Memorial Day, 2017

A day set aside to remember all of our country's men and women who died while they served our country performing active military service.

It had been quite some time, I'm embarrassed to say, since I'd last visited Fort Logan National Cemetery.  So long in fact, it took me more than a few seconds to located the grave stone for SSgt Brian Joiner.  He's the son of a work friend of mine, who lost his life while on active duty with the US Air Force.

Brian Joiner is the only one I know who is buried at Fort Logan, and I always stop by to pay my respects.

 The view from a small rise overlooking section 44

(topmost section) where SSgt Joiner is buried

The tower in the distance belongs to Regis University

Part of Brian's row...

The cemetery was the most busy I'd seen in the several years that I've been doing this on Memorial Day.  Traffic was basically at a stand still for a while so I spent more time wandering about the nearby sections of the cemetery.

Fort Logan has 214 acres and a count of 122,000 + grave sites.  It is well maintained and the crowds were quiet and respectful as  folks split up to find their loved one's grave stone and visit with their loved one.

 Weather clouds moved in as the afternoon wore on.

I was finally able to make my way out shortly after 3:00 PM

The drive home was under rather overcast skies and I saw that apparently some areas had gotten a bit of pea-sized hail dumped on them.  You could see the hail piles along the side of the road and such.

As I neared my home neighborhood, the hail covering the roads got thicker and more widespread.  I must have just missed it as there were still tracks in the road where cars had gone through the hail before me.

As I took the above shot, I saw Martha scootering in.  Apparently

she'd been caught in the full hail downpour  near home and had elected

to park the scooter and await the end of the storm at home.

Hope you had a chance to reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day and give thanks perhaps to the men and women who died while in the service of their country.