A Formal R.I.P.

"So lay me down
In that open field out on the edge of town
And know my soul
Is where my momma always prayed
That it would go
And if you're reading this
I'm already home."

A beautiful autumn morning breaks, more appreciated here for following two days of almost solid cloud cover. The morning news also illuminates the activity noticed last evening, walking the daily trash bag to the dumpster a block or so down.

There, I noticed the funeral home again was lined with flags, the main one out front at half mast. Plenty of cars in the parking lot, and the flag bearing bikes parked together off to the side in other lots. Another military funeral wake, odd since I had just linked yesterday my reactions to one a few years ago.

The two neighbors from upstairs, sitting out on the front stoop, ventured that it was a bike-riding vet, maybe Vietnam, whose brothers had turned out for a final salute. But no. It was a casualty of the current war -- the most recent Wisconsin fatality.

Madison reservist is Wisconsin's 79th war fatality

Oct 7 - Seeded by RestsoSource: madison.com

Rachel Hugo, of Madison, was killed Friday in Bayji, Iraq, when insurgents attacked her unit using an improvised explosive device and small arms fire, the Department of Defense announced Saturday. She was a member of the 89th Military Police Brigade of the U.S.

The t.v. announcer said her funeral will be held later this morning at the church down the street.

I like that the biker-/vets-- the Patriot Guard-- stand out there at the post of each flag. In wet weather, and on a glorious autumn afternoon, with the mums and pumpkins cleanly positioned aside the meticulous landscaping.