MISSION: Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day I, Secret Agent L, take very seriously. Both of my grandfathers served in the Army during WWII, and while neither were killed in combat, their memories are both deeply ingrained in my heart and mind for the sacrifices they made to ensure my freedom. So to think of those who did make the ultimate sacrifice--giving their lives--to ensure my freedom is not something I take lightly. On this Memorial Day, I wanted to make sure that my actions reflected that sentiment.

Secret Agent Boyfriend was a tremendous help in making the two missions of the day go off smoothly. I thank him here publicly. His presence made today's missions all the more special for me.

I picked up some sunflowers from Trader Joe's, divided them into two bunches, and put each bunch in pink plastic bin. I laminated my business card (because I knew it'd rain today), along with a message, and attached them to the flowers and the bin.





MISSION #1: Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Greenfield Neighborhood, Pittsburgh, PA

Date: Monday, 31 May 2010

Time: 1:32 p.m.

Our first stop was the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in the city's Greenfield neighborhood, right on Hazelwood Avenue. Secret Agent Boyfriend was ready to go:

We drove in to the cemetery, passing by the large stone pillars at the front gate.

At first, we thought we'd leave the bucket of sunflowers by the cemetery's sign.

Secret Agent Boyfriend captured some video of our covert operation:

MISSION: Memorial Day from secret agent on Vimeo.

But after we saw several cars drive right by without slowing down or stopping, we thought it might be best to move the sunflowers to a more prominent--and stop-worthy--location:

Much to our delight, we saw several cars slow down, roll down their windows, and even get out of their cars to see what the sign said. We didn't see anybody take any of the flowers while we were there, but we only stayed for about 10 minutes after placing them on the side of the road near a little intersection in the cemetery, so we bet at least one or two people eventually "took the bait."

The service members' area of the cemetery is simply gorgeous:


The flags, which seemed to stretch on forever, really made the sacredness of the holiday hit home. I got teary-eyed more than once, and I couldn't help but get goosebumps while standing amidst such heroes.


MISSION #2: Squirrel Hill Neighborhood, Corner of Forbes and Shady Avenues

Date: 31 May 2010, Monday

Time: 2:02 p.m.

Next up, we decided to hit the street corner. We'd originally wanted to go to Soldiers and Sailors Museum in Oakland, but they were going to close soon, and we weren't sure we'd get enough people to see the flowers. Thus, the busy street corner near--where else?--Dunkin Donuts.


Only moments after we placed the bin of flowers on the street corner, next to the walk button, it started to pour. And I do mean pour. But, flowers love water, and my business cards were laminated, so all was well.

We figured that we'd get lots of foot traffic on that street, despite the momentary downpour. I hope the flowers, and the message, made the passers-by smile.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

And thank you to all the brave men and women who gave their lives so that we could be here today, enjoying our freedom...and each other.

MISSION: Easter Treats

Some of Secret Agent L's happiest memories come from celebrating Easter as a child. Her father, who is just as much of a goof as she is, used to cut out giant bunny foot prints from construction paper and leave the prints all over the house--hundreds of them--to convince her and her older brother that the Easter Bunny had, in fact, visited. Her parents used to put one tiny Easter basket on Secret Agent L's nightstand and another larger one on the kitchen table--both lovely treats to wake up to on a bright Easter morning.

While Secret Agent L couldn't leave her "paw prints" all over Pittsburgh, she decided instead to leave a couple little baskets for some city dwellers to stumble upon.

Date: Sunday, 4 April 2010

Location: Oakland and Shadyside neighborhoods, Pittsburgh

Time: 9:32 a.m. and 11:37 a.m. respectively

Easter Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Pittsburgh. The sun was shining, the air was warm (but not hot), and there was a light breeze. It was the perfect day to celebrate such a holy occasion.

Secret Agent L got up early and went to Mass, but beforehand, she made sure to drop a little bit of kindness near her church. On the corner of Fifth and Bellefield Avenues, there's a bus stop shelter, complete with little bench. What a perfect location to leave a little Easter treat!

Luckily, Secret Agent L didn't encounter any passersby as she walked up to and stopped at the little pavilion.

But! Her luck didn't last long, as cars began pulling up at the stoplight located right next to the pavillion. Rather than scramble, she simply continued to place her gift of kindness on the bench and take a picture of it. For all those people knew, Secret Agent L could've been "waiting for a bus" that would take her to see "her little niece or nephew" to whom she would give the delightful basket of candy she was photographing.

Yes, Secret Agent L is very imaginative.

Because of the people at the stop light, though, Secret Agent L couldn't get a photograph of the basket sitting on the bench in the pavilion. Instead, she simply stayed there until the traffic left and then walked down the street to her church for Mass.

When she got out of Mass, though, she walked by the pavilion to see if anyone had taken her gift. To her delight, someone had! So she went to her car and snapped a final photo of the bus stop shelter before driving home to continue the celebrations of the day.

And who doesn't like jellybeans at Easter?

Secret Agent L's next mission that day had to be a quick one. She made a stop at her local grocery store, the Giant Eagle Market District in Shadyside (a lovely, lovely store, by the way) to pick up a few treats (yes, one of which was a donut), and she thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to leave her other little basket.

She pulled into the parking garage and made sure to be close to a cart return. She glanced around and saw very few people, so she quickly put the gift in the seat of the cart.

She was only able to snap two quick photos, however, because a car came into the garage right next to her very quickly, so she had to stop or she would have been discovered.

All in all, a very lovely Easter, filled with gifts of all kinds.