Posted 5/25/26 1:00 pm
Yup, officially back and blogging! It’s been a wild ride so far in 2026, and, as many of you know, a pretty rough one since about mid-April. More on that in a future post. For now, let me congratulate all college and high school grads, and all other students and teachers who’ve made it to the end of the year. Summer’s always had a hazy start date with all the different school district calendars out there, so whenever YOUR summer starts, I hope it’s a good launch!
Today’s that complicated “unofficial start of summer, “ Memorial Day. Parades, barbecues, heated corn hole backyard tournaments, weird start times for MLB games. Somehow we’re called to be chill and enjoy the holiday, while being reverent and respectful.
Hear me out on my annual unsolicited reminders about Memorial Day. It’s a day to remember those who died in uniform while actively serving in the United States military, from throughout America’s history. Every Memorial Day I try to think of those who tend to get overlooked (a very 8CA way of looking at life, really)…service members who died in long-ago wars, unofficial conflicts, peacetime actions. Those who died of disease, in accidents, and by suicide. Those who volunteered and were drafted.
A lot of you know I’m a Civil War nerd. I found a chilling but beautiful post about how Irish-American families were notified of their loved ones’ deaths in the Civil War. Not TOO dark of a read, but it definitely shines a light on the humanity of something from so long ago. No lie — it’s potentially a good post for anyone into the emotions and stories of, say, LYRICAL ROUTINES. No, really!
You can see the different feel we bring to Memorial Day versus Veteran’s Day and Armed Forces Day. I’m sayin’ it without sayin’ it. Dance analogy: it’s like when someone lumps together cheer and dance…you can understand why, but the cringe factor is still there.
• Car wash season is in full effect! Wauconda, Johnsburg, and Ridgewood ran theirs over the weekend.
• Good news if your car wash is coming up: we’ve got generally low rain chances for like the next 10 days, at least in Chicagoland. Southern Illinois might see a storm on Tuesday, but it’s looking dry there, too, through early June.
• I’m always amazed at the variety of team calendars. We have most dance teams rostered, and a few of them doing stuff. Other programs have tryouts going on now or very soon. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to approach it. I even know of a program that shuts down every summer and does just fine during comp season.
• BUT I do know that back in the day, successful pom programs started choreo in April and May and got to work on it right through the first comp weekend. Maybe it wasn’t as technically dazzling as today’s routines, but those teams were sharp right from comp weekend 1.
• In keeping with the Memorial Day vibe, I’m not really up for promoting what we’ve got going on this summer…not today. At the same, I’m gonna try not to be judgey about anyone who wants to promote their huge patio furniture sale today, or radio stations running their “Top 300 Classic Rock Songs Of All Time Countdown.”
• Just know that ketchup does not belong on a hot dog, at least not in the Chicago area.
