Hike Mt. Shasta

Early morning on Mount Shasta, Memorial Day 2022.

Today is Memorial Day and I wanted to post something in recognition of the day. I will be frank and say that there is a lot going on in our country that is filling me with dread. I am not speaking in terms of inflation and all the commensurate economic challenges we are facing. It is deeper cultural issues that trouble me, some of which have effected my family in very serious ways over the last few weeks. It is perhaps because of these recent events that I have a heightened sense of importance of the purpose of Memorial Day this year.

While things may be veering off course with alacrity, there are certainly pockets of events that give me hope that the ship can be righted. One such is the struggle my nephew has been dealing with with the Air Force. He is a credit to his parents and his country, even if his country is currently aiming to ruin him.

Another event that has encouraged me was the flag retirement ceremony conducted by my boy scout troop, here in Mount Shasta. The troop held a flag retirement on Veterans Day last November, retiring 32 flags. That seemed like a lot at the time, but in the last six months, we were given A LOT more flags to retire. Conducting the retirement as part of the Memorial Day remembrance, this time we retired 108 flags. Each flag was presented and saluted one last time before being retired with honor and dignity. This also included two flags that were 8×14 (or something along those lines).

The big flags had to be cut up properly so they could be retired appropriately. This means cutting each of the strips and folding them. The blue field stays intact so that the stars, which symbolize the states, remain undivided. When retiring these flags, the blue field was presented and saluted.

Needless to say, I am proud of all my guys for the effort that went into this event. Things like this give me hope. We need more of it.

This morning I headed out onto Mount Shasta for the sunrise. Being out on the mountain, hearing the breeze, seeing the mountain in all its solitary majesty rising above the surrounding landscape gave me a measure of peace. The land is there. Whatever human events may transpire, the land is there and over it all, God is good. Things are not as dark as they may seem.