Memorial Day

Hi readers.

So today is Memorial Day, when we as a nation have the opportunity to come together and blah blah blah blah.

Just like we've done the last three or four years, Erik and I assembled our local Masonic body - Centre Lodge #273 - and marched in Midland's annual parade, throwing out candy to dirty-faced children and letting the people of the community know that, yes, Freemasons are still a thing. 

We had an okay group of guys turn out - about eight, same as usual (which is infuriating because there's over a hundred able-bodied members in our lodge, plus another seventy or so who are too old and decrepit to get out of a chair) - and like always Yours Truly was in charge of reserving us a spot in the parade, making the announcements, gathering up the banner and aprons, and making sure everything went according to plan.

This year we had perfect weather - pure sun and low-70s - and the parade itself went off without a hitch. Kris didn't march with First United Methodist Church this year, but she was in charge of orchestrating their placement and arranging the parade crap for them, and Abby marched with her MHS Varsity Pom Team. Alayna and her boyfriend, Sebastian, watched (and got some pics for us) down on Rodd Street, too.

Afterwards, according to custom, Erik and I - and those Kings of the Hill that volunteered to help us (this year it was Rob and Steven, our two newest recruits) - had lunch at Big E's. Following that, it was a sunny, afternoon tanning session in our backyard, where the Houghs (and Ella) worked on establishing our base tans for our upcoming Florida trip in June.

So here you go, gang - this year's Memorial Day Parade. Enjoy. . .

First attempt at getting a group picture in front of the banner (Evan, who's like 7 ft tall, wasn't sure where to stand.)

Centre Lodge #273

Kris' vantage point in the parade was across the street from First United Methodist Church, down on Main Street. Midland High was towards the front of the parade, with the Varsity Pom Team leading the band down the street.

MHS Varsity Pom (Abby is third back in the column closest to the camera)

Abby and the team marching by. . .

Crabigail

A little while later, the Masonic bodies of Midland - us and the Shriners, who came up directly behind us this year - came up. We had a large gap between us and the Fischer Concrete people directly ahead of us. The old guys driving the truck (that Morgan generously rented for us from his Ford dealership) were going slow, so we had to keep slowing down so they could catch up with us.

I helped take the banner out of the back of the truck at one point while we were setting up at the staging point of the parade, and got stuck holding one end of the banner for the remainder of the parade (opposed to throwing out candy, like I usually do.)

As always, we had a bunch of candy stored in the back of the truck, and the guys throwing out candy had to regularly run up and grab more bags out of the truck to whip out at little kids waiting eagerly along the sides of the parade route.

The Birch Brothers, institutions in our local Masonic bodies (this year the parade organizers demanded there be spotters in every vehicle in the parade. . . which is probably a good thing, I guess.)

Erik and Steven, throwing out candy.

The Shriner Cars (as usual, we had a car break down fairly early on in the parade this year. . . but only one, which I believe is a record.)

Turning onto Rodd Street (I tried to take some pics while walking with the banner.)

Meanwhile, back on Main Street, Kris' church was coming up from a little farther back in the parade.

Back on Rodd Street, our candy was still going strong - nearly made it to the end of the parade this year, which was awesome.

Abby finished before us (obviously), and got a selfie with Brooklyn at the retirement home that's the ending point for the parade route.

Sebastian and Alayna, meanwhile, on Rodd Street, were able to get some pics of us as we came by.

Seriously couldn't ask for better marching weather this year - I was stoked.

Booya.

Rob scrambles to reload.

Erik whips some candy at the teenagers.

Coming towards the end of the parade route.

Afterwards, like we always do, everybody piled into the backseats and bed of the rented pickup truck (which was frickin' HUGE) for what was supposed to be a quick drive back to the staging point, where everyone's cars were parked.

Instead, for whatever reason, Chuck drove out to frickin' Saginaw Road and proceeded to take some long-ass way back to Revere Street, going 40 mph with the tail down and all of us hanging on for deer life in the back. No idea who thought this was a good idea.

Cruising down random side streets on the way back to the staging area, going much faster than we would have preferred.

After miraculously not dying on the drive back to the cars, we loaded up and met Steven up at Big E's for some post-parade lunch and beers. There weren't a lot of people up there, but there was only two servers working the whole joint, so service was insanely slow. We were there nearly two hours.

A bunch of the pommers and other teenagers, meanwhile, had some post-parade grub over at Pizza Sam's, downtown. This pic accurately sums up where Abby was at at that point of the day.

By the time I got back to the house, the girls - and these two assholes - were setting up outside for a multi-hour bronzing session in the backyard.

Kris, Alayna, Abby, and Ella were oiled up and working on those base tans so they didn't fry like lobsters in the blistering Florida sun.

I was quick to join them (though due to the crazy amount of yard work I've been putting in the last couple weeks, I already have a decent base to begin with.)

Dogs being dogs.

Hours of this. Seems boring, but I frickin' love it.

So there you go, gang - another Memorial Day Parade in the books. We'll see ya next year.

- Brian

Flowers and Meats

Welcome back, readers.

The latter half of May tends to pick up substantially with the last two weekends of the month being chock-full of obligations. The last weekend - which is far and away the busiest for us - is the much-documented Memorial Day Weekend. This sees us Houghs hilt-deep in Collierpalooza, Midland's Memorial Day Parade, and - despite us not having gone the last couple years due to weather and shitty lake conditions - a stint up at Eight Point Lake. Yours Truly also spends two days in Cedar Point - the culminating event of my school year with our 8th Graders.

The weekend before this one isn't nearly as eventful, but it does seem to fill up quickly. This year saw Erik and I once again participating in the city's annual Midland Blooms event along Eastman Road with Centre Lodge #273, our city's local Masonic chapter (of which both Erik and I are Master Masons.) Then, later in the afternoon, we headed on over to the Bos residence for our tribe's annual MeatFest with The Kings of the Hill.

