In honor of Memorial Day

I wanted to make art for Memorial Day, but I'm not feeling especially artful these days.  So I did an internet search and found this poem that was written during World War I and is now considered the standard for Memorial Day.  After all, many  people still wear poppies on this day to honor those who died in battle, regardless of the war they fought.

I decided to try my hand at a bit of not-quite abstract art.

 I began by making the grey headstones from white gesso, along with black and purple acrylics.  I was quite pleased with how it turned out, even though I'm no artist.

Before I could get in the mood to make art, my friend Scott stopped by and we worked on getting pots ready for seed planting.

I kept trying to get a good photo of Scott getting the compost

while that tree caused a big obstacle to his tall frame.

We used the last of the soil I bought last year, and all the compost from this container.  Just look at all that black gold!

Scott put his muscles to work when he lifted the huge pot out of the wheelbarrow.  I'm not sure how I managed to get it in the container, other than I know I was tired afterward.

Of course, that was just a warm-up for Scott, who helped get my window AC installed in my office.  That room is never cool, and a hot computer doesn't help.  I always joke that my office is like being in a greenhouse, since it has windows on all four sides of the room which is located above the garage.

While moving the fru-frus sitting on the window sill,

I found this photo of my friend Joseph and myself.  Now several people have requested seeing a photo of me, but I'm never in front of the camera. So (REBECA) here is one from several years ago.  It's so true to form: bangs in my eyes, no neck, and my mouth constantly open and in motion!!

The next day, I managed to plant all the strips of seeds I had encased in flour (see this post for directions).

Unfortunately, I had eight packets of basil and only four empty pots.  I also had used all my dirt and compost.  I decided to wait to plant these seeds, since I will need to be creative when I plant them.

Before I removed the empty seed packets and plastic zip bags I saved them in, I made a chart. 

I was glad I did, because I had already forgotten which seeds were planted in which pot.  You can see the location of the four pots I have left to plant my basil in.  I admit it was hard standing outside trying to write with nothing for support, and not get dirt all over everything.

Then I placed all the empty packets in one pile, and all the unplanted seeds in another pile, took them inside, then watered all the pots really well.

As I was finishing in the garden, I heard a noise across the street.  I was glad I got these photos of the mess that has taken over my neighborhood while a company comes in and digs, then installs a new natural gas line.

I watched as the worker used the combination shovel/back hoe to move the dirt.

This is one time I would hate to live on the end of a block.  It seems one end of each block becomes the dumping ground for all that dirt.  And I got the photo to prove it!

And speaking of photos to prove something, here are two I found while perusing News-Leader. com

Does this look eerily like the Moore tornado? 

How about this one? Both were taken by a photographer for the News Leader two years earlier in Joplin, MO, which was also where my undergrad alma mater is located.

It is my belief that all EF-5 tornadoes display similar patterns of destruction.   I hope you never experience a similar destruction, regardless of the nature, in your part of the world.

And of course, have a SAFE and joyous Memorial Day, those of you who celebrate it, and those of you who don't celebrate it, but have the day off to welcome the unofficial beginning of summer.