Day Seventy-two

Feest Isolation Days – 25 May

Boris Johnson decided that he couldn’t live without Dominic Cummings. I’m not sure the rest of us can live with him!  Terry was so upset after Boris told us all that Dom did what was “instinctually” the right thing to do and that he would be staying, he couldn’t watch anymore of the briefing. I kept yelling at the television. Up until now we thought the Tories were too late off the mark but hadn’t done such a bad job. No more.  It started a few weeks back with Stay Alert and has now become dreadful. Perhaps leopards really don’t change their spots!

Bank Holiday Monday today.  I’m not sure this one is going to feel any different to any other Monday during the past ten weeks…and yes it has been that long in Lockdown.  As we enter our eleventh week of this way of life, we are having our Bank Holiday while the States celebrate Memorial Day.

While in High School in America, I was in the band. During concert season my bass clarinet was played, but during the marching season, my white tasselled boots appeared along with my short(ish) woollen skirt and white military(ish) top With a few other majorettes – including my sister for a few years until she preceded me out of high school – we led the band, down football fields in the autumn and on the streets of the town for several parades.  Memorial Day meant marching to several cemeteries and standing at attention, baton held in the salute position while the trumpeters played taps (the last post in the UK!).

Memorial Day in the States began after the Civil War.  It was originally called Decoration Day as people were asked to decorate the graves of those who had died during the war with flowers and other tributes.  More American lives were lost during the civil war than all other wars added together which America has been involved in since. 

Memorial Day was widened to include honouring the dead of all wars after the American losses of World War I.  The day became fixed as the final Monday of May in 1971 so that Americans could have a three day weekend. 

Pennsylvania can be very hot at the end of May. The band took buses to a particular little town – Freeburg, located a few miles from our school. The cemetery there was a crawl up the hill, and our woollen jackets were not the best attire for the event.  My sister and I would gently complain about the Freeburg part of the day because it always took place in the afternoon when the sun was beaming down on us.

If anyone is in any doubt that American continues to be a place still affected by the Civil War of the 1800’s, consider this: Confederate Memorial Day is still celebrated in several states – Florida; Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina. There are published dates for these celebrations which attract white supremacists.

How can that still be?

With love,

Kathy x