Staying Green, Remembering and Miller Cuckoos

Go ahead and laugh at that top picture. I know my kids will make fun of it and me but I'll bet I'm greener than them! I can't really claim it as a trash to treasure item, but I CAN call it repurposed! It's an old mattress spring frame that is (for now) being used as a trellis for a gourd plant that the wild birds planted for me. (The ones I planted are on the other side of the garden)

Below is one of my daylilies. It looks like bugs have nibbled on the edges of the bloom but I still think it's pretty:

We've been pretty busy the past several days. Our area was fortunate enough to have the traveling Viet Nam Memorial Wall (aka the Wall that Heals) nearby and we took step grandson Joseph to see it. I had seen it before but it's always good to be reminded of the men and women who served in Nam and those whose lives were ended way too early.

I lost a lot of friends and high school classmates in that war, as did most of us babyboomers. For those of you who were either too young to remember or who weren't even born: This was the time of the military draft and all single, healthy young men (excluding students) were classified by the government as 1-A as soon as they turned age 18. This meant that they would soon become property of the U.S. government (drafted into the Army). Any time someone was sent to Fort Bragg (one of the training camps) we knew they were most probably going to be sent off to fight.

Below are some of the photos one of our Veterans brought with him to "the Wall" to share. They depict some of the conditions our soldiers lived in at that time. See the picture of the two young soldiers to the left? That is ringworm on their bare bottoms, contracted because of the wet conditions they endured while in "the field".

The name below that appears above the white paper is just one of my classmates who was killed there. We were classmates all the way through grade school and high school. I think it's important for you all to know that NOT ONE senator's son was sent to Nam.

On a MUCH lighter note, we also took Joseph to an exotic bird fair. Below are the two cutest cuckoos there! One of the vendors gave caps to my Hubby and Joseph! GrinninGrampa is a really good sport and wore his most of the day.

Oh - I almost forgot about another step we took for the good of green. Not only environment, but the green in our bank account. We had a huge street light in our back yard that had been installed before we bought the house. The light was nice to have but it was on a dusk-to-dawn timer and this time of year cost an average of $11 per month. Obviously, the bill was larger in the winter with the longer nights. We had it removed and, since I blog just about everything, this picture is especially for you.

It was really hot that afternoon. I gave the workers a bottle of cold water each and a headband designed to help keep them a little cooler and to keep the sweat out of their eyes. They were extremely polite and seemed very grateful, telling me that most people don't even offer them a cold drink. If you have workers on or around your property, I hope you remember how hot it gets out there.

Until next time, be not just blessed yourself - be a blessing.