Why we visit the cemetery on Memorial Day Weekend

My son Samuel and I went for a walk in the cemetery yesterday to pay our respects to the veterans who've died for our country. We walked around and read several of the headstones and discussed the wars, and what these men and women fought for.

Sam has a great deal of respect and reverence for these men and women. Last week there was an assembly at his school for the servicemen killed in Vietnam. When I asked Sam about it he said that he was one of the few students to take it seriously. I understand this - a war thousands of miles away that began over fifty years ago doesn't mean much to a bunch of fifth-graders. But I was proud of him for taking it seriously and being respectful throughout the ceremony.

I think it's important for kids (and adults) to pay their respects to those who died while serving our country. For many of us, Memorial Day Weekend kicks off the summer season and is filled with parties and cookouts, but we should also remember take a little time to remember these fallen men and women.

Now, before you start thinking I'm a gung-ho conservative, it should be known that I also feel that it's important to be able to express our freedom and love for our country in different ways. One of our rights, one that illustrates the freedom our military fights for, is the right to protest.

And I don't mean those idiots who use protesting as an excuse to basically riot, to burn and loot property and businesses. And certainly not those who disrespect our servicemen and women. I mean those who use non-violent protest to try to bring about change because they love America.

I'm talking about those who protest because they love this country and want to see it get better. Those who protest unfair political decisions. Those who feel disgusted every time they see a homeless combat vet, or a veteran (or any United States citizen) who can't get proper health care. Those who protest certain wars because they realize that most wars take place for financial reasons. Sometimes war is necessary, but often it isn't. Personally, I believe that any politician who declares war, or votes in favor of war, should have to fight in that war. Then we'll see how strongly they really feel about it.

Military personnel give their lives to protect the rights of our citizens. We may not agree with each other, but we should respect each other's rights. Respect each other's freedom to show our love for America in different ways. The men and women that we remember today died for that freedom.

How to stop the acocado hand-slicing epidemic

I've seen several articles recently about avocados sending people to the emergency room. This interested me because I eat an avocado, tomato and cheese sandwich on toast almost every day for lunch. I wondered, are people getting sick from avocados? Am I next?

No, and no. People are going to the hospital because they are slicing their hands open while cutting the avocado. It sounds pretty minor, until you really think about how bad those cuts could be. Reading further, I found that many of the injuries are very bad, with people cutting nerves and tendons in their hands. I cut tendons and nerves in my hand when I was about 20 or 21, and it's no fun. Of course, I did it by falling on a beer bottle while drunk, and as they say, you can't fix stupid.

But you can stop the avocado hand-slicing epidemic with this simple, inexpensive tool:

Wicked fancy, ain't it? It's actually an avocado tool that my wife bought me a few months ago. It cost under $5 on Amazon.com. The bottom part, the part that looks like a knife? Well, it is a knife, and it slices through an avocado like a knife through buttah. BUT, it's plastic, it's not sharp and won't hurt your hand. You can run your finger right over it. Amazing. The middle part is for removing the seed, and the top end is to remove the avocado. For someone who eats avocado every day, it's probably the most important utensil in the kitchen.

So this is my public service announcement to those who love avocados like I do. Seriously, I think hospitals should stock them and hand them out to people who come in with avocado-related injuries. Of course, they'd probably end up charging $800 for it, so maybe you're better off to look for one online and avoid the hospital altogether.

Happy Freezing Cold Mother's Day

My wife got a couple of big plants for Mother's Day - a rose bush and some other flowery thing that looks really nice. As you can probably guess, I don't know what it's called.

If the weather was nice we'd have gotten the rose bush in the ground today. Unfortunately, we live in Maine. The temperature reached a balmy 45 degrees and the rain was heavy only about 75 percent of the day. So needless to say, the plants will stay in our dining room for a couple of days. We are actually supposed to see the sun this week, with a high temperature of close to 90 on Wednesday. From one extreme to another, I guess.

I've had three pieces published in the past few weeks. First is this column in the Sanford News, which is about how marriage proposals, which have always been personal, intimate moments, are now out there for the world to see on Facebook and YouTube. People now express their desire to spend the rest of their lives with someone on the giant scoreboard at baseball games. Ask the guy who proposed that way at Fenway Park a couple of weeks ago how that turned out.

Then there is a piece published on Her View From Home, titled Things New Fathers Can't Prepare For. It's about - you guessed it - things new fathers can't prepare for, such as the nervousness you feel during that long drive to deliver the little package home from the hospital. I think it's pretty good, check it out and let me know what you think.

And my most recent publication is What Happened After My Son Dropped Out Of College, which was posted on Grown and Flown today. I'm sorry to say that it isn't exactly a happy, sappy story, but it's one that I think a lot of parents can relate to.