FIRESIDE CHAT WITH REX #13
Well, here we are again. It sure is good to look out the window and see all the green. Seems like summer just suddenly appears, sort of like turning to another channel on the tube. Vera and I will be gone a little while this morning. We’re going to Dexter to see the Memorial Day parade. Rex says, what’s that? What’s that, says I. Do you want to know about the parade or what? Rex says he wants to know about this Memorial Day. Is this another day where you people kill something, like a tree or a turkey, or even an egg? Naw, says I. This is a day when you remember something. We don’t physically do anything. This day was set aside to honor those who died in our nation’s service. We used to call this day Decoration Day, but now we call it Memorial Day. Shoot, this has been going on since May 30, 1968. Rex says that people die every day, so what’s this thing about honoring people who die? So I says that we don’t honor just anyone who dies, we honor those who have died while fighting against other men who try to tell us how to live our lives? Wait a minute right there, says Rex. Let me get this straight. You yell at me for playing rough with Corky, and now you tell me that if someone tries to tell you how to live your life differently than the way you are accustomed, you try to kill him? And if the other guy kills your guy, you honor your dead guy? Well, no, says I. It’s not that way. See, we in America have what is called a “free society”. We live in a way that provides us freedom to pretty much do what we want to do and sometimes other countries get a little jealous about us and come over here and threaten to take our freedom away. And if they get too pushy, we have to defend ourselves. Rex looks up and says he gets it. When another country wants to tell you to cool it with this freedom thing, you all get together and talk about it over donuts and coffee and settle it. Well, says I, not exactly. What we do is build tanks with guns, airplanes with guns, boats with guns, and then we just build guns for guys to hold. When these countries get too pushy we just show ‘em who’s who. Hey, we got to defend ourselves! Those other countries have guns too, ya know. Ol’ Rex just lays there this time. He says he can hardly believe what he’s hearing. The Rex sits up and he tells me how he wouldn’t bite anyone for anything, even if they were trying to get his food. He said that he would probably growl at them and maybe even bark to scare them off. But he says that we humans just look at someone and try to kill them. I can’t believe you people! You even set aside a day to honor all those people who have died while trying to kill other people. Ol’ Rex lays down and shakes his head slowly back and forth. And then he says so quietly that I can hardly hear him. Boy, I’m sure glad that I’m a dog! I can see he’s pretty upset, so I say to him, hey Big Fellow, don’t take it so hard. Sometimes even I find it hard to be human. Let’s have breakfast.
And so it goes…Gordy
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