We kicked things off bright and early at 8am, when Erik swung by to pick me up before heading down to the parking lot of Midland Center for the Arts, where we had arranged a rallying point for any Mason interested in lending us a hand throughout the morning. Then, at 9am, we crossed the street to meet up with the Midland Blooms organizers, who were dropping off flowers to those groups who had volunteered to plant flowers (petunias this year) along Eastman Road. We had our usual spot right on the corner of Eastman and St. Andrews, right across the street from the library, and this year - with eight guys on hand to help out - we finished in record time (slightly under 45 minutes.)

Anyway, here's a bunch of pictures that highlight a ridiculously busy Saturday for Yours Truly.

Enjoy.

Erik and Jeff start working on planting petunias along Eastman Road.

Left to Right: Erik, Carl, Jeff, James, and Chris.

We always bring a sign displaying our group information for folks driving by - the opportunity for free publicity is always pounced upon.

With eight guys moving fast, we covered a huge strip of territory in no time.

Petunias (I'm told.)

A group picture for later social media usage (see: free publicity.)

After a brief attempt at a nap in the later morning - followed by an afternoon of yard work, errands, and random household chores the Warden asked me to knock out - I started working on my side dish to bring to this year's MeatFest, which was an exclusively 'Guys Only' affair. Some of the guys in our group are hardcore grill experts, and can rely on offering up some of the best-tasting meat you'll ever experience. Others, such as myself, aren't as gifted, so we focus on bringing sides that will pair nicely with aforementioned meat entrees.

Mitch and Erik had set up shop around 4pm to get a head start on grilling their meats, but Rob, Collier and I rolled in around 5:30pm.

The weather was a bit on the brisk side, but fortunately there was no rain in the evening forecast.

Collier's bacon-wrapped, stuffed jalapenos. Folks take turns preparing this delicacy - it's a staple at our tribe's parties - and Collier did not disappoint.

Erik's bacon-wrapped lamb and bacon-wrapped elk.

Lonnie brought a collared green soup that I hear was pretty good (I filled up on meat, so I didn't get around to trying this, unfortunately.)

I made beer-battered German potatoes, taken from that Cooking with Beer book that I won in a White Elephant gift exchange at a Sheahan Christmas Party a couple years ago. It turned out awesome, and was well-received, but with people filling up on grilled delicacies it didn't really get eaten much. My own family would end up eating it throughout the following week.

Leftover jalapeno stuffing that folks ended up using as a chip dip.

The Kings of the Hill are also huge fans of bourbon. We don't leave home without it.

I forget who whipped up this Tri-Tip, but it's also a KOTH staple.

Mitch's famous bacon-wrapped pork shoulder (or loin, I forget.)

Grillmasters.

Slicing up edible bites for the dudes.

We took a group pic (well, we had Mitch's wife, Kelli, do it) as we kicked things off. Left to Right: Erik, Brad, Collier, Rob, Morgan, Mitch, Lonnie, Steven, and Yours Truly.

Pretty cool name for a bourbon, if you ask me.

Grazing commences. We'd end up eating for nearly six hours. At that point, folks, you're technically 'feasting.'

Tom rolled in rather late, but brought along these diced up, specialty brats from Jack's (jalapeno and cheese, mushroom and swiss, etc.)

Smoked tri-tip steak.

Steven's candied-bacon (not at all healthy, folks.)

Sliced bacon-wrapped pork something-or-other.

Some kinda salad (and yes, it has bacon in it - it's MeatFest, after all. . . not SaladFest.)

Brad brought a bunch of sliced meats - salamis, sausages, and things like that. Wide assortment of finger foods.

The table filled up quickly.

Steven, Tom and Rob sitting around Brad's other big offering for the evening - a case full of premium cigars.

(You know it's fun when there's fire involved.)

Gorging on meat, watching sports. Usual KOTH shit.

Second attempt at a group picture (this time including Dave, second from left, and Tom, far right.) Steven had to step out for a couple hours to attend another social thing he had going on this evening, so he missed this group pic.

Dave didn't bring any food along with him, but he did bring a bottle of this Chicago 'favorite' - Malort. If you haven't ever tried this wormwood-fueled abomination, consider yourself lucky. It's famous for being absolutely disgusting, and people buy it almost as a gag gift at social occasions. I'm sure some folks genuinely like it (serial killers, etc.), but it's more of a rite-of-passage thing, or a conversation piece, than  something one would enjoy. So of course we decided to all take shots of it (a lot of the guys hadn't had it yet - I had first tried it while seeing the Bouncing Souls in Chicago with Kimmel and BP.) 

It was Dave's bottle, after all, so he was the first to give it the ol' college try. . .

Erik throws one back.

Brad's turn.

Rob had never had it. He did not enjoy it.

Neither did Ryan.

Lonnie also had never tried it.

Mitch hated it, just as everyone else did.

Following the horrible Malort libations, it was time to break out cigars. Brad picked them out for us, then primed them so we didn't have to light them up ourselves.

Knowing that I like my cigars sweeter - more like pipe tobacco - he gave me one of his company's flagship models, the Rough Rider (my fav of his.)

Brad lights Rob's cigar for him.

Cigars pair with meat rather well, if I do say so myself.

Steven returns.

Try as we might, we barely put a dent in all the food we had thrown together.

As evening came on, we realized Steven hadn't tried Malort yet, either. . .

This expression says it all, gang.

Getting chillier out as the night dragged on.

Tom and Brad, in deep convo.

At the close of the evening. Most folks ended up taking off around midnight, and the next day I found myself to be one of only two guys that didn't wake up with a debilitating hangover. To the victor goes the spoils. 

- Brian