Memorial Day, 2009

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day to remember those who have died in our nation's service. After the Civil war many people in the North and South decorated graves of fallen soldiers with flowers.

In the Spring of 1866, Henry C. Welles, a druggist in the village of Waterloo, NY, suggested that the patriots who had died in the Civil War should be honored by decorating their graves.
General John B. Murray, Seneca County Clerk, embraced the idea and a committee was formed to plan a day devoted to honoring the dead. Townspeople made wreaths, crosses and bouquets for each veteran's grave. The village was decorated with flags at half mast. On May 5 of that year, a processional was held to the town's cemeteries, led by veterans. The town observed this day of remembrance on May 5 of the following year as well.

Decoration Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed officially on May 30, 1868.

The South did not observe Decoration Day, preferring to honor their dead on separate days until after World War I. In 1882, the name was changed to Memorial Day, and soldiers who had died in other wars were also honored.

In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be held on the last Monday in May.

California Strawberry Festival, 26th Annual

The forecast for this past week-end was to be HOT, which it ended up setting high temperature records for the date, 105 degrees. So, I thought it would be a good idea to take a ride to the coast and cooler weather. I called my brother Don, asked if he would be interested on going and we were off.We took a route that led us through the Coastal Mountain Range, got to the elevation of just over 5000' at one point, but still felt no relief from the heat yet!

This picture is looking West toward the coast about 25 miles away, we could see the inversion layer and cooler temperatures waiting for us!

Some guy looking at a lizard that was in the shade of this flowering sage.

Stopped at the "Deer Lodge" in Ojai, had a light lunch and cooled off.

The "Deer Lodge" is a popular "ride to" destination.

"Strawberry Nachos"
From the end of September through the end of October, strawberries are planted and harvesting occurs from
mid-December through mid-July in Oxnard, CA, which produces more than 27 percent of the state's
strawberries. The peak harvesting season in California runs from April through June, when up to 10 million
pint baskets of strawberries are shipped daily.

The largest producing state, California harvests 83% of the strawberries grown in the U.S. on approximately
24,500 acres.

Although there is no real answer to the question of where strawberries got their

name, many people believe the myth that the heart-shaped berries were named in the nineteenth-century by

English children. They picked the fruit, strung them on grass straws and sold them. "Straws of berries" are

now sold as "baskets of berries" but the name strawberry remains.

Another theory is the name was derived

from the nineteenth-century practice of placing straw around the growing berry plants to protect the ripening

fruit.

Had a couple of bands playing, this one was playing "Strawberry Fields Forever"

Still others say the appearance of the fruit within the plant inspired the name. Strawberry plants have

short roots and a short stem. Leaves grow from the stem in groups of three, so the fruit seems to be strewn

among the leaves. The original strewberry therefore became known as the strawberry.

It was a great ride covering 250 or so... miles, huge temperature changes, changing elevations on mountain roads and coastal roads with major traffic.