Flower Power

Memorial Day always makes me feel sad. I want to go to a cookout, to some party, something, but the reason behind this day gets under my skin: We are commemorating the lives lost to war, something that I am vehemently against. Those lives should have lived out, not cut down in their teens, early 20s, and beyond. The day sits sourly in my mouth and today I spent it writing as the girls slept and then I went to the grocery store and bought enough for a nice lunch of salad and hot dogs. Appropriate to the holiday and easy to fix.

A column idea came to me Friday night and I worked on it today. It has substance and just might fly. I am going to knock four out and send them to Creative Arts Syndicate. Hold the line, as Toto says.

Chloe was over visiting Sarah today and she left without me telling her thank you for reading this blog. I grew shy. Now I wish I had said how much it touched me that she told Sarah she was reading it. That means a lot.

Thanks, Chloe.

Last night after Leila and I slammed around The Container Store for objects to contain her clothing and shoes, we sucked down the delicious Jamba Juice. She got the Green Tea variety, and I the Berry Fulfilling. I am learning to put massive amounts of fruit down me. Think it will save my life and it just tastes so darn good and for a slave to the palate it is what I need to wean myself off of sweets as I am not capable of going cold turkey.

We arrived home. You should have seen Leila with the albeit light bags of storage bins, but one of the gargatuian bags around her neck. We truly looked like pack mules! Once we had dropped each bag where we stopped, she went to the computer and I to the futon. I started to doze off and woke to see her going downstairs to the store.

"I'm hungry," she said.

"Me, too," I replied, knowing the juice was not yet digested but the phamplet did suggest it as a light meal and that would be tagged as lunch in my opinion. Now it was suppertime. So we went onto Smith Street but the beer garden was too full. Darn, I've never been in there, but Leila has and says it's good for a cheap tasty burger and beer.

Just what I wanted.

So we kept walking and ended up at another yummy restaurant: Cafe LuLuc. A little pricey for my taste; a turkey burger for $9, but we went in and that's what I got and Lee got the veggie sandwich. We drank two Stella Artois beers.

Yum.

We sat in the garden and in the center is an enormous tree that dropped trumpeted flowers on us! I laughed each time. I loved it. It was like a flower storm.

Doesn't get any better than that.

For all those who have lost loved ones, I pause and pay tribute, today. To those still alive, I pray you come home, never to travel to war again.