FReeper Canteen ~ Just Hangin' Cafe ~ 12 August 2016

August 11, 2016 | Canteen Crew

[PROCON]

Woo-Hoo, I got #1 and #50!!

Heh-heh..Partay!

[Kathy in Alaska]

How is Publius this nice evening? Good weather?

[beachn4fun]

No problemo

New what you meant.

[beachn4fun]

LOL

Yeah, you rockin’ tonight.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[radu]

I was afraid they’d been keeping you hopping. But it keeps you from getting bored. :-)
Been too hot here to do much in the way of outside activities so it’s been a boring summer for us.

Still got monsoon rains, do you? Now we know who’s hoggin’ up the rain! LOL! We’d love to be able to take some of it off your hands. Too dry.

[henkster]

Well hi Kathy! Long time no speak. :)

Doing OK. Kind of between weddings right now. All the kids are getting married; friends, neighbors, nieces and nephews. Next up is my nephew’s wedding in Detroit over Labor Day. I’m disappointed in his selection of a date because the Tigers are on the road.

How are you doing? Has fall come to the tundra yet?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Sending out prayers for Arrowhead1952 as he recovers from his horrible fall.

~ Just Hangin' Café ~

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[henkster]

Make yourself an “ice cream mountain.” Pile up the vanilla and smother it with crushed Butterfingers bars and some Caramel. Go ahead, it’s on me.

[radu]

LOVE Steve Crowder! Smart young man and he’s such a hoot!

Aaaaaaah, must be them sammiches makin’ ya so quick on the trigger. hee!

Did my little stint at the “R” women’s HQ, stopped at the store on the way home, got a few things done around the house, and FINALLY got to eat a late supper. Now catching my breath.

As for rain, who knows? The idiot weathermen keep saying we’ll get some but it hasn’t happened. Hoping the sky will clear enough tonight to be able to watch the meteor showers.

[Kathy in Alaska]

We couldn’t buy any rain for months and LOTS of lightning strike fires....one REALLY close to town. Then the rains have started and most of our hot shot crews are now in the lower 48. Four inches plus at my house. Everything REALLY grows fast!

[beachn4fun]

Right after I see some meteors!!!

Catch you in the morning.

[radu]

WOOHOO!
You’re on a roll for a guy pulling double duty. LOL

[radu]

Awesome! Glad to hear it!!

Sometimes it works out nicely when the docs are running late. You got a day off from work! :-)

[radu]

That’s the direction I’m leaning. LOL! With extra Hershey’s!

[PROCON]

Detroit Tigers?

Hey, hey, how about that Mariner-Tiger series?

Woo-Hoo Mariners!

[PROCON]

G’night Miss Beachie!

[Publius]

Not a cloud in our usually cloudy sky. Temps in the low 80s, but it's going to warm up to the upper 80s over the next few days. We call that a "heat wave" here.

Should be clear for the meteor shower tonight.

[radu]

I haven’t checked to see what they’re predicting for this year’s showers. Some years are crankin’ and some years are duds. The moon will be a factor since it’s half way to full. That’ll be enough light to wash out the dim “zips”.
The good show doesn’t start until after midnight.

I really hope it isn’t too cloudy later tonight.

[ConorMacNessa]

Welcome To All Who Enter This Canteen, To Our Serving Military, To Our Veterans, To All Military Families, To Our FRiends and To Our Allies!



Missing Man Setting

"The Empty Chair"

By Captain Carroll "Lex" Lefon, USN (RET), on December 21st, 2004

"In the wardroom onboard the aircraft carrier from which I recently debarked was a small, round table, with single chair. No one ever sat there, and the reasons, both for the table being there, and for the fact that the chair was always empty, will tell the reader a little bit about who we are as a culture. The wardroom, of course, is where the officers will dine; morning, noon and evening. It is not only a place to eat – it is also a kind of oasis from the sometimes dreary, often difficult exigencies of the service. A place of social discourse, of momentary relief from the burdens of the day. The only things explicitly forbidden by inviolable tradition in the wardroom are the wearing of a cover or sword by an officer not actually on watch, or conversation which touches upon politics or religion. But aboard ships which observe the custom, another implicit taboo concerns the empty chair: No matter how crowded the room, no matter who is waiting to be seated, that chair is never moved, never taken.

The table is by the main entrance to the wardroom. You will see it when you enter, and you will see it when you leave. It draws your eyes because it is meant to. And because it draws your eyes it draws your thoughts. And though it will be there every day for as long as you are at sea, you will look at it every time and your eyes will momentarily grow distant as you think for a moment. As you quietly give thanks.

AS YOU REMEMBER.

The small, round table is covered with a gold linen tablecloth. A single place setting rests there, of fine bone china. A wineglass stands upon the table, inverted, empty. On the dinner plate is a pinch of salt. On the bread plate is a slice of lemon. Besides the plate lies a bible. There is a small vase with a single red rose upon the table. Around the vase is wound a yellow ribbon. There is the empty chair.

We will remember because over the course of our careers, we will have had the opportunity to enjoy many a formal evening of dinner and dancing in the fine company of those with whom we have the honor to serve, and their lovely ladies. And as the night wears on, our faces will in time become flushed with pleasure of each other’s company, with the exertions on the dance floor, with the effects of our libations. But while the feast is still at its best, order will be called to the room – we will be asked to raise our glasses to the empty table, and we will be asked to remember:

The table is round to show our everlasting concern for those who are missing. The single setting reminds us that every one of them went to their fates alone, that every life was unique.

The tablecloth is gold symbolizing the purity of their motives when they answered the call to duty.

The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones who kept the faith.

The yellow ribbon around the vase symbolizes our continued determination to remember them.

The slice of lemon reminds us of the bitterness of their fate.
The salt symbolizes the tears shed by those who loved them.
The bible represents the faith that sustained them.
The glass is inverted — they cannot share in the toast.
The chair is empty — they are not here. They are missing.

And we will remember, and we will raise our glasses to those who went before us, and who gave all that they had for us. And a part of the flush in our faces will pale as we remember that nothing worth having ever came without a cost. We will remember that many of our brothers and sisters have paid that cost in blood. We will remember that the reckoning is not over.

We many of us will settle with our families into our holiday season, our Christmas season for those who celebrate it, content in our fortune and prosperity. We will meet old friends with smiles and laughter. We will meet our members of our family with hugs. We will eat well, and exchange gifts and raise our glasses to the year passed in gratitude, and to the year to come with hope. We will sleep the sleep of the protected, secure in our homes, secure in our homeland.

But for many families, there will be an empty chair at the table this year. A place that is not filled.

WE SHOULD REMEMBER."

Many Thanks To Alfa6 For Finding Capt. Lefon's Chronicle Of "The Empty Chair."

"Träumerei"
Robert Schumann
(Click)

Never Forget The Brave Men And Women Who
Gave Their Lives To Secure Our Freedom!!