Memorial Day 2014

Remembering my uncle, who fought in the Pacific in World War II.

Remember my father, in the American Red Cross for something like 30 years -- almost entirely with the U.S. military -- including the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Germany

Remembering all the people I knew while living on airbases -- that would be about 13 years of my life -- in the U.S., Japan and Germany; plus 2 years living a few blocks from an airbase -- including Col. Morgan, who went missing over Vietnam.

Remembering my mother who bore this all and put up with years of my father being away, while she cared for 3 children.

Thinking of my sisters -- the 3 of us were profoundly affected by our connections with the military.

And thinking of our responsibility, as members of a republic, to use our military wisely and not send people to kill or be killed for questionable motives.

Another Thanksgiving, Taken Personally

So now we in the United States end another Thanksgiving weekend, in the odd way we have recently evolved for doing this. 

First of all, Thanksgiving itself has a convoluted history.  We’re taught that it all goes back to the Pilgrims who settled in Massachusetts in the early 1600s, how they gathered with the natives to give thanks for the food they all had (some Virginians claim the first event of this nature actually happened at Jamestown some years ahead of the event at Plymouth).  Later, of course, the European colonists expanded west decimating the native peoples and cultures.  

The official national celebration, however, originated with Abraham Lincoln in the aftermath of the great Civil War battle of Gettysburg, which cost so many lives, halted the Confederate invasion of the north, and inspired Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  Thanksgiving Day did not achieve a settled date until the twentieth century.

In the course of the twentieth century, the day’s celebrations came to include college football games and parades with huge floats in several east coast cities.

In recent years, commercial interests have caught up with Thanksgiving.  The day after Thanksgiving, “Black Friday,” is the traditional start of the Christmas Shopping Season.  This is when retailers are desperate to make lots of sales, because so much of their success and survival depends upon sales during the Christmas season.

For me—a Unitarian Pagan—it is difficult to associate with the Pilgrims (although Unitarians do have a connection to those Massachusetts Puritans, and I am thankful for what I have).  My focus is not on shopping.  Even if I may give or receive presents at Christmas time, it is not my priority (although I very much value my time with friends and family at this time of year).

On top of that (and this may seem trivial to some of you), I don’t particularly like turkey!  I don’t care that much for potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauces—all those traditional foods that Americans feel they “must” eat at Thanksgiving.

Indeed, my entire connection to these traditions is a bit conflicted—I’ll be talking about this more by and by.  Even on Veterans Day, and Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July, I feel a little different than most Americans.

I grew up among the military, but not military.  I grew up a civilian among the military (my father worked for the American Red Cross, with the military).  I didn’t live in one settled place until I was twenty-six.  When I entered the College of William and Mary, as a Junior, at age twenty, I had lived on U. S. military bases for a total of ten years—half my life.  An additional two years, I had lived just a few blocks outside an Air Force Base.  Twelve years connected with the military by the time I was twenty!  And of that, five years I lived outside the U.S.

This is just one factor that colors my attitudes towards Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving.  I can’t give a vanilla American perspective on Thanksgiving.  I do know that many people share my misgivings about “Black Friday” and even football.  But I can only speak for myself, out of my own rather unusual perspective.  More of this, perhaps, to come.

Celebrating Wagner: My Annual RingDay Party

As many of you know, I host an annual party on Memorial Day Sunday.

This annual Baldwin Wagner-RingDay Party is now approaching -- this coming Sunday from sunrise till  sunset.

If you haven’t heard about RingDay before, here is a little information.
 
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“What is RingDay?”

A celebration of Richard Wagner’s (German composer, 1813-1883) birthday (May 22).  A celebration of his most massive work, The Ring of the Nibelung.  A chance to see/listen to the entire Ring.  A chance to ignore the entire Ring.  I’ve done this every year since about 1974 (except for 1984).  It has been described in the book All Around the Year—Holidays and Celebrations in American Life, by Jack Santino.


“How Do You Do That?”

At approximately 5:50 a.m. (sunrise?), in my living room, I will turn on a video recording of the first of the four Ring operas.  The entire Ring will then play straight through until whenever we finish.  We’re usually done around 9:30 p.m.


“But I Hate Wagner”

No problem.  You can really only see/hear it in the living room.  If you don’t want to hear it, just wander into the dining room, the computer room, or the patio/backyard.  Socialize and party.


“But Doesn’t Ignoring Wagner Defeat the Purpose?”

Well, yeah—kinda.  But the actual purpose of RingDay isn’t to listen to the Ring <gasp!> I’ve probably heard the entire thing fifty or more times!  The real purpose is to get together with friends—you.
   

“But...  What do you do for fifteen hours?????”

Not too much, in the morning.  Light breakfast (bring yours along).  Mixing up and baking the four “ring” (ie. Bundt) cakes.  The traditional Walkure shower (for me, anyway).  And the rush to prepare the baked cakes with candles.

The lighting of the birthday (ring) cakes with the appropriate number of candles, during the playing of the Magic Fire Music.  Okay—We fake most of the candles now.  This year, we’d theoretically cram 199 onto the cake.  We’ll just stuff on as many as feels safe.  This should all happen around 12:30 or 1 p.m.  We generally then send someone out for lunch subs (or bring your own lunch).  Sometimes, however (when no one is around for the Magic Fire Music), we postpone the candles until the fire scene in the third act of  Siegfried (around 3:30 or 4).

Afternoon?  The traditional Siegfried snooze.  Some people find Siegfried boring(?!).  Some people prefer playing board (bored?) games.  But then, this is when we usually have the children begin the construction of the small cardboard Valhalla for later.

We’ll fire up the barbeque around 5:30 or 6 p.m for the potluck dinner.  By now the children should be well along on Valhalla, and drawing or pasting images into it.

Amazingly, as we approach the final act or two, people actually being filtering into the living room and watching the performance!

Around 9:30, we light the Valhalla sitting on the barbeque grill, watch it burn—and return to the living room to watch Bugs Bunny in “What’s Opera, Doc?” and “The Rabbit of Seville”… and possibly listen to Anna Russell explain the Ring.

By then we’re usually ready for a good night’s sleep!


“So What Do I Need To Do?”

Show up, if this appeals to you (preferably let us know ahead).  Socialize.  Bring food.  Hang out.  That’s about it.  Don’t have to do much else.