Incoherent Scribblings

Though my participation in Holidailies is far from being jeopardized, I feel rather bummed about the fact that I missed posting yesterday. I really wanted to post something to my blog every single day in December. However, I have an excuse: I was at a graduation party all day yesterday.

Anyway, since I spent most of the day recovering from wee hangover, the only thing I feel inspired enough to post today is my answer to the following question that Norma asked yesterday afternoon:

Where do you display your Christmas cards?

Heh. This question of course assumes that one actually receives cards that need displaying. Sorry to be such a humbug, but since I don’t send out Christmas Holiday cards I don’t expect to receive any and so displaying them really isn’t an issue for me.

According to Title 4, Section 7 of the U.S. Code, flags in the United States are only supposed to fly at half-mast under certain circumstances. For that reason, when I pulled into the parking lot this morning at work and noticed that the flags were flying at half-mast I naturally wondered what the occasion was.

As I browsed through my most trusted news sources, I didn’t find any mention of fallen presidents or other principal figures of the United States Government (I guess Cheney is still hanging on), but I did come across a couple of references that reminded me that today, December 7, is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Further research informed me that the President had issued a proclamation stating that flags should be flown at half-staff in commemoration of that day today.

As I read the President’s proclamation, my feelings were mixed. My opinion about our head of state is less than generous and as a result, most of the time I regard any word that comes from his mouth with hostility. Nevertheless, though my grandfather was not at Pearl Harbor on that fateful day, he did fight in the Second World War and so naturally on this day my thoughts drifted to him.

During the War Grandpa was a medic stationed in France and even though he lost one of his brothers to the fighting, he never spoke (to me at least) of the War with regret. He believed the things he fought for were just and that after the War was over the world was a safer place in which to live.

But even as I remember my grandfather, the men and women who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and all the other men and women who served our country following it, I can’t help but wonder how one determines the morality of a war.

If one believes that involvement in a certain war is “right,” how did he or she reach that conclusion and does that mean he or she is required to believe that involvement in other wars is right as well? Is it right to support (or not) a war based upon personal politics? Is it hypocritical to change one’s opinion about a war based on the fact that things do not develop as planned? Is it acceptable to enter a war based on retaliation or self-defense only to use it as an excuse to attack others? Do the ends justify the means?

I do not have answers to these rhetorical questions today and I may never have them, but one thing I know for sure is that if it weren’t for the actions that came as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor I might not have the luxury today to even consider them.

I finally got everything I needed to finish the Halloween fob that I was working on, so here it is in all its glory!

Happy Everything - Halloween
by Stoney Creek
October 2007
27 count Black Evenweave

Now I’m in the mood to get some Halloween decorations and spruce up my apartment…

Fireworks - Flame
Originally uploaded by blondelibrarian.

I know my first Fourth of July back in America since 2001 was almost two weeks ago now, but I just got around to downloading the pictures and videos off my camera tonight.

Though I saw fireworks a couple of different times while I was in Germany, it had been quite a few years since I had celebrated The Fourth of July in proper Small Town America Style and I was really looking forward to spending my first Fourth back in the States with my niece and nephew.

It was a fairly typical Small Town Iowa Fourth of July Day: The weather was hot and humid by 10:00 am, but we toughed it out and went to see the parade anyway. The parade consisted of much candy-throwing by the participants of the parade and much candy-gathering by me my niece. The high school marching band played and the veterans from the American Legion did a Twenty One Gun Salute. There were also plenty of horses and Uncle Sam walked down the brick streets on stilts. There was a second parade a couple of hours later, but the heat drove our little party indoors until evening.

I was quite excited about attending one of the largest fireworks displays in this area of Iowa, but I had to work the night before the Fourth and the night of and as a result, I almost missed the fireworks display entirely. My sister called me around 7:30 that evening to remind me to bring a chair and woke me from a dead sleep. I didn’t want to wake up very badly and almost told my sister to go without me, but when I heard my niece in the background excitedly chattering about the fireworks I dragged myself out of bed.

The fireworks display was quite beautiful and I used the opportunity to practice my nighttime photography skills. I think my attempts at photographing the fireworks were pretty successful, don’t you? (P.S. There are more fireworks pics at Flickr and a little video on YouTube. Enjoy! )

Here is my “Americana Sampler” all finished into a flatfold. The background of this photo shows the fabric that I used for finishing: Isn’t it neat?

Now, about the cording…

After much debate about whether or not I wanted to use a lot of DMC to make the cording, I finally decided to use yarn as an alternative. The reason I was having such a dilemma over the matter was because I figured I would be irritated at myself if I used all that DMC for the cording and then needed one of the colors for actual stitching. (Hmm… didn’t I say I wasn’t a floss miser when it comes to DMC in the last post? Maybe that isn’t 100% true.)

So instead of using my DMC, I bought some red, white, and blue yarn and used it to make the cording. I wasn’t sure if I would like the effect that the yarn would give the piece, but in all honesty, I think it turned out great. The piece has a slightly rustic feel to it anyway and I think the yarn cording compliments it nicely.

Of course, I had to buy three huge skeins of yarn in order to make this foot or so of cording, but I decided today was as good a time as any to also buy some new knitting needles so that I can eventually use the left over yarn when the knitting bug bites me again.

I guess now I need to look through my knitting patterns and see if I can find something to knit so I can use all that yarn!

Have a great holiday if you are celebrating today!