Military parades and honor guards.

Where should we start? A full confession said the Mother Confessor. Okay here’s the first: I have never been a part of the military. The closest encounter I had was as a volunteer for Lodge #38 to serve the VA brats in Lyon, NJ. What am I supposed to do I asked. Oh nothing, just take them to church on the occasional Sunday. This wasn't like Hozier’s song, I literally took them to meet the Chaplain. Who happened to be giving a sermon filled with military signs that involved eye tapping and other things I didn’t see or understand. Is that it, she asked gently. Well I also helped them play Bingo. It’s an interesting game that Bingo. Draw balls at random and hope your card has the ball’s number. Then the card gives you linear clues. And pretty soon…. bingo! The game masters then go around handing out dollars to people who can’t use them. Sort of like a strip club in reverse. Meh - you had to be there to fully understand. Then I stopped dreaming and every now and then a leaky dream would allow me to see a handsome young officer escorting a beautiful young woman to his home both dressed impeccably in church clothes. Sometimes I would get all day erections but no accompaniment of scenery if you know what I mean. I still can’t see anything of what they’ve done to my head. I am guessing it’s some combination of Eyes Wide Shut clubs with periodic thumping of the floor (neighbor above has been doing that all night) and some sort of Driver’s Command Centers. Always fun when you’re having a restless night to suddenly hear: thump, thump, thump from above. Ray just eating raysins again. Don’t get diabetic pal, those things are filled with sugar and shit.

The Mother Confessor blinked. Is that all? That you wish to confess? You mean apart from strange synchronicities with planes and drones and helicopters and Spotify? Yeah that’s pretty much it. Oh I eat funny. Like a sculptor. And I see cloud formations. And sometimes people and objects appear or disappear. And I am trained to not be attached to anything, anyone or anyplace. And Trust No One was imbibed into me so deep that it’s irretrievable. And flowers appear to me that seem to have magical properties: dipped in water and sunlight they change color and veracity. And I might write about something (Sioux in 1500s) one day and the next day an actual incident happens (Spaniards in 1500s Philippines) that reminds me of what I wrote. I seem to be fascinated with cryptography although no one has ever taught me anything. Random numbers are especially an interest. More precisely randomly generated numbers, not random numbers themselves. I seem to have hints of oracular sight and writing that I can decipher after the fact. I live a scheduled life and timelines are an area of study and concern.

Is that all? She asked again, seeming impatient. Oh I have no memory of what I did day before yesterday. My memory gets wiped on a very regular basis. And sometimes I can’t remember something I spoke about or thought about a minute ago. I have learned to be functional without it. The memory I do have seems to be accessible as a computer. I could try to sleep and without meaning to my thoughts auto scroll through interesting girls and women I met during the day. This may be the Club aspect I mentioned earlier. But yeah, I have no military experience.

I see. And what is it that you wish to write about regarding military parades and honor guards?
Just my impressions. How a civilian sees them. How the average Joe sees them.
How do you see them?
Well when I think of military parades my subconscious must be processing my past experiences with them. I saw one for example on July 4th while getting breakfast and a girl literally tried to steal the brown paper bag from my hands. While I was present. That’s mine she said. Uh, no. I paid for it. Those are interesting parades, firemen, police, other people with jewels around the necks, other people with caps saying what war they were in…while I fight off open air highway robbery. YouTube is a great source of inspiration. I have seen Marines do parades and drills at stadiums. They throw rifles around while the crowd cheers and oohs and ahhhh. Then there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That’s not a parade, she interrupted briskly. Yeah, it’s a bit more somber, like a ritual or a ceremony I replied. A bit more of a graveyard vibe. I see. So what is it that you don't understand? I don’t understand the honor guards and the customs. Why exactly are foreign dignitaries given the red carpet? What does the red mean? Blood? Colors ought to mean something, it isn’t a blue carpet or a white carpet. It’s a red carpet. Why do the soldiers stand at attention and display themselves before the visitor for inspection? Inspection is something higher commanding officers do when soldiers stand in formation. Next to the soldiers why are there children waving flags of both the countries? As an average person I would like to understand the meaning of what I am seeing, other than its pomp or ceremony. What exactly am I seeing? I see she said. Well most average people aren’t as curious little beavers like you seem to be. They just see things and think it's just some silly custom, a way to honor the visitor from another country.

Someone told me of a military honor guard presented to the fighters of the UFC. What did that mean? Keep the martial spirit? Things must have meaning, otherwise they simply become things. A rock by itself is just a rock, when arrange on top of each other they become a rock sculpture. There is more meaning in that sculpture like balance and other aesthetics. That’s all I am simply looking for meaning in military parades and honor guards.

You can give me anything you don’t want. And you agree that whatever I take is with your full consent. But apart from that, I don’t think I can help you she said. And left.

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https://youtube.com/shorts/PbBx4ySJ4Ds?si=8Thv5x0_8s49i0BE

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Jun 16 2026
6:36 AM
San Diego, California.