An Essay about Memorial Day

And a proposal for another holiday

Photo by iStrfry , Marcus on Unsplash

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Image by the author

For most Americans, Memorial Day is one of the most welcomed holidays of the year. It is the long weekend that means the beginning of summer, or at last that summer is near. If the weather is anything like what we are having this weekend on Cape Cod, then it is summer, and for the first time after a long, dark winter, followed by a cool, damp spring, we can do summer things.

We can plant flowers, ride bikes, fill up the kiddie pool, play golf, baseball, whiffle ball, softball, hike in the woods, hike along the water, and even go to the beach. If you can’t or don’t do those things you can just take a chair outside, sit in the sun, and sip a beer or an iced tea. Later, so many Americans fire up a grill, have family and/or friends over, and eat the stuff we really like, much of which may or may not be good for us.

Don’t read the papers, don’t worry about the world. It will be there on Tuesday — if you can get through all the traffic going back to real life.

But if you do read the papers, and you do watch TV you will very likely read or watch someone remind you why we have a Memorial Day, and…