Both my hiking buddy Barb Sp. and I agree that route 559 is a beauty. It is never crowded, always scenic and peaceful and it goes to so many great places such as Lake Lenape and the Sugar Hill Restaurant and Egg Harbor City. Today, though, it was taking us to Estelle Manor for a hike.
The woods were beautiful, the ferns incredibly new, lush and stunning. They were huge, thanks to the moisture in this swampy, fertile forest. It was peaceful in the woods, not very many people hiking, though a happy group of revelers were in the picnic/playground area of the park.
We stopped to pay our respects at the Veterans Cemetery. I walked among the markers for the veterans of the Korean Conflict and stopped at the World War II markers. All the graves were decorated with flags. This is something my brother does where he lives in West Virginia. My brother, Joe is a veteran of Vietnam. Each Memorial Day weekend, he and other members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars group in Maysville, place hundreds of flags on the graves of those who came forward when their nation asked them to and served. Our father was a veteran of World War II. He was in the Navy, my brother was in the Marines. We also have veteran ancestors from World War I, the Spanish American War, the Civil War and the Revolution. As for me, I, too, served in a very small way with the Red Cross at the army clinic at Wharton Barracks in Heilbronn, Germany, when my ex-husband was stationed there from 1969 to 1971.
My heart goes out to all the members of the US services currently serving and to those who gave when their help was needed and are now in civilian life in our magnificent land of freedom and plenty. Marking the Memorial Day weekend by showing the flag and honoring veterans is one small way we can express our gratitude to those who have signed on to keep us free. THANK YOU!
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