Flag Day and No Kings Day - Celebrating America!

Also President Obama Appreciation Day.  So I dug in the drawer and found this t-shirt my son bought me on a street corner in 2008.  And squeezed into it for the day.  

It was also Library Retiree Lunch day, so I first went to lunch with my former co-workers and enjoyed a bowl of this delicious potato bacon soup. Which was great because it is always a chilly rainy day when I stand on street corners.

Yes, another appearance of Mr Merry. This time at his very first protest ever. The events of the last week did it.  He went over the edge. 

Our friend "Uncle Greg". His nephew is married to my youngest daughter. This devastating news this morning just made me sick. 

Three of my favorite people. Vickie on the left was one of the original postcard party girls who helped write hundreds of postcards to voters. Middle is Susan who you might recognize. Her son in-law was Heath Robinson, an active duty soldier who was stricken with fatal Burn Pit illnesses while serving in Iraq. Susan and her daughter became activists for these soldiers and  after many years of effort were able to have congress pass the Heath Robinson Act. She and her daughter were even guests at the State of the Union. And on the right is our fearless leader Kate who founded our organization way back in March of 2016.  

My friends Linda and Rod. Linda and I share a mutual friend and she saw a facebook post I made years ago. She sent me a friend request and a private message as she felt very isolated.  Rod and my husband were former co-workers and we connected! 

In case you think I will run out of photos, I have to warn you that we usually have a few hundred attend a protest. Today we had over 1,000 people  show up.  

Thank goodness the young people are showing up now! 

There was no costume contest, but maybe there should have been awards! 

I don't know where they find these things. 

This lady was on my corner. I have the corner by the driveway into Cracker Barrel. 

This lady just moved to the area and I was able to put her in touch with an organization near her (by request - I don't try to convert or anything). 

 

There was a steady stream of traffic and 99% of the vehicles were supportive with thumbs up and honking and even flag waving. One man and his wife were offended, did a u-turn in the middle of the road, crossed 3 lanes and jumped out of his truck. He threatened some protesters and told them he was going home to get a gun.  Not only did some quick fingers video, take clear photos of him and his license plate, nearby law enforcement came within two minutes and took control of the situation.  Luckily this was about a mile down the line from us, but I got hear about it five hundred times. 

Last night I got a frantic call that one of the people who was going to provide music wasn't able to come. I signed up for a free trial of Spotify and learned to make a playlist of songs I like (no bad words, peppy with a beat) I met someone I call my cousin (her husband is the nephew of Mr Merry's sister's husband) with a bluetooth speaker in the parking lot and she showed me how to "pair" my phone with the speaker and let it blare! 

One of my songs was Rumble in the Jungle by Old Crow Medicine Show and a woman walked by when it was playing. It turned out she is was here from Indiana with her family who were at the amusement park.  She is a fan of the band, too and we compared concert stories! 

It was so much fun that I looked up the speaker on Amazon and it is only $19.  I ordered one and just count your blessings I am not your neighbor.  I plan to play all kinds of favorites from my porch this summer, lol.