Skip to main content

11:11 11:11



In all of the posts about annual stuff, I am not seeing this important date and time. It was the day and time chosen to end the Great War, the War to end all wars.

Even today it is not without controversy. How to honor those fallen in war is difficult.  The HOW not the honor. I liked this inews article.  Make sure to read the whole thing as it presents many different sides to the same topic. 

In this part of the world where I am sitting, men joined in companies based on their community. So a