Have a great day with family and friends as we celebrate our freedom from British tyranny. You can imagine what that'd look like now, a Whitehall mandated rainbow flag on every corner and don't you dare disagree, serf, or you'll go to gaol for Hate Thought like the brazen transphobic Nazi you are.
In the meanwhile, London bureaucrats would be sending billions of your tax Dollars Pounds to fund literal Nazis in Eastern Europe. For moneylaundering freedom and the Liberal World Order.
What a terrifying vision! Thank God we fought against such perfidious despotism and won, but you know the saying, "A Republic if you can keep it." That in mind, the flag of Liberty flies high at the Compound and burgers are about to hit the grill.
The flags are out in force in this small country town as people get ready to have fun with family and friends around the grill. Quite right too, and I'll be firing up the Compound's Weber in short order, but as we behold delicious burgers, toothsome brisket and juicy steaks (what, you can afford that?!? Ed.) remember those who gave and give their lives for our freedom and country.
But today is Memorial Day, 2022, when we mourn the fallen of the United States Armed Forces who died for our liberty.
And because it is Memorial Day, not burger and beer day, not sports day, not play video games day, not chips and dip day, there is one tradition I hope we try our best to keep.
It involves us taking time out to think hard and long about a soldier’s poem and the poppies, row on row.
“In Flanders Fields” is that soldier’s poem, written in World War I by Col. John McCrae, a man who’d seen the devastation of war, and hopelessness. Yet with clear eyes and a clean heart he wrote of poppy blossoms as rebirth of hope, those bright orange/red papery thin blossoms, as delicate as dreams, waving in the breeze over the freshly dug graves of the dead.
"Can you bless the ranch?" What a good question, and I was glad to. It was good to be around horses again and some of them got blessed too. But not all, because the 50 strong herd was "out and about."
So were the chickens, living it up in the barn. Mission accomplished, I headed back to the Compound via semi-flooded dirt and gravel roads, glad of a truck but mindful of an upgrade to 4x4.
All in good time, but first things first, grill up some burgers because the climate had changed, again. And that's the story of that. I file this exciting tale under "Country Life in Texas."
Tell me, so-called "LSP," if that's your real name, which we doubt, what's it like to grill in the Chinese Plague Year?
Well I'll tell you, it's much like grilling in any other year except we have the spectacle of the Russia Coup unraveling and Biden's campaign to boot; don't ask Tara Reade. This pushes things forward, into sundown and beyond.
No matter, behold the grill glowing red hot in the night, like a small blast furnace or UFO. At the appointed time, tip those coals out into the grill. For me it's a Weber, you probably have gigantic smoker/grill combos. Well done, cowboys.
Next step? Oil up the grid, put it in place, lid on, and heat 'er up! Stand back for a bit, maybe run a pull-through down the barrel of an SKS, up to you, no rule. Then take the lid off the Weber and... add burgers. They should sizzle when they hit the grill. Important.
So. 1 minute sear on each side, uncovered, and 3 minutes a side covered. That's my method and it changes per heat of the coals and size of the patties. But whatev. Look in wonder at your burgers and...
Keen-eyed readers of this deep thinking mind blog will know that my eldest son, popularly known as "the Cadet", made the smart decision to join the US Army instead of a Scandinavian death metal band, in Canada.
Don't get me wrong, both are good, but the Army probably makes more sense. So what's the score?
Typical Climate Change
Longish story short. The Cadet bravely ventured forth to a Dallas recruiter, got his packet made up, took a language aptitude test (D-Lab) at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) downtown and... the Army discovered he had to complete some extra paperwork before he could do his physical.
Annoying but not a huge deal, so we fell back to the Compound and enjoyed the countryside and its storms. Yes, hail storms and the kind of climate change that says tornado, take cover. We took the opportunity to stand on the porch and watch it come down. Exciting, in an Ahab brave the elements kind of way.
Metrosprawl Compound Grill Scene. Note Mary Shrine
Then, papers complete, headed to the Metrosprawl to grill, celebrate a nineteenth birthday, and launch the kid at MEPS again. I dropped him off at the recruiters' this afternoon and they drove him to his date with destiny, but not before we spent all of yesterday getting his ears cleaned.
What?!? You say in that shocked tone of voice. Yes, ears cleaned, that's because the quacks at MEPS turn people away if they have too much wax in their ears.
Have to see all of the ear drum, you see, and if they don't the unfortunately waxy child has to leave MEPS, see an an Army sanctioned ear shaman for a 5 minute ear scrape that could've been done at MEPS, and then return to MEPS, mission complete.
Does that reek to you of low-level, bit part skulduggery? It does to me, and imagine how much money someone's raking in from all those ear wax referrals. It'd soon mount up to a nifty shamanic faux mansion somewhere in Plano.
Regardless, the boy's now in the caring hands of Uncle Sam and, all things equal, should pass his physical tomorrow. If so, in a couple of weeks off to Basic, and I respect that.
Good call, kid, and his plan's simple if not easy. Go Signals, get a degree, get a commission, get a sword, and then set up on some compound, grill, and play Scandinavian death metal.
Good luck with all of that, Cadet, and with MEPS tomorrow. Stay tuned.
I know, you're busy setting up firewalls and improving your IT security architecture in case the Kremlin hacks your grill and ruins all those steaks and hamburgers. But still, take some time to remember the fallen. Here's a prayer:
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead: We give thee thanks for all thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence; and give us such a lively sense of thy righteous will, that the work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.
