Today is Memorial Day and a public holiday in the US when the country remembers those lost in all conflicts from the Civil War to Afghanistan. In Washington DC itself there are of course a number of formal military commemorative events, both at Arlington National Cemetery (above in photo borrowed from the web) and on the National Mall where there are wreath laying ceremonies at the World War I and II memorials, the Vietnam Wall, the Korean War memorial and others too.
Yesterday there was a major memorial concert in the open air and the 'Rolling Thunder' motorcycle rally which attracts many thousands of motorcyclists from all over the US. Today the Memorial Day parade took place in Washington - a parade of veterans, marching bands from all states, and celebrities including Miss America. We watched the parade on the television last year when Lauren and I were staying here and were quite surprised at the 'party' atmosphere of the occasion, in contrast with the formality of the wreath laying ceremonies.
This weekend also marks the beginning of summer and today it certainly felt like summer with temperatures up to 30C.
We bought some garden flares to deter insects and light the area around the decking - fittingly they are red, white and blue..
This meant that we could have dinner as well as breakfast and lunch outside today to make the most if the weather. Unfortunately it was a little warm to tackle the grass cutting and other necessary outdoor chores.
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