Day is done, gone the sun...

I grew up on Army posts.  I swam in the pools and attended the Fourth of July picnics and watched twenty-five cent movies in the Post theaters and ate grilled pimento cheese sandwiches at the PX grills.  I knew no sense of permanence; that was found in a farmhouse in Ivalee.  We moved every other year for most of my childhood, settling in Atlanta in the 60s and allowing me the first taste of staying put. 

There was one constant - every day at sundown, on many different parade grounds, the flag was lowered and the mournful sound of 'Taps' signaled that the day was finished.  People stopped what they were doing, and pulled to the side of the road if they were driving, and turned to face the flag.  Paying respect to the symbol of what our parents had devoted their lives to, or what a new recruit hoped would help him find his place, or what silly teen aged girls found droll and bourgeois but meant that the Varsity would soon be packed with Georgia Tech boys we were all too young to date but certainly not too young to flirt with. 

Day was ending, night was upon us, and we were 16.

As I've grown - I hope - (at least I'm not still hanging at the Varsity hoping a 19 year old will smile at me) I miss that ritual.  The sameness, the poignant sound of the trumpet, the minute during the day where everyone could take comfort in knowing regardless of what was happening in the rest of the world our military was at the ready. 

They played 'Taps' at my daddy's funeral five years ago on the coldest day of the year.  It brought home all those sundowns, some of them without Daddy there because of conflicts far away from the life a boy from Sand Mountain ever thought he'd have.  The song takes on a totally different meaning at times like that.

Every day I still do my own version of 'Taps.'  Sitting down somewhere, with a latte or wine, and thinking about the day.  Summing up.

And thankful that I live the life I do because of those who serve their country, in whatever capacity, and make it possible for me to enjoy their efforts in whatever way I choose.

'Day is done, gone the sun,

From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;

All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.'