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| A young patriot salutes heroes at the 2009 National Memorial Day Concert on the West Lawn of the United States Capitol. See more at Army.mil (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Happy Memorial Day!
In a way it seems odd to have a Memorial Day greeting such as my opening, but truth be told I would imagine the majority of those who have this holiday off are happy to be not working and just enjoying themselves. A good many probably don't even give the meaning of this day much thought--the fact that it's a holiday is the main thing.
For those who work in retail and entertainment, Memorial Day might be a big day for business with special sales or people looking to do something fun on their day off. Then there are those like my wife and I who will just be at home laying back and avoiding the traffic and the crowds.
What do you like to do on holidays such as Memorial Day? Visit family? Have a picnic? Go to the beach? Frolic at an amusement park? Attend a special event? Or would you prefer to stay at home to catch up on work around the house, watch television, or just rest?
Each of us does our own thing for our own reason. That reason may even boil down to finances or health. In those cases we may not be doing things as a matter of preference, but rather circumstance. But when circumstance is not the prevailing issue, preference rules our lives. In communal decisions the preference might not always be our own. How much we enjoy the decision of the group may be influenced by our personal preferences.
An Upcoming Series: Can You Please Help?
Starting on Friday May 30th I am going to have a series of posts related to preferences. The first few posts will be intended for information gathering, then depending on how much information I gather from you readers, I will present an additional 2 to 3 posts to interpret my findings. The exploratory posts will include my next Battle of the Bands post which will be a special Sunday post on June 1st. You will have a few days to visit that Battle post before the results appear on Friday June 6th.
My next Battle of the Bands post might seem peculiar to some, but I hope you will indulge me with your participation. The more information I get from you, the better I will be able to come up with some preliminary answers to my "research".
On Wednesday May 28th I will be visited by a mystery guest--an established blogger who has started a new blog under a hidden identity and wishes that identity be concealed for now. Please be sure to stop by to check out that post.
And then on Friday May 30th I will be making what some may take to be a highly outrageous and presumptuous claim. Be ready to defend your preferences or concede to mine.
What did you do for Memorial Day? What is your favorite holiday activity? Are you one of those who has to work on most holidays?
Hi Arlee,
ReplyDeleteYet another memorial post.
Our Salute to the dear patriots who laid down their life for the nation.
May their tribe increase!
Thanks for sharing these thoughts
and Wish you all good wishes for the new upcoming project "Battle of the Bands"
Keep u the good work
Best
~ Phil
I hide. Crazy people out there. No way I would go to the beach or anything this weekend.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I understand full well what this day means. My father served in Vietnam, and I have total respect for what our military does and gives for our country and our freedom.
Bummer, I will miss Friday's post...
You can read my (repeated) post to see what Memorial Day means to me...Hope you have a nice holiday, Lee.
ReplyDeleteI don't budge on holiday weekends. I used to go away when I lived in California in the 90s, but we always made sure we left for home at 6 AM on the Monday so as to beat the traffic. I didn't go anywhere in WA on any weekend, nevermind a holiday, due to traffic. And here, Memorial Day is the beginning of summer on the Cape so again we stay put.
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to think that Arlee Bird is just a cover for some research group. Or, maybe, a super computer called Deep Thought.
ReplyDeleteA mystery blogger visit! That's exciting :)
ReplyDeletePhil--Thanks for your encouragement and sentiments.
ReplyDeleteAlex-- Actually my Friday post will relate to something you've commented on in the past, though I'm putting a more extreme spin on it.
Liza -- I'll check out your post.
JoJo -- Staying home is all the holiday my wife and I need.
Andrew -- Or maybe even part of the vast conglomerate that includes Alex J Cavanaugh, Inc and that network of clones.
Damyanti -- I'm not sure what the mystery blogger's intent is other than to have some fun. But he may be working on a book and has started a sort of probe or promotion blog. Anyway he asked me to help and since he's helped me in the past I figured why not.
Lee
Sounds like you have big plans for the rest of the month, blog-wise! We celebrated Memorial Day with my parents yesterday. I had a work meeting this morning (writing-related) and we've been chilling since then, grilling out steaks. I'm now watching the first season of The Real World on Hulu Plus for some reason!
