MEMORIAL MEANS PARTY ON, RIGHT?

Memorial Day. I know it's supposed to be a day of remembering the fallen military, but I think for most of us it has been a day of BBQ, baseball, watermelon, the beach, and cutting loose. Which doesn't really sound a lot like remembering the dead. What it seems like is mostly a kick off of summer, of blockbuster movies, school getting out, endless days, endless nights, and outdoor music festivals. And it still seems to be so today. I see all these images of people in the Lake of the Ozarks, and I am fairly certain there's not a lot of rumination on dead soldiers. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe nothing says we remember you, dead warriors, by getting loaded, playing volleyball, and having a picnic. In a way, I do believe that. I think that the sacrifices for our freedom should be celebrated by exercising our freedom. I just think you need to have the honoring the dead be part of the equation, not an excuse to have a day off an party. Not that I don't love having a day off to party. I am all for that. I just think it odd that we tack it onto a day of remembrance. We seem, in general, to excel at the partying and lag on the remembering.

I get that. Death is a drag. No fun. Not conducive to a good party. "Hey, look at this photo of the dead bodies washing ashore at Normandy. Wow. How sad. Now, let's make some burgers!". Just seems a bit off. But I think, in the long run, if we spent a little more time thinking of the dead, of the fact that this life is limited, our time momentary, and our end a guarantee, we would probably have better parties, get more out of lost week ends, and live fuller lives. And I can't think of a time in my life when dealing with the fact that we all have a date with the Grim Reaper. I have heard the argument that if we spend too much time thinking about death, we won't get anything done. But that usually is a thinly veiled plea to not consider death at all, to pretend is doesn't exist. Well, screw that. Ignoring death is ignoring life. I am a big fan of life. I love it. I would love to live forever, or at least for a few millenia. But, as far as I can tell, that ain't in the cards. So I live now. Today. Or try to. I fail at that a lot, as we all do. But I think that accepting the fact that we all have to go one day helps me a bit in living a more fully realized life. And I dig that.

So, Happy Memorial Day. If it means you think of dead American soldiers, great. If it means time to party, fantastic. I hope you do it well, whatever the day means to you. I also hope you don't do something stupid that endangers you or others. By stupid, I mean drink and drive, start a fight with a gun toting nut, gather in large groups with no thought of social distancing during a global pandemic, leap into an active volcano, and so on. All those activities seem shockingly fucked up and stupid to me. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings. But it is just how I feel. You do you and I'll do me is fine, until you doing you includes kicking me in the balls, somehow being involved in the original cancellation of Arrested Development, or inadvertently spreading the virus, thus causing a second wave which results in an even bigger shut down. That's frowned upon in polite society.

Okay. Now off to honor our fallen heroes with a socially distanced BBQ.

Here's a song. It's Ed Sheeran doing a cover of Dylan's Masters of War.