Today we honor the men and women who served in the US Armed Forces. The date of November 11 was chosen because the armistice that ended World War I was signed on that date. This date is celebrated in many other countries and is sometimes called Armistice Day, Remembrance Day or Poppy Day.
We hear cannons early in the morning every year on Veterans Day. Our house is not far from the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and our town has a flag retirement and burning ceremony on Veterans Day each year. The small American flags from all of the graves of veterans are collected and properly disposed of by burning. In the Spring, new flags will be placed. Throughout the year, old and tattered flags are collected in the Town Hall and other places and these are all brought to be disposed of. People can also bring their old flags to the cemetery on the day.
There are three drums for the fires and three lines form as flags are handed to an officer for proper and respectful disposal. When our sons were home and in Scouts, the Troop helped with the logistics of the flag lines.
At the end of the ceremony, two trumpet players from the high school play Taps (with an echo). The sound is quite beautiful in the old cemetery when they play from up on the hillside.
My father served in World War II. He will be 87 next week. There are not many World War II veterans with us any more. Dad has been in the hospital for a couple of weeks (they think he had a minor stroke) but he has improved enough that he will be able to go back to his apartment in time for his birthday. If you could please keep him in your thoughts as he continues to do the rehabilitation needed to fully recover I'd appreciate it very much.
The new Cricut craft room online design tool is now available to everyone. If you have not seen the craft room in action yet, you can go HERE and read all about it - then sign up and try it out. I have very mixed feelings about this tool - there are some aspects that I like but I often find the program gets "stuck" or moves very slowly which can be frustrating. There are also features that could be added to make the creative possibilities much greater. I do like having the ability to work with the Imagine content in the program. Give it a try and see what you think.
Does anyone else think this is a lucky day - just because it is 11-11-11?
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Please know that your dad is in our thoughts and prayers. I hope he is improving each and every day.
ReplyDeleteI will keep your dad in my thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteMy best to your dad, Diane. My dad also served in WWII and is now 95 and still going (fairly) strong.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been fun to make him a birthday card. Maybe next year you could arrange a mailing address so we could send him a HB card. Here's hoping and prayng he has a full recovery.
ReplyDeleteI'll add your dad to my prayers, Diane. I love seeing what's going on where you live, too. It's so historic. We went to the Williamsburg area a few years back and enjoyed it so very much (even my Disney-hopeful son who wants to be an imagineer.)
ReplyDeleteI've tried to get into the craft room and haven't been able to get in yet. It says my sign in is invalid >.< Too many bugs yet I guess. Have a great weekend.
Diane,
ReplyDeletePraying for your family and your Dad. My dad is 86 and he was in World War II in the Navy. He had 2 mini strokes about a month ago. He is doing better but still weak......Hope you had a great day and thanks for all you do for us.