Catching up on Memorial Day

 My big revelation for Friday, May 26, 2023 is that barbed wire was invented the same year Nebraska became a state!  Learned from Chrono.  

I find this game amusing and play it once a day.  Then I take a medium term memory test and play the same game on a different device, and if I learned from earlier play, I should be able to beat it again, quicker!  But, of course, I don't always remember everything.

On Thursday afternoon I went to visit my sister, the one with whom I swap kitty care.  She is also the sister who has adopted the family iris raising hobby.  She has taken pains to try to re-create a garden with the hybrids that our paternal grandparents created and nurtured.

She has added a few varieties over the years, and some of them have become favorites of mine, so going over to see them is a treat.

We took a "proof we were together" selfie, as the two of us only do this a couple of times a year!

Suddenly, I found myself at Sunday... whatever happened to Saturday?  To be honest, it got consumed by a trip to the grocery store and a binge-streaming of Yellowstone season 5 (I'm guessing this is the first half) that showed up on Peacock this week.

I made my classic Greek salad for Sunday afternoon's cookout over at my son's place.  

Meanwhile, I put the leadup to the Indianapolis 500 on in the background.  This was my dad's thing, and it was generally listened to on the radio at the end of the church picnic, car radios.  My dad was a fan of automotive sports.  His dream was that cars would be speeding by outside his grade school window at 100 miles an hour.  He told his teacher so, and this is one of the family stories that has been repeated long enough for it to be "settled fact" in the minds of at least his older children.

What?  Did it happen?  Well, not entirely.  The school building is gone, and an interstate highway runs by where it used to stand.  The speed limit in that section is 65 mph, as it's within the city limits of Omaha, Nebraska.

My contribution, ready for the feast. I left for my drive across town before the race concluded.  I lazily looked up the results on Monday, Memorial Day.  Most of the names were "new to me", although they must be good drivers to even be in that race.

It was a lovely cookout on Sunday.  Carl had been taken to a beginning agility class in the morning, and they are thinking about whether to sign him up for more.  It's expensive, like hiring a personal trainer for a dog!  Or preschool for kids.

Carl's snout is all healed up and we're waiting for the fur to regrow over the spot where the stitches were.  We'll see if the fur grows back in black or white.  We could have a "Harry Potter" look if it comes in white.

The birds all came outside in their cages.  Even Ollie, who lives with Lacey's parents came along in a travel cage.  It was my first time meeting Ollie.  Ollie likes to watch videos, but he was not into showing off his vocal skills on Sunday.

Ollie is a lineated parakeet, for those who hadn't read the long-ago blog and don't care to dig for it.  He chirped to me when we first greeted one another.

Scout and Kiwi, the cockatiels, also came out on the deck in their cage.  They were very vocal.

These two live with my son and DIL, and Carl, but they live in a room where Carl is not allowed, unless they are in a cage, of course.  I get treated to videos of them perching on the ceiling fans, or hopping about while the crack between the fridge and counter is "baffled" by a plastic glass.  I've learned a bit about birds since my son's association with his wife and her folks.

Speaking of birds... my niece in Utah is raising orphan mallards this year:  a clutch of seven!  Their mother was killed while they were quite tiny, and the ducklings were handed over to my niece and her family to raise.  They have experience with poultry, and a few years ago raised a mallard for release.  That mama mallard came back to hatch her broods on their land, including 13 ducklings last Summer.

The videos of the new babies having their first swim outdoors a week ago were precious!  I'm amazed at how fast they have grown.

The drive home from the cookout was accompanied by some welcome mist and sprinkles.  Unfortunately, on my end of town, it was evaporated almost immediately!

Monday morning I had set my alarm for 5:30 because of the cat medication schedule at my sister's house.  They expect their medication and breakfast around 6:30 a.m.

As I started my drive, I was thinking how much I love summer mornings, when it's light and the roads are not yet busy.

The kitties were happy to see me, and the one who needs the meds ate hers, obediently while the other one got plain treats.  Meds, and no food for either until the one eats her meds.  Clean out the litter box.  

Then breakfast.  Proof of life, Memorial Day.  Their mom and her friend made it 370 miles down the road, taking the scenic route through Western Nebraska.

That brings you up to date with my life.  Here's hoping all of you have been enjoying the holiday weekend (if you're in the US) and reserving a part of your consciousness to remember that this is the day we honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms.

Life is good.  Keep Sparking!