light weights. Does your University pool place also have a little weight center. The exercise involves sitting and extending the knee, not to full extension. Use one of those leg extension machines with very light weight. Talk with your doc about it. Swimming is good for everything. May need to wait on any long walking.

Rehabilitation For the Knee

Carol said...

Heard that Risen letter sent to some politician came from Shreveport La. Big sis was telling me when I talked with her on the phone the other day that she saw an article on Huff Post that said La has the highest incidence of gun violence of all states. I looked up that article and it seems that 9 out of 10 of the states with the highest incidence of gun violence were southern states with Repub governors. Interesting.

I heard that whoever sent that letter was pissed because of the anti-gun legislation. I guess it was one of those good guys with a gun.

Coreen said...

Jan, sorry about your recent medical issues, hope your knee improves...hope you have some good news about your gs soon...

Coreen said...

It reached 92 this afternoon...

stopped for 12 new guinea
impatiens finally, & picked up a hibiscus...a friend has had good luck with this plant the past 2 seasons...she takes it in for the winter & brings it out after frost threat goes away...I'll give it a shot, so far not successful with roses in pots, only can treat them as an annual...didn't get any roses today, was tempted, maybe next week, they are big, heavy & hard to carry...& it was really hot & humid...

jan said...

More storms in OK - and Kansas and Missouri.

jan said...

Coreen, thanks.

jan said...

Carol, yes - I will be very careful about any activity from here on in. I will get back to swimming as soon as I am able to get to the pool. That is my #1 goal. The thing about swimming or getting in the water is - it cannot hurt and is likely to help.

jan said...

Last news of GS. He is doing well - under the circumstances.

jan said...

Ominous weather west of OKC on I 40 not far from Weatherford. This is the route we take each time we drive to OK and ARK.

Carol said...

Jan, have you been watching the Weather Channel? They are following those tornadoes now. That channel has turned into a horror network lately.

Carol said...

Mike Bettes of the Weather Channel has been chasing those tornadoes and their vehicle just took a direct hit. It totaled their vehicle but everyone was OK. I've been wondering if any of those chasers ever got caught. I guess they do.

jan said...

We are watching the Live CNN news and they are following the storms closely. We stay in Yukon now which is on I 40. We pass through El Reno each trip. It looks like it will get worse.

jan said...

They are reporting that people are just driving around watching the storm. You have to understand that not much goes on there so this is the pretty exciting stuff.

Carol said...

It's scaring the hell outta me just watching it on TV. Check out the Weather Channel.

Carol said...

Jan, promise me that you won't go thru OK this time of year.

Carol said...

Moore is under the gun again tonight. Many of the people said they loved their neighbors and wouldn't leave that town. I'd say F the neighbors and haul my ass as far away as possible.

jan said...

According to the news, May is the worst month for tornadoes in that area. So we will certainly avoid May in the future for travels in that direction.

Carol said...

In case you didn't see it...

TWC tornado hunt vehicle

Carol said...

They all survived in that SUV and a state trooper was telling people to get out of their vehicles and get in a ditch, with 3 inches of rain an hour???? I think I would stay in my vehicle and duck.

Carol said...

Renee, do you leave on vacay tomorrow? Where are you headed and for how long? Don't forget your camera and to take a pic of those stuffed clams.

RebelliousRenee said...

Carol... Yup... leaving tomorrow.
Heading out to Cape Cod Massachusetts. We stay at a place in Falmouth. For a 2 minute walk, we can be at the Raw Bar... enjoying stuffed quahogs and some good margaritas.... big screened TVs all around tuned into nothing but sports. It's a blast to go there and watch a game.

RebelliousRenee said...

Oh yeah... almost forgot...
We'll be there til Friday. Won't be taking any laptop, iPad, or anything that connects to the internet. Also, won't take any knitting or crocheting... I give my hands a break.... I don't care about the news.

We do put the TV on at night to watch a game.

RebelliousRenee said...

and oh yeah... again...
just google stuffed quahog or stuffed clam.... the pictures on the internet are better than anything I could take...

Carol said...

OK Renee, no food pics. I'll just have to deal with it. Have a great vacay. Wish we were there.

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