Ready For Her Close-up

Tonight was the big performance of our local Brownie troop down at Not Bad President Elementary School. Everyone who was anyone was there. You should have seen it.


We dropped Tabitha off with the other Brownies (and Junior Girl Scouts - they're color coded, so you can tell them apart. Brownies are, well, brown. Juniors are kelly green. Whenever the local hierarchy gets its act together and we figure out where Lauren's Daisy troop is, she'll be blue) and headed off to find our seats.

There was a period of rest.

Eventually the various scouts marched in, color guard first, and began the program.

On the one hand, the substance of it was completely over-the-top patriotic, featuring both country music and poetry best described as "enthusiastic." On the other hand, the scouts did a very nice job of it, and the basic idea - a salute to veterans - was pretty cool. They sang their songs and recited their poetry, and then they asked the veterans in the crowd - some of whom were brought by the girls, and some of whom just came on their own - to stand up and identify themselves. There were vets ranging from WWII (including one who was captured during the Battle of the Bulge) to Iraq, with most of the intervening conflicts represented. There were a lot of Vietnam vets.

You know what? The Vietnam vets are all grandparents now. In my head this makes perfect sense - it was 40 years ago, after all - but it still came as a surprise.

Eventually the program came to an end, and there were snacks. Snacks heal all wounds.

Tabitha did a very nice job with her part, and we're proud of her.