By My Recollection
"But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget."
— Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
Today is Memorial Day.1 I associate Memorial Day with the World Wars, but it actually goes all the way back to the Civil War and Decoration Day.2 Needless to say, I'm not particularly observant, or I would have known that already. Or maybe the problem is I did know but forgot.
I have the day off. Depending on which app you check, it's supposed to be thunderstorms into the night, deluge for forty days and forty nights, or maybe drizzle for the next few hours. Apps. My only firm plans for the afternoon are to drink a couple of strong beers while I listen to music and write a blog post.
It won't be an enthralling essay for having been heavily censored. There's nothing radical omitted: a bit here and there about how we ought not to memorialize the fallen with "big, big savings" or how one couldn't be blamed for a futilistic3 cynicism regarding capitalist empires when every single patriotic holiday is accompanied by limited time offers and great deals on consumer goods.
I probably followed that up with an ironic admission of complicity for purchasing an entire summer's worth of expensive brand-name short-sleeved shirts at 40-70% off — this weekend only. We're all trapped in a damnable cliche.4
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Today's photo is of a long ago lost friend, Oronde.. He had a lot of thoughts about his time in the Army that I won't share. Suffice it to say, he probably wouldn't want me to thank him for his service, but I'll remember him today anyway — whether he likes it or not. ↩︎
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The Civil War ended 49 years before World War I began. That'd be roughly one Fall of Saigon ago from today. ↩︎
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Yes, I made that word up. It's a good word, though, right? ↩︎