this day

I ask Ed if Memorial Day in America is a day of remembering all who have died or only those who have died in battle. And then I think – what does it matter? If you miss your loved one, you can choose this day to especially think of her or him.

Here’s my photo for this day. Different perhaps from what you might expect – no flags, monuments, or commemorative stones. My remembrance is of this kind – with peonies around a place to leave letters.





If you’re in Madison, then you know that the day began on the cool side. I wore a sweater and on the motorbike, I wondered if yet again I had underestimated my capacity to feel chilled.


On the farmhouse porch, my routine is now pleasingly familiar. I surround myself with exams, I grade a few, I stretch, consider the rest of the world, then grade some more.

And by late afternoon, I see that umbrellas are in full use.





Meaning, the clouds have dispersed and the sky is a cornflower blue. Our neighboring truck farmers are always very mindful of the sun.





For me, these days of steady work and calm outdoor hours are as valuable as the vacation days that are still ahead.

Ahhh, but all good things must end, or at least must be reconfigured. At dusk, I see my first mosquito. I'm hoping he's a stray.