Have I ever mentioned that we live within easy walking distance of a cemetery?  Our neighborhood is filled with mostly older homes, though we’ve had our share of new construction over the years.  But the cemetery definitely makes for a stabilizing and quiet influence.

After 16 years in this house, I decided that it would be nice to walk over to the cemetery for their Memorial Day service instead of driving in to Seattle.

Ane and I walked over in plenty of time, but the service was taking place quite far back.  A helpful cemetery employee offered to give us a lift in one of their golf carts so we would be on time.  That was both helpful and fun!

The memorial service was smaller, and yet more meaningful because of its intimacy.  It was put on as a joint effort by the local chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Of America and the cemetery management.

The veterans memorial, which I had never seen before, was the backdrop for the service.

I really enjoyed how simply and beautifully done the service was, and next year I will send the Webmaster with Ane, and maybe Tad.  We will have to take turns while the little boys are still too young to appreciate the meaning of a Memorial Day service.  But I am grateful this one is so close by.

Memorial Day is upon us (I have no idea how we’ve gotten this far into 2019 already), and Ane and I are making plans to walk over to the cemetery not far from our house for their service on Monday.

Which reminded me of a couple of years ago, when we went to the Memorial Day service at Evergreen Washelli in Seattle.

One of the most memorable parts of the day was seeing so many soldiers of the 442nd resting together.

I really do feel that it is important that we take the time to go and honor our nation’s fallen.  I’m hoping that I can talk Tad into going with us on Monday, but we’ll see.

Just like last year, Rerun’s school PTA bought a block of Mariners tickets – and of course, we decided we had to go.  The game was last Saturday, and for the first time in a loooooong time, Friend and Doc and the boys came with us!

It was also a bobblehead night, and Rerun is allllll about the swag.  He got to add a rookie Ken Griffey Jr. bobblehead to his collection.

Unfortunately, the game was a blowout almost from the first inning.  Which was a shame.  Not that the kids minded too much – we had brought enough food and snacks to keep them occupied for several innings.

Plus, Rerun and Thumper went for a long walk and hung out with the King Felix Funko Pop statue.

We stayed for the entire disaster show – all nine innings (loyal or stupid? You decide), which was highlighted by getting to see our backup catcher pitch in the 9th inning.  And he did better than the other pitchers in the actual bullpen.

Sadly, after a blisteringly hot and crazy start, the team is proving that yes, they are in a rebuilding year, please check in with us later, team under construction.

Does this mean better and cheaper seats this summer for crazy people like us?

Last week, I showed up in Auntie’s class on a different day than I usually do.  This is my second year volunteering in her classroom, and for the second time, I taught the class how to fold an origami paper crane.

Teaching 21 third graders how to fold origami is not the easiest thing in the world, but it isn’t the hardest, either.  Auntie bought some large origami paper – I think she found a 9″x9″ pack, which is pretty large – which makes folding it easier for the kids.

After we were done, the cranes were hung by yarn strings on the ceiling, which is where they will stay until near to the end of the school year.

This week, when I came in, I brought some 3″x3″ paper.  It wasn’t easy to find, with most of my craft stuff still packed up, but I found it.  I had made a tiny crane out of a 3″x3″ piece that Auntie had cut out for me from a bigger piece, and showed the kids that they could repeat all the steps, just on a smaller scale.  Guess who wanted the tiny crane?  ALL the kids wanted the tiny crane.

So I folded 21 tiny cranes and handed them out to the class.  And everyone lived mostly happily ever after.  Ish.