Last weekend I drove with two friends to Delta Junction for the dedication of a portion of the Alaska and Richardson Highways as a Purple Heart Trail (http://www.purpleheart.org/Membership/Public/Programs/PHTrail/Default.aspx). The ceremony was attended by a fairly large crowd. Speakers included Army and Air Force officers, state legislators and local officials. Diane Benson, the mother of a Purple Heart recipient, was a gripping speaker, talking of her own experiences dealing with her son's injuries. The Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club performed a solemn ceremony setting up the memorial display of weapon, boots, helmet and dog tags. This display is set up for all military memorial ceremonies to honor fallen warriors. I'm very glad I had the opportunity to attend.
The signs will be posted along the highway.
saluting the memorial displayI'm now following my niece's new blog at http://www.troupstravels.blogspot.com/. She leaves today for Uganda where she will spend six weeks teaching. Lindsey loves her job teaching in PA, and is very excited about this summer position in Africa. I'm very excited about following her adventures in Uganda.
As summer progresses, I'm loving watching the flowers grow in my yard; my zucchini has no flowers yet though :(. That happened several years ago - I had lovely green leaves, but not a single flower. The woman at the greenhouse told me they had likely not been pollinated. I hope that doesn't happen this year.
My bird feeders are very busy this summer. A new crop of redpolls are visiting daily (hungry little buggers) and I've seen a couple of small black-capped chickadees. It appears my squirrel family has moved from the front yard to some trees in the back. My large spruce tree has a raven coming by every day. He's a raucous bird, constantly calling and chattering when he's in residence. He drives the dog crazy. Buddy sits inside the screen door making little "woof" sounds, the bird clicks and makes odd sounds in his throat and it goes on for 30 minutes or more.
It's just a few more days until the Alaska Goldpanners come back for the summer. (www.goldpanners.com). I'll be attending the games, weather and smoke permitting as often as I can, but it's tough sometimes getting up for work the next day. I'm looking forward to sitting in the sun watching some baseball.
The sun is shining nicely and it's 59 degrees (at 7:25 a.m.), so I think it's time for Buddy and me to go sit on the bench in the yard. Happy summer everyone.
