We're chilling out before the cookout; did all the vacuuming this morning and washed the towels and swept the kitchen floor and pulled out the paper products and set up the sodas and cleared off the coffee table.

Once we were done we went to Petsmart to get Miss Schuyler some seed and millet, and dropped in Michaels. I bought a little appropriate table centerpiece for Memorial Day: a clay pot with silk red-white-and-blue carnation and babies' breath, with a small flag in the center. Also stopped at Borders with our 40 percent off coupon. I got Tony Horwitz's book A Voyage Long and Strange, which I've been drooling over for some weeks now. Here's the description from the back of the book: "What happened in North America between Columbus's sail in 1492 and the Pilgrims' arrival in 1620? On a visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz realizes he doesn't have a clue, nor do most Americans. So he sets off across the continent to rediscover the wild era when Europeans first roamed the New World in quest of gold, glory, converts, and eternal youth. Horwitz tells the story of these brave and often crazed explorers while retracing their steps on his own epic trek--an odyssey that takes him inside an Indian sweat lodge in subarctic Canada, down the Mississippi in a canoe, on a road trip fueled by buffalo meat, and into sixty pounds of armor as a conquistador re-enactor in Florida." History—gotta love it!

Later James put Steve Canyon on and played "The Gift," the Christmas episode, about the airmen hosting a Christmas tree for European children who have been displaced or orphaned. One sad little girl has never celebrated Christmas and Steve essays to show her what it means. It is very touching because the explanation is very spiritual but does not particularly focus on one specific religion. It was very sweet.

And the kicker? It was written by Ray Bradbury! Lovely, lovely story. And the Nathan Scott music fits this series so perfectly, the way it fit the Lassie forest ranger episodes. I loved the Les Baxter/Sid Sidney music they had with Timmy—you could pretty much listen to the series and tell what was going on by the musical themes—but it wouldn't have fit the action of the Corey Stuart, etc. episodes.

While you are grilling your chicken or steaks or burgers or franks this afternoon and evening, give a moment to the men and women who made it possible for you to do so. Who made it possible for you to say your government sucks and your taxes are too high. Who made it possible for you to worship (or not) at the venue of your choice and read whatever you like. Who gave their lives so you could wake up feeling safe tomorrow morning. Thanks, folks...for everything.

Labels: books, history, shopping, television

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