Honor to the Fallen, in Boalsburg

I had a dentist appointment - just a cleaning and exam - almost in Boalsburg on this morning, and what a hoot it was. When I got there, one of the first things the dental hygienist said was, "I sure could eat some ICE CREAM!" The appointment was at 10 a.m., which is perhaps too early for ice cream for many people; but I told her I could really use some ice cream for breakfast, too!

And then we spent the entire appointment (as she scraped, scrubbed, and flossed my teeth) talking about ice cream, including what our favorite flavors were at the Penn State Berkey Creamery. She told me about a new ice cream joint - Big D's - in Milesburg, right behind the Dollar General, that I will have to try out.

And then the dentist came in, and I said to him: "Peppermint stick!" Which is, I think, HIS favorite flavor at the Berkey Creamery. And he told us a story about an event he went to at Penn State years ago, with some musical composer who did lots of arrangements for Barbra Streisand. But he couldn't remember the guy's name, just that he was "some hefty guy."

The punchline was that the guy flew from Penn State to Teterboro (NJ) and ate almost an entire half-gallon of PSU creamery ice cream before he even got there. I think I was supposed to be impressed, but any 80s girl such as myself (with or without an eating disorder) could beat that record.

So by the time we were done, all three of us were clustered around the computer, carefully examining the current list of Berkey Creamery flavors, and cooing over some of them. The hygienist put my email in so they'd notify me when August Pie is available again. And she spent several minutes googling "hefty composer who did arrangements for Barbra Streisand," but to no avail. I left the dentist's office laughing.

It is my custom after doing things I dread (and yes, the dentist is still one of those, even after all these years, and even when they aren't doing anything nasty to me) to reward myself with a little treat. At least once, that treat was ice cream at nearby Meyer Dairy.

But sometimes I'd stop on my way back to work for an oreo cookie shake at the Burger King on University Drive (that sadly is no longer there - it had no drive-thru window and was alas an unintended victim of the whole Covid situation last year).

But other times, my treat and reward is simply to stop somewhere to take pictures in a place I never get to go. And so it was that I ended up in a favorite cemetery in Boalsburg, taking photos of the graves, and of the nearby statue which is called Honor to the Fallen. The sky was blue, it was a beautiful morning, and the cemetery was very peaceful.

Boalsburg says that it is the home of Memorial Day. (Several other cities around the U.S. make the same claim.) This statue is of the three women - Emma Hunter, Elizabeth Meyer, and Sophie Keller - who supposedly celebrated the very first Memorial Day by decorating the graves of family and friends with flowers.

Here are some additional photos of this statue, in various times of the year:

Honor to the Fallen, February 16, 2012
Honor to the Fallen, Revisited, November 5, 2014
The Three Graces, Framed in Red, White, and Blue, July 20, 2016
Honor to the Fallen, in Springtime, May 2, 2019

My soundtrack song is this one: Glass Tiger, with Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone.