Do you know the words?

 On this memorial Day eve, here is a little trivia you may not know. The history and the words for a tune we hear too often.

If any of you have ever been to a funeral in which taps was played, this brings out a new meaning of it. We in the United States have all heard the haunting song, 'Taps.' The song gives us a lump in our throats and usually tears in our eyes.  But, do you know the story behind the song?  If not, I think you will be interested to find out about its humble beginnings.

 Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison's Landing in Virginia.  The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land.

 During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field.  Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the Captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment.

 When the Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead.  The Captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock.  In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out.  Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army.

 The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted. The Captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate.  However, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician. The Captain chose a bugler.  He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth's uniform. This wish was granted.

The haunting melody, we now know as 'Taps' used at military funerals was born.  The words are:

 Day is done.

Gone the sun.

From the lakes 

From the hills.  

From the sky.

All is well.  

Safely rest.  

God is nigh.

 

Fading light.

Dims the sight.

And a star.  

Gems the sky.  

Gleaming bright.

From afar.  

Drawing nigh.  

Falls the night.

Thanks and praise.  

For our days.  

Neath the sun  

Neath the stars.  

Neath the sky.

As we go.  

This we know.  

God is nigh

Travel

As Covid releases its ugly grip on us, people are starting to travel farer away from home. People love to go someplace new, exciting, fun or interesting. If you don't know your way there, many of us travel by GPS. Nancy likes the old fashion map (first map by Rand-McNally was in 1924) and talks back at the GPS (it began to be sold to the public in 1995) when we don't understand why we are going as directed. I just enjoy the drive. 

We tasted travel with a short trip to Tucson in April. Last week we wandered off a little farer to North New Mexico to visit the communities of some Native American ancestors. 

We camped in Bloomfield, just east of Farmington and took day trips to see some of the oldest pueblos and cliff dwellings in the USA. All of them have not had residents for more than 1,000 years. Amazingly enough, much of the structures were still standing. Still ruins, but absolutely a marvel of workmanship for its time. We have seen the Pyramids of Egypt, and Machu Picchu in Peru, and the ruins in Italy/Greece, but these were equally amazing.

Chaco Canyon was the first. Even tho we had 21 miles of some of the roughest dirt road I have ever driven, it was worth it.

Unlike Mesa Verde, you can actually walk through, in and out of Chaco. I hit my head several good times trying to pass through the doorways, they were built for much shorter people, maybe 4 foot (I am 5'10" and old). They lived there for a mere 200 years before leaving. Some of these places were built before Christ. 

Next day, we had a tour at Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado. Unfortunately, we could not go into the canyon to tour the cliff dwellings because of restoration construction. Just like our homes, these need repairs and maintenance occasionally.

The nature alcoves in the cliff gave the ancestors and perfect place to build their home for protection from the weather, raiding tribes and a good source of water for their crops in the valley. Cliff Palace, shown here, is only one of more than 100 in the area. They too moved on after a few hundred years. Many native Americans (mostly Hopi) still come often to visit their ancestors here to renew their believes. If you know Arizona, you probably know of our cliff dwellings, Walnut Canyon in Flagstaff and Montezuma's Castle

Next was Aztec (not named after the tribe, but Aztec translates to "Ancestors") north of Bloomfield.

In the city of Aztec, this place was very accessible and was equally amazing to us. A paved walking path all over to almost every structure they built for rock and mud. Again, short doorways, adjoining rooms from one home to another, and some were three stories originally. The city of Aztec was very inviting also with its small town storefront lined main street, to its extremely friendly people. They even have a A&W root beer stand. Had to stop there for lunch and a frosty mug.

A great week. More trips are being planned as I type. Take care.

The Affairs in the World

 

If you watch, listen to or read the news, it's depressing. From the Middle East conflicts (which has been going on for centuries), to our own political parties, to the murders of people of color, to the drug wars. It is TRULY sad. If outer space aliens are around us here on earth, and watch us, listen to our news reports and TV news, they must think we are a race that they probably don't want to associate with. We just can not get along with each other.

Whether it's religion, differences in political views, land disputes, bias against skin color or sex, or whatever, it seems people just want to attack each other.

Nancy and I gave up watching the national news years ago due to these reasons. It is depressing. Give me good news like someone saved a puppy/kitten, or a family reunited, or a story of kids selling lemonade on the corner to raise money for a charity.

I am not blind to the realities of the world. I just have seen enough bad things in my life, and now need something to ensure me that our race is not going crazy. I believe people become hardened to the reality and to the terrible news we are fed time after time until it becomes NO BIG DEAL in our lives. But it is. We become used to it and it becomes a normal thing.

What can WE DO? The late boxing champion Muhammad Ali once said, "The price for living on this earth is doing good deeds." Ok, that may not fly for some people, but hopefully others would try it. Pay the 'good' forward. Do something good or helpful for a perfect stranger. I believe good always wins over bad. Sure there are people that will take advantage of your good deeds, but at least you tried. Let those bad guys be the jerks.

I know we can not stop the fighting in the Middle East. I know we can not stop people from arguing about the 2020 election (even tho it has been proven many times over), we DO have the power to stop the rash of shootings against people of color, whether it be black, yellow, brown or red. That is just pure stupid bigotry, no matter if it is law enforcement or anyone. My late Fire Chief once told me, "You can't just make a procedure (law) and expect people to follow it. You must educate them first so they see how it benefits them."  We have to educate our youth and co-workers and train law enforcement how to act properly and not bent to nye-sayers. And I realize you can't win over everyone, but you can move them into the minority until they finally see the right way.

I must sound like a preacher teaching the golden rule and 10 commandments. But I am not. I am preaching to do the right thing and, as that late Fire Chief used to say, "BE NICE."

Take care and be safe.

Happy Mother's Day ... and failure

 

First of all, I want to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 💖 to all the ladies. You are the warriors of all times. Thank you are being great Moms. I wish I could hug my mother. She has been gone for some years, and I still miss her.

I am not calling this a Pandemic Edition because it seems no one thinks it exist any longer, but it does folks. Especially in India. So whether the AZ governor says,"Masks are optional." They AREN'T! you can still carry the virus to people who refuse to get the shot. Continue wearing your mask,even tho it is a pain in the ass.

I heard a university commencement speech by the actor Denzel Washington recently. Besides being a great actor, I like the man for his straight forwardness, honesty and bluntness talk. He tells things the way they are. I appreciate that in people. If I may paraphrase some of what he said.

He started by saying, "If you don't fail, you're not trying." "Actors are turned down on an average of 20 times before they finally get a part." How you deal with that failure is you. Do you give up or do you suck it up and try again, or try something else? Failure is part of life, not a very fun part, but a part of life. We learn from failure every time. If a boxer keeps getting hit, he guards himself more or counterpunches.

Another quote was, "To get something you never had, you have to do/try something you never did/tried before." Riding a bike is a good example. If you fall, do you quit, NO! You get back on (sometimes with some help or encouragement from others) and try it again. Remember the old saying, Practice makes perfect. Many baseball pitchers threw balls at a basket nailed on a shed or barn for years before they could get the ball to go into the basket regularly. They never gave up.

I see short people who play pro football, pro basketball, a one armed man playing pro baseball. Did they give up, NO! I wonder how many times they were told to forget their dream and try something else. NEVER GIVE UP YOUR DREAMS, no matter how ridiculous they may sound or look to others. They are YOUR dreams. 

While I was growing up, I dreamed of being an artist. I was decent but not great. Later in life, as I doodled a lot, I took up furniture making and even later in life began to build cars. I feel I never made it to being an artist, but took that artistic ability and focused it to what I enjoyed in other things.

Life is not fair. We all have been there. It throws twist and turns at you all through your life. I know I have been hit by a few. I failed a couple times in school. I failed in a marriage. I failed at work and probably with friends and family along the way. All those failures hurt, but I never gave up. And all of those failures pack baggage on to your self being. That baggage can drain you, so get over it and go on. If you don't, it will stay with you to the end.

Failure is temporary, but success is forever ... as long as you keep trying. History remembers successful people, but not losers and quitters. Keep pushing and trying to get to your dream. I have convenience you will make it.

Please leave your comments (positive or negative) and stay safe.

We finally escaped

 Yeah, I know. I did not post a new blog last week. Well, I am not apologizing because Nancy and I finally broke out of our 20 mile radius to get away for our 44th anniversary. 

No, we didn't go to Paris or Rome, we went to Tucson Arizona and stayed in a quaint little lodge on the outskirts of Tucson called the 'Cat Mountain Lodge'. But before we went  there, we visited the city of Bisbee and the little known and forgotten town of Lowell Arizona. For those of you who are not familiar with Arizona, Bisbee and Lowell are in southeastern Arizona in a canyon and which were huge mining communities. Lowell was swallowed up by bisbee as Bisbee grew and is now pretty much a ghost town with only 3 residents, but the history lives on as you can see with the old cars/trucks parking along the only street.

Then we drove back to Tucson to check into our lodge. The lodge and their Inn (across the street) are totally decorated in a Mexican decor, which we loved.  We entered through a truly Mexican or Spanish courtyard which had 5 or 6 rooms off of it. The room was amazing. So many little appointments that other hotels and motels never put in their rooms. It was almost like being at home, but yet you're not. 

The next day we visited the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, just a few miles up the road. If you love to see just desert critters you seldom see in the wild, you have to go here. plus the plants were in bloom and beautiful too.

After walking so much in Bisbee and in the Desert Museum, we took the afternoon off to relax in our 'Casa'.

That evening we had dinner with two of my distant  cousins who live in Tucson. That made our weekend complete. 

No, it was not a trip to Egypt or Peru, or even New York City, But to us, it was an escape for this pandemic quarantine we are all in. Now that this pandemic seems to be easing up, we are going to slowly start  to travel. Who knows, maybe Northern New Mexico may be next.

Sometimes I can not believe it has been 44 years since Nancy and I ran off to Vegas to get married. I am glad she puts up with me. Sometimes that surprises me too.

Please leave your comments, and follow us on this blog. Take care and stay safe.