ReplyDeleteI like remembering our vets on Memorial Day and appreciate those who take the time to recognize our fallen. However, I must admit that I enjoy the day to relax and catch up. Today I took my first Kayaking trip. It was wonderful. I hope to do more. Hope you had a restful day of remembrance. God bless, Maria @ Delight Directed Living
ReplyDeleteI like catching up on things and doing some reading on a day of rest.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a great Memorial Day, Lee.
I like to stay in to read and write.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting me on Blitz Day.
My B'day falls around Memorial Day every year, so every year I take a much needed respite from work (this time it's a 5 day vaca).
ReplyDeleteThis year I was intending to write, but mostly I vegged out in the warm weather and did a little editing on the side.
Father Nature's Corner
Stephanie -- Grilling steaks sounds good. We got take out Mexican food which was also good.
ReplyDeleteMaria-- I've never been kayaking, but I've gone canoeing.
Suze -- Relaxing day scheduling blog posts for the summer. Got a lot done!
Medeia -- Reading would be nice.
GB-- 5 day vacation very nice!
Lee
Sounds like an exciting series coming up! Looking forward to it! As for my Memorial Day, well, here we are in a severe drought and it just happens to be the holiday when it decides to rain for hours and hours! So the pool party didn't happen, which was disappointing because I love hanging in the water. But the cookout did take place and I enjoyed hanging out with friends and their animals. Was a nice relaxing day...
ReplyDeleteOn a holiday like this, I just relax and unwind at home.
ReplyDeleteMy family tradition for Memorial Day used to be putting fake flowers on the graves of relatives. My mom would take one of us kids to assist her and, in turn, we would learn the family history.
ReplyDeleteAfterwards, we would grill food and spend time together.
Things are different now.
Angel-- In a severe drought rain should always be welcome. I wish it would come a big rain here in L.A.
ReplyDeleteHaddock-- That's what I did.
Jennifer--Maybe you need to start your own new tradition.
Lee
Hope your Memorial Day was good Lee and for all others. Surely a time to remember those who have fallen.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to mystery post.
So much mystery and intrigue with this post.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "Happy Memorial Day", like "Happy Veterans Day" are so weird and yet everyone says them. I think people want to acknowledge it but we don't have a better saying.
I flew the flag for my father this Memorial Day. He always did that when he was alive, so I do it now. Then our family spent time together and on Monday I treated myself to reading a whole book. Yes. I was in heaven at last.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your outrageous/presumptuous claim.
Hi, Lee!
ReplyDeleteThank you for dropping my blog and for your informative comment, I appreciate your thoughts. <3
Your upcoming posts sound very interesting, I look forward to seeing what they're about. Kudos to the mystery blogger; a blogger prince in disguise to mingle among the rest of us to see how we will treat him!
Typically, we just hang out at home and enjoy the simpleness of no schedule. I love mingling with my kids. :)
I spent Memorial Day with family, and we remembered some lost family members, and ones currently serving.
ReplyDeleteYou always have interesting "research" topics here Lee.
Susan -- Ah, the mystery.
ReplyDeleteSouthpaw -- It's a strange celebration at times.
C.Lee -- I hope some will be there to call me out on my claim--or agree with me.
Elizabeth-- Be nice to my mystery blogger.
Donna -- I sacrifice so much in the name of "research".
Lee
I did nothing of any great import yesterday. Mary and I went for coffee, then came home and watched the last half of the Braves-Red Sox game (the Braves lost). During the seventh-inning stretch, they honored some of the servicemen who had recently returned. It was edifying to see people shaking their hands and expressing their appreciation to them.
ReplyDeleteHope your day was good.
John
Now that I'm retired, I'm a recluse. I don't have to travel when the crowds do. I wait for everyone to go back to work and then I venture out. My own backyard was an oasis of calm.
ReplyDeleteJohn -- It was a good day. I went out for carry-out Mexican food but otherwise we enjoyed our time at home.
ReplyDeleteNana--Being a recluse is not all that bad. You're fortunate to have that kind of back yard. Ours is small and over the wall I can watch traffic pass on the busy street.
Lee