Veteran's Day

It is Veteran's Day today. Perhaps it is a good moment to take a thought for all those men (and later women) who have fought so that we have our freedoms.

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I often get pissed about "my rights" or what the idiots in Washington are doing or even complacent about what a great place many of us live in. A lot of people have fought and many died over the years so we can enjoy our lives.

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And I enjoy my life a lot, despite my bitching. Perhaps enhanced (for me) by my bitching :-).

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So today take a moment today to quietly (or loudly) thank those people that made all this possible. And know that whatever fight you choose ( pro- or anti-, Republican or Democratic, whatever) we have those abilities to choose our battles because a lot of good people fought for our rights.

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Not the right to dawdle in the street as you look at the Chrysler Building - walk or get out of my way- but the basic American / British / Basic Human rights.

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You may wonder why the Red Poppy. Well, in England people were Red Poppys on Remembrance Day. Which is when they remember their war dead. Like our Veteran's Day, it is observed on November 11th. Because the major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice. (Thank you Wikipedia). (Back then called "The Great War", not because it was "great" = cool, but because it was so big people thought another one would never happen. Certainly not a mere 30 years later).

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Red Poppies bloomed on Flanders Field the year after the war. The bloomed on the graves of the dead and were an omen of piece and remembrance.