Really? Mississippi & Memorial Day

When I typed up that last post on Decoration Day, I did not know about the ladies in Columbus, Mississippi in 1866. Thanks to my senator's email, I do now. 

Wicker Remembers America’s Fallen Soldiers

Mississippians Helped Inspire National Observance of Memorial Day

Each year on Memorial Day, Mississippians gather to remember the patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  The solemn ceremonies across our state are heartfelt displays of thanks and respect for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces.  I am honored to take part in the Memorial Day events in a number of Mississippi’s small towns this year.

Civil War Beginnings

Mississippians have commemorated the service of fallen soldiers for nearly 150 years.  The beginnings of today’s Memorial Day can be traced back to April 25, 1866, when a group of women in Columbus placed flowers on the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers at Friendship Cemetery.  The generosity of these women in decorating every soldier’s marker earned national attention and inspired the poem “The Blue and the Gray” by Francis Miles Finch.

As the third verse describes, “From the silence of sorrowful hours, The desolate mourners go, Lovingly laden with flowers, Alike for the friend and the foe.”

Others across the country may have decorated the graves of Civil War soldiers in their communities, but the Library of Congress describes the gesture of the women in Columbus as “more generous in its distribution of the tributes of honor and mourning.”  It played a meaningful role in the emergence of Memorial Day as a national time of remembrance.

Read the rest below. If you don't know what Honor Flight is, please learn. 

Keeping Up: Hybrid Monsters

Crappy old school buildings

As long-time readers know, I like crappy old stuff and I'm not ashamed of it. That preference doesn't mean that I am opposed to, for example, cool modern buildings. I believe crappy old buildings and cool modern buildings can co-exist quite peaceably. But it is a crime against nature to force them to reproduce-- to create something new.

I don't give a hoot what the "experts" at Forbes say. This is a monstrosity.

In the news.

I don't know about your news gathering habits, but it seems to me that some days-- the vast majority of days-- the World Wide Web, the radio in the truck and various other sources bring me bad news of the most disgusting and demoralizing sort. This is nothing new, of course, and it doesn't keep Mr. Big Food and I from talking about the bad news each and every day.

Fortunately, we get a reprieve on Thursdays. Thursday is when our local paper comes. Mind you, the news is not all good in our local weekly paper-- the jail docket bears this out!-- but it is never disgusting or demoralizing.

I am not sure if the top FRONT PAGE news is good or bad news (I suspect good). The board of directors of our county Development Council has voted to dissolve the Council.

In other front page news, an Associated Press analysis has deemed our county School District financially sound. That's good news. (I've only skimmed this story so stay tuned for a more thorough analysis from me.) The primary is set for Tuesday. And Head Start students went to the county Public Library for Story Time. They listed to "Curious George goes to the Chocolate Factory." There's a color photo!

Jó reggelt!

Good morning!

I love family traditions. My mother, who is not especially superstitious but who has no problem passing along superstitious traditions, taught me that the way in which one ends an old year and rings in a new year will be way in which one will end the new year and ring in a newer year. Thus, one needs to be full at the beginning of the year so one will be full at the end of the year. One needs to have money in one's pocket at the beginning so one will have money... . And of course, one needs to be in the company of loved ones.

Loved ones is easy, undoubtedly because Mom's whole system works so well! The money thing is fun because it doesn't have to be a lot of money. I've used silver dollars, silver certificate dollars, and just plain old money. It doesn't take much time to scrounge up a little bit of money-- again, because the system works. Duh. Being full, though, takes some work. 

To ensure that we don't end 2012 hungry, we will be cooking all day today.