Super Tuesday

LAKE LOOP: First thing out of the gate, we headed for Green Lake. It has been a long while since we did the round-the-lake loop. The kids have become much more proficient on their bikes since our last go round, so today's trek was a little quicker with less oh-my-god near misses. ;)

It was overcast, but not raining (hooray!) for a change.

There were a couple dozen fishermen dotting the shore of Green Lake today. Wonder what, if anything, they catch. It would be fun to fish there with the kids sometime (at least for a few minutes, before their 'this is boring' radar kicked in).

BETH'S I HEAR YOU CALLIN': The reward for making one's way around Green Lake is a trip to the nearby iconic Beth's Cafe on Aurora Avenue. How best to describe Beth's ... hmm. It's a cramped, dingy, greasy spoon cafe and it feels like you're in a dive bar - but there's no alcohol. (There are, however, usually lots of hungover people.) Patrons' crayon artwork adorns the wall.
CJ had two enormous pancakes and a side of awesome bacon (seriously, look at that fried pork!). Bee had one pancake and bacon. It's 6 hours later and I'm still too full to write about what Christian and I had ... : /

DAY LATE: From the 'better late than never' file, although yesterday was Memorial Day, today we finally made it over to the military burial grounds at nearby Fort Lawton. We've driven by it lots, but had never turned down the driveway into the grounds before today.
According to the Magnolia Voice, "There are 902 military personnel, their families, and civilian employees of the Army in Fort Lawton Cemetery. The first grave was dug in 1902."

Looking at all of the headstones - most of them white or light gray, CJ was overwhelmed. "There must be over 5,000 graves here," he estimated.

We spent some time walking around, looking at names, dates, service ranks and wars veterans fought in. We saw multiple headstones listing more than one combat (WWII, Korea and Vietnam, for instance). One enormous marker we found was for a man who had fought in the Civil War and the Mexican War.

Figuring the Boy Scouts or patriotic elves or someone would have taken care of such matters, just one day after Memorial Day, I was expecting to see all of the tombstones marked with US flags and at least one flower to be on each grave, but there was no such scene. There were probably a dozen bouquets scattered amongst the hundreds of plots, but not a single flag.

In looking at the story in The Magnolia Voice about Memorial Day at the cemetary, it does appear that mini flags were in place yesterday. But I guess someone already scooped them all up and put them away until the Fourth of July or Veteran's Day. I'm thinking perhaps since flag protocol calls for Old Glory to be illuminated after dark, that's why the mini flags were removed. I get that. However, there's no 'light the flowers' at night rule. So unless someone came and stole a bunch of flowers, that means they weren't there to begin with. Which makes me feel even crappier that we didn't go there yesterday and take some mementos with us. (Next year, I vow!)

One of the last graves we noticed on our way back to our car was marked "UNKNOWN." It had several bouquets on it, and even some pocket change set atop the headstone.

As we exited the cemetary we found two graves were separate from the rest; both of them were WWII POWs - one German, one Italian. Those men were laid to rest a long, long way from home.

HAPPIER NOTE: On a much lighter note, tonight we went to the Mariners game. While their record this season is certainly not cause for celebration, tonight was a good night.

For starters, we had kick arse FREE seats - 19th row behind the visitor's dugout. I don't think I've ever sat anywhere at Safeco where I've heard the crack of the bat like we did tonight. You could HEAR the homeruns as opposed to the long fly outs.

CJ and Annabelle were superstars. : ) I could practically *feel* the disdain of the folks behind us (two nice, season ticket holding couples in their 70s) when we sat down and I heard their mutterings to that effect as we were getting settled. I knew what they were thinking - "Oh god, two little kids are going to be spazzes and spoil the game for us." And I've sat next to enough spazzy kids to understand their dread. But they don't know our kids. ;)

By the second inning, we were their new BFFs. The kids had won them over. CJ was watching the action more quietly and contemplatively than most adults, and Annabelle was her typical enthusiastic, happy self, cheering on the Ms and remarking on things she was reading on the Jumbotron, like "Oh, (the batter) went to William and Mary College." (Strangers are still freaked out a bit by the fact she can read like she does. A few days ago, I swear a woman followed us around in Fred Meyer just so she could listen to Annabelle. It was a little freaky ...)

Anyway, by the end of the game the season ticket holders behind us told Christian they wished we had those seats all the time. (Believe me, so do I!!!) It's always gratifying to hear that, especially since CeeJ and Bee are homeschooled and, therefore, the assumption would be they are socially maladjusted. ;)

The Mariners won tonight - unfortunately, a rarity this season. I guess that just makes today that much sweeter. ;)