Fridays Are Golden

I'm staying away from "news" as much as I can.  I have some really strong views about the "debate" being so widely discussed and I won't let that ruin my Friday.  Nor my weekend.  The television will play only movies or Memorial Day celebrations this weekend.  No talking heads.  No "news."

Ellie has been much on my mind lately.  It was about this time of year that we learned from our breeder that "our" dog was going to deliver and that we were second in the selection process.  My husband and I purchased a dog early in our marriage and were rarely without one.  Our sixteen-year-old Springer Spaniel had died two years before.  We knew we would be retiring to these NC mountains in a few years and decided that a Golden Retriever or two would be great dogs for all the activities our new lifestyle would afford.  After much searching and interviews, we selected Dichi Goldens (HERE) and set up the process.  After filling out an extensive application and meeting the breeder in person we were approved and wait-listed for one of their puppies.

That puppy came into our hearts and lives.  Our dear Ellie (Dichi Sirius Eleanor Rose) was joined two years later by another Dichi Golden, our Lucy (Dichi Lemonade Lucy).  Ellie was always a gentle soul and quickly became my heart dog.  On a recent episode of the Netflix series "Grace and Frankie," Frankie made a comment that Golden Retrievers were "like living hugs."  She was absolutely correct.

From an early age, Ellie carried things in her mouth.  In her younger days she carried stuffies.  But when she learned how to disembowel them, she switched to tennis balls.  She could easily scoop up and carry two tennis balls at a time.  We always had to make certain she had dropped them before we went outdoors.

No toys in the great room.

Except for tennis balls, which will not be thrown

Ellie carried the tennis balls around as casually as could be.

Heading downstairs for a drink.  Often the tennis balls were left by the water dish.

And new ones brought up.  We had a lot of tennis balls for her.

Lucy, dear.  You don't look very regal with those tennis balls in your mouth

Hummph?

Lucy tried and tried to pick up two tennis balls at once.  On the extremely rare occasion that she succeeded, she dropped them almost immediately upon raising her head.  Interestingly enough, since Ellie died, Lucy no longer tries to pick up two tennis balls at once.

Lucy, your mouth is simply not designed to pick up two balls at once.

I know, and it's not fair.

This is Memorial Day Weekend here in the United States.  In Brevard, it will also be one of our biggest festival weekends, "White Squirrel Festival."  Streets will be closed off and there will be vendors and performers of all kinds all day Saturday and on Sunday afternoon.  One of the featured events will be the Squirrel Box Derby, an old-fashioned soapbox derby down Jailhouse Hill.  (No, the jail is no longer at the Court House at the top of the hill, but it's always going to be Jailhouse Hill.)  There are two categories; one for children and the other for merchants.

Photograph from the brochures about the festival
That building behind the cars is not the courthouse; it's the newspaper office
The courthouse is on the opposite side of the street.

A freaky giant white squirrel will roam around the area and local booths will have activities for children.  The quality of food has increased with the number of food trucks we now have.  It's a lot of fun.  And we will definitely be there for the action.  We try to purchase a few things from local vendors and we love to watch the people.

The day begins with a parade and the placing of wreaths on the memorials in front of the courthouse.

Sometimes we arrive sufficiently early to watch the ceremony

As we did in this photograph I took some years ago

We try not to get lost in the carnival atmosphere.  Memorial Day is, after all, a weekend to honor those who gave their lives in our country's wars.

Today's quote is from 19th Century poet Wallace Bruce:

Who kept the faith and fought the fight;
The glory theirs, the duty ours.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE

SPEND A MOMENT REFLECTING ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY