Zachary is five, and he looks it - has crossed a threshold into being almost a school boy - bigger, very self-directed, more focused, using and working on understanding more and more words for complex concepts. He loved his zoo day, jumping from stepping stone to stepping stone, pretending to be a frog, calling back to the monkeys, stepping back for just a second after his first sight of the enormous anaconda. He did see the elephants, his reason for choosing the zoo as a destination - unfortunately didn't see them for long because he scraped his knee near the elephant enclosure and needed a band aid. I was impressed that both of his siblings bought him birthday presents - with their money and their planning - a stuffed elephant from KK and an elephant truck from Danny. They were thoughtful shoppers. We also rode the Breckenridge Park tiny train. Its fifty years old this year and I rode it for the first time when I was nine. I like it that our family has roots in one place and three (sometimes even four) generations have childhood memories of the same special places.

Bob had to go back to Corpus to finish closing the classroom and I miss him tonight but it was good having him home with a sense that he will be here for at least the summer. I cleaned out our closet Friday night, made it a two person closet again, put our favorite sheets on the bed. Today we grocery shopped together and layed in supplies for favorite meals. And last night we went to half price books and bought fantasy (Bob) and mystery (me). Ruth and Chris move home tomorrow, back into their sweet little house and we all be able to enjoy the pool again. I'm feeling happy about this summer.

In the midst of this disturbing war in Iraq, I found myself wanting to fly the flag this Memorial Day. I watched a national concert at Arlington National Cemetery and a special on four Congressional Medal of Honor winners fro a single town in Colorado. It touched me that the men who won the medal were honored more for extraordinary efforts to save others (military and civillian) than for killing - and that each of the heroes spoke of opposing soldiers with respect and wiht a clear sense of their humanity. They spoke of the horror of war - of the fear they felt. And the Memorial Day concert ended with "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." I know I'm idealistic - but that does give me a little hope.