Memorial Day History

I posted this last year but would like to share it with you once again in honor of those who continue to serve to keep our country free. Today is a day to give our men that served in the Armed Services and gave their lives for the safety of our nation some remembrance. Going back to the beginning of the yearly, what we now see as a holiday, began as Decoration Day. Beginning back on 1864, a Mississippi ladies group began decorating graves of the Civil War fallen. On April 25,1866 a ladies group from Columbus,MS decorated the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers to help begin the healing process of the past war. It wasn't until 1868 that a specific remembrance was declared. (www.suvcw.org/gar.htm)Commander in Chief John A. Logan credited his wife,Mary, with implementing the commemoration. In 1882 the name Memorial Day took the place of the original Decoration Day. May 30th was the day set aside initially . Then in 1971, President Nixon declared that it will be celebrated at the federal level on the last Monday of May, thus our present day off work for some. As time goes on it seems that our interpretation of national holidays in commemoration of lives given by our Fathers, Brothers, Uncles, Cousins and friends are not being observed for its original intent. Maybe unless it touches us directly we don't fathom what it means. Just a few tidbits of information on how our country instituted the Memorial Day holiday. A holiday that still remains as a day set aside for bringing back the memories of lives lost in the protection of the idea of Freedom...

Dancing with the Stars - Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas

Last night on the highly competitve television show Dancing with the Stars, Iowa native Shawn Johnson, and her dance partner Mark Ballas, narrowly won the top prize.

Their high energy freestyle dance kept them on the move from start to finish. It had audience appeal,everyone seemed to be drawn in by the vivacious actions of the young couple.

I would like to congratulate them on their win. A reward for all the hard work they put in to get to the top. ;)

Our Country Today - Thought for the Day...

This little story came to me by way of e-mail and I decided this being Sunday I would share it with my readers... A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little girl, Shelby. She wanted to know what the United States looked like. Finally, he tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed the map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to Shelby and said, 'Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. This will show you our whole country today.' After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map, correctly fitted and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly. 'Oh,' she said, 'on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together..'

Mother's Day Fishing Spots

Sunday, Mother's Day, I got to decide what we , Hubby and I, would do to celebrate the day. The choice to go fishing, to try out my new fishing poles, was at the top of the list. Hubby had been given forewarning earlier in the week since I didn't want to spring the concept on him at the last minute. However, he wasn't aware that the fishing poles were "pink." I had introduced him to my new aquisitions when they arrived. However, Hubby is color blind and I have been told that he discerns pink as gray. So, being the fair woman that I am... I told him just a few minutes before we were to leave on our fishing excursion. ;) We spent a couple hours fishing off the point by the tree in the first picture where the ground is worn from traffic.The roots provide terraced steps or a place to sit while waiting for a fish to come along. We did see small fish darting along in the shallow water a couple feet off shore just to tease us, not interested in any lure we had to offer at that time of day. Turns out we had another fishing pole and reel combo hanging in the garage that is suited for the other better half of this partnership. The black "Berkley" rod and reel combo just needed a little tweaking for it to be ready to put the line in the water. It wasn't long after we left our first fishing spot that the locals moved back in to take over their home again. Time to try a different location that had been given as a fairly good place to catch fish by the Iowa DNR weekly fishing report. We headed to the bottomside of the Spillway from Big Creek Lake into Saylorville Dam at Polk City,IA. It took us a little bit to find the access road which was long enough for other people to get the same idea. Things got to be a little crowded...especially since I wasn't real positive about my casting skills. I know what I need to do now. Go fishing when everyone else is at work,or practice casting over and over. A very skilled fisherman remarked at how the fish had been biting a week ago in the pool below the spillway. Several boats were taking advantage of the water in the middle. I think they were herding the schools of fish to the northside of the pool because that is where the fisher people were first to start getting strikes. The picture below is one of the most noted bridges found in Central Iowa. It is referred to as "The Mile Long Bridge", spanning the Saylorville Dam, at the west edge of Polk City. It was the backdrop to our second and final fishing spot for the day. Mother's Day here at Timber Life was spent with the man I chose to be the Father of my children. It was a very nice day...;)