Barb’s Burblings

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Lt.-Col. John McCrae
We had an all-staff meeting today, and we chatted beforehand about Veterans Day. “It’s not always the same day, though,” a coworker said, leading me to talk about World War I, which really is the forgotten war. Admittedly, we weren’t involved for terribly long, but still. Maybe it would help if we called it Armistice Day. In the UK, you really can’t ignore it–everyone’s wearing poppies. (And man, I wish I hadn’t lost mine from when I was over there in November of 2004.) Anyway, it really fed into my compulsion to recognize where some of these holidays came from, best exemplified by my need to watch 1776 each Independence Day. There’s a story behind the holiday, people! It means more when you remember that!
Sigh. I do suggest checking out this article about a man photographer the dozen or so WWI veterans still around. I also suggest watching the Doctor Who episodes “Human Nature” and “Family of Blood,” the episodes that sucked me into that show.
And the WWI trench exhibit/experience at the Imperial War Museum? Possibly the freakiest experience I’ve ever had.