ON THIS SUNDAY at the old cabin in the Church O’ The Pines, it is a fine day to be a goose, gabbling from the river. Or my favorite songster, the wood thrush, singing ethereal songs from the deep woods. Or my old friend Sparky the Cardinal singing his own heart out, or a flame-sided orilole flashing across the yard and adding his bright voice to the choir. Or a bleeding heart wearing its hearts on its sleeve. Or a 130-year-old deacon pine stretching for the sky. Or even a little bonsai catching the morning sun’s rays. It is a good day to be alive, and just to be. To remember on this Memorial Sunday those we have loved and lost who have shared such days with us, and those who have given their lives to this beautiful country, its land and its people and its ideals.

The orioles and cardinals and thrushes and trees all remind us. And it is good to be reminded. All here in this little woodland refuge wish you Good Sabbath.