My Week

Tuesday sure was a busy day.   I had chicken dinner at the VFW.  I wasn't too hungry so I got my meal to go and just took advantage of the WiFi since I was killing time between work and reenactor's meeting. Then I went to the meeting of the 114th IL Infantry/Soldiers Aid Society meet at the GAR hall at 7PM.  This is the pride and joy of the GAR, a flag that was at Ford's Theater that graced the box holding our president when he was shot.  You can see the tear that John Wilkes Booth made with his spur as he jumped the balcony.

I headed over to the airport for the Honor Flight.  I brought my Welcome Home banner and the ground crew found a better way to hang it than I did with duct tape in the past.  He used rubber bands thru the ceiling tiles attached to those bull dog clips.  It worked great.

Wednesday I cut the grass using a riding mower.  As I rode across the front lawn, I reminisced about the mound of snow that was on that spot just a month earlier.

Friday I watched a movie called
Photographing Fairies
A little more on the spooky side than I expected.

Friday I was kinda hoping to have dinner with my sons after work but there was a car in the drive and they had already headed to St Louis for a Cardinals game.  So I had one of those light dinners I had in the freezer.  I picked up some weed killer and lawn patch and used them till empty.  I laid out all of my stuff for the Civil War reenactment in Keokuk, IA the next morning.  I got up early and noticed my son was in bed but I didn't realize both were there.  Sean on the back couch.  Apparently his apartment was robbed.  His back pack with school books, his gun and rifle, and the gaming head set that I got him for Christmas are gone.  He was up til 2 AM with the police and fingerprinting of his den.  He totaled up $3,300.  In fact he was surprised his music stuff wasn't taken like $2,500 guitar.  This theft made the newspaper's "police beat" section:

Weapons stolen from apartment

Now for some fun stuff at Keokuk.  The morning was nice but the afternoon had a light but steady rain.  This was my first time at this event and from what I was told, this was also the least amount of rain.  You could have fooled me.  My cape was damp.  I had dinner at a nice resturant and when seated at a table I notices the other reenactors and asked to be sat nearer to them.  I got the Early Bird Special of Prime Rib.  It was huge.  I brought some of it home.  I counted 12 deer and a coyote on the 2 and half hour way home. 
Here are some of the pictures.  Here we are waiting and waiting for our shuttle bus back to Rand Park after the Ladies Tea.

These reenactors were Pre-Civil War but very accurately attired.

I was pleased to recognise some of the reenactors from our Springfield, IL unit fighting it out.  Got a nice wave from Dwaine Carrol out there from the side lines.

Who needs fireworks when you've got the big boom boom?

After the battle, the medical unit puts on a reenactment of the amputations.  Here the doctor explains the Maltese Cross and how it dresses the amputated arm.

Then in the evening there was the lovely ball.  There is a discount fee for reenactors and as we paid they put a red dot on our hand to show that we paid.  For all it's worth, we wear gloves as Vicortians and the dot is covered.  Except that I had lace gloves and the dot showed through the lace.  Actually, it looked like I had a small sore through the gloves.

They put this tarp on the floor to protect the gym floor.  Sometimes I could feel my slipper grip with it which was sensitive to the folds and the duct tape.

 I recall during the lesson for the Spanish Waltz, I was paired up with a young lady in a lovely black and red Spanish looking dress.  I explained that it was a lovely, graceful dance and she'd better know it since she had a Spanish look.  She needed to get with the program.  Mr Banker fans himself too after a brisk waltz.

Mr Lincoln and a fine young lady.

Sunday morning I got up early for church and the pastor had commented on how today's Gospel reading (John 14:23-29) reminded him of the brevity of the Gettysburg address.  There was a visiting scout troop at Mass who were on their Lincoln Pilgrimage weekend.  Afterward I finally had lunch with my sons that I had hoped for on Friday evening.  We ate at Fulgenzi's Trattoria. The fried chicken on the buffet seemed over fried and dry on the inside.  Not my favorite place but the kids like it.

I was humored to learn that my little buddy at work who is hearing impaired had heard of the song "Oh Lord it's hard to be Humble" as a youngster at Camp Cilca and didn't know the words.  He thought it was a nice Christian type song.  I explained it was a satire.  Now there could have been new words to make it nice but it would not have been so understood without the original version.  I guess if you see the humor and silliness of our vanity then there's a lesson to be learned.  Here's the Muppet's Version:  

God Bless our fallen Airmen:

Dear God, sound the trumpets! Four warriors died April 27, near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in the crash of an MC-12 aircraft. The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash.
Killed were:
Capt. Brandon L. Cyr, 28, of Woodbridge, Va. He was assigned to the 906th Air Refueling Squadron, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka, 30, of Kailua, Hawaii. He was assigned to the 427th Reconnaissance Squadron, Beale Air Force Base, Calif.
Staff Sgt. Richard A. Dickson, 24, of Rancho Cordova, Calif. He was assigned to the 306th Intelligence Squadron, Beale Air Force Base, Calif.
Staff Sgt. Daniel N. Fannin, 30, of Morehead, Ky. He was assigned to the 552nd Operations Support Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.