The rain New England gardens needed finally arrived on Sunday afternoon. During the week, there had been a suggestion of it; a hint of precipitation and the ambivalent weather puppet “partly cloudy with a chance of showers.”
It was touch and go for the tomatoes I planted at Uncle Bob’s. I started some from seed this year, like in the Aunt Tomato days of old, and I waited until last Sunday to plant them. They were drooping on Monday and Tuesday, but I watered in the morning and Uncle Bob watered in the evening and I think they’re going to make it now that the rain has started in earnest.
On Saturday, Handy and I went to a nonagenarian birthday party in Massachusetts; a longtime friend of Handy’s family. Handy is one of seven children and since I’m one of only two, it’s different and interesting to observe the dynamics of larger sibling groups. The party was in the afternoon, so after traveling there, celebrating, and traveling home, it ended up being a whole day away from Saturday’s chores. But it’s always pleasant spending time with Handy and even better when we get to sneak in a stop at a Market Basket along the way.
I’m glad it didn’t rain on the party.
It’s the Monday of a busy week. The calendar is calling for brevity today and a moment of silence for D-Day.
The eyes of the world were upon them.
Julie-Ann Baumer 
Mrs. Barham: Emily, I must warn you. Charlie’s picture is in all the papers and they’re going to put up a monument on his grave.
Emily Barham: What on earth for? All he did was die. Dear me, we shall be celebrating cancer and automobile smash-ups next.
Lt. Cmdr. ‘Bus’ Cummings: [fervently] He didn’t just die, Emily. He sacrificed his life.
Mrs. Barham: That was very pagan of him.
Lt. Cmdr. ‘Bus’ Cummings: He was the first American to die on Omaha Beach.
Emily Barham: Was there a contest?
I wish YT still had the full scene up, from the moment Charlie entered the house, a shrine to all the dead men in her family. Later, he explains how he came to endorse cowardice as a way of life. Not normal cowardice, mind you, but a specifically anti-war cowardice. The entire movie, The Americanization of Emily, is worth the time it takes to find it.
A quiet moment in the rain to recall all those poor souls who died believing they were somehow buying us a better way of life with their sacrifices, it is fitting.
LP, I’m sorry to say that neither of those links would open in WordPress either, so I deleted them. I would encourage anyone interested in learning more about the movie to watch it. The Americanization of Emily.