Today is Veteran’s Day, and while it’s been years since I’ve
written about it in my journals; I’m going to mention it today because I should
do that more often anyway, and we discussed it in both Social Studies and
History classes as part of our in-depth coverage of government and politics
this year.
While Veteran’s Day is a federal holiday, it is not a day
off at school or in Witch
Falls. I only mention that in case it is sometime in
the future, and while it might be nice to have extra long weekends and days off
during the school year like there are at other schools; most kids and teens
here wouldn’t trade that for the extra time we get during the summer that other
kids don’t when they either start school in August or are stuck for a week or
more later in June than we are.
That got off-track fast, so let’s get back to talking about
Veteran’s Day. Once again for the
benefit of readers in the future, where the significance of the day may have
changed or even been lost; Veteran’s Day has morphed quite a bit since it was
originally recognized. I’ve known the
political history of it since first learning about it as a toddler; but the
lessons in our classes today were new for most of my classmates. Originally Armistice Day, it recognized the
veterans of World War One on the anniversary of the armistice that ended the
war on November 11th, 1918 at eleven o’clock in the morning. It’s still celebrated as Armistice Day or
Remembrance Day in many countries around the world; but was changed to
Veteran’s Day here after World War Two so that the service and sacrifices of
all armed forces veterans would be recognized.
Leave it to politicians to complicate something this simple,
and they found a way to do that in the nineteen-seventies thanks to the Uniform
Monday Holiday Act. That’s why November
11th wasn’t Veteran’s Day for most of that decade; and it was
instead held of the fourth Monday of October until being changed back again in
seventy-eight. I suppose it’s a bit
ironic to mention that when the holiday actually lands on a Monday; but I
really am including this in my journal this year more because of it being a
bigger part of our studies than in the past.
While not quite the same, if Christmas is ever changed to
the fourth Thursday in December so that the stores can have a big, Boxing Day
Friday sales event; you can bet that the government will be there to help out
with waving away centuries of tradition with the stroke of a presidential pen.
If you’re reading this in a future where that happened, no,
I wasn’t using the Sight; but I also wouldn’t be surprised.
I’m off-track again, but don’t have much more to write about
for Veteran’s Day anyway. There is a
small ceremony held at the cemetery, but it isn’t anything like the major event
on Memorial Day; and only a few students and teachers attend – including a pair
of trumpet players from the school band.
We had a moment of silence at eleven o’clock, but again; there wasn’t a
special assembly in the gym or anything.
The lessons that Mr. Ayres taught us were mostly about the political
side of the history and sociology; but we discussed war and sacrifice in that
context too; so that made for a couple of fairly somber classes today.
That’s probably why the rain this afternoon seemed so appropriate
– and why the direction I’m about to take this update doesn’t fit with that
mood at all.
Michael, Tim, and Rowen came home with me after school, and
after doing our snack break with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana; we moved up to the
lounge to do our homework and just hang out together until dinnertime. The guys weren’t interested in playing
football in the rain anyway, but Rowen and I were glad that we could stay warm,
dry, and still hang out with them too – even when they ended up playing video
games after we were finished our assignments and studying for a test we have on
Tuesday. We also loved getting to stay
together after Mom invited my friends to stay for dinner; and it was thanks to
that extra time together that my favorite part of the day happened – a fun
little chat with Michael and Tim while Rowen was busy with Mom, Ethan, and
Ehlana in the kitchen.
The topic of that chat was Rowen’s upcoming birthday, and it
was so much fun for me because Tim gave me the opportunity to tell him exactly
what Rowen wants most for her birthday.
He’s very likely still in shock, but only because he really is that
dense when it comes to Rowen. I needed
to walk the line between best friend confidentiality and explaining the obvious
to Tim, but I’m hoping that Michael will help his best friend to get the rest
of the way from where he has been with Rowen to where she wishes they were
sometime within the next two and a half weeks.
While Tim was busy being dazed and confused about what I
thought he should get Rowen for her birthday, we also talked about what to do
for her big day too – or Michael and I mostly did that. Her birthday is on the Friday of the
Thanksgiving weekend this year, so that’s a problem both for the holiday; and
because Tim and Michael won’t be home if our football team makes it into the
championship game again this season. We’ll
need to work on that, and at least we will know a week ahead about whether
there will be a football conflict or not.
This is also an ‘away’ holiday for the family; so I’ll have more options
for doing something special with Rowen too than I would have with a house full
of cousins. Michael could have a problem
because of the holiday weekend and work at the Inn, but if he can get a special
day off for football; we should be able to get the same break for a birthday
celebration too – even if that means extra work during the rest of the weekend.
There isn’t really anything else to add about Rowen’s
birthday; though I’m still smiling while thinking about that stunned look on
Tim’s face – and the grins that Michael managed to keep hidden from his best
friend. Tim tried to play it cool during
dinner and while we hung out with Ethan and Ehlana in the lounge again after
dinner, but Rowen suspected that something was up – possibly because he kept
sneaking looks at her as if seeing her for the first time. That was like watching a re-run of some
moments that were just like that with them early this past summer – except
without Rowen in a swimsuit. Yes, we
talked later, but Rowen had to settle for no details other than that she’d
missed out on a discussion of a certain upcoming event; and that was all she
needed to know about it.
I suppose that it would seem funny to some readers that a
little birthday planning chat was a bigger deal for me than my Magi lesson with
Mom, family business work, and multi-lingual studies; but sometimes it really
is the little things that matter most.
If Michael and I had gotten more than a minute or two of alone time
tonight, that would have been up there on my fun list too; but that didn’t
happen – and again, I’m not surprised.
Maybe we’ll have better luck with that tomorrow night at his house.
Going off to sleep and dreaming about that possibility seems
like more fun than writing about lessons, studies, or work; so I’m going to
wrap this up, put my computer away, and do that for the handful of hours I have
before it’ll be time to get up and started on another busy school day.
Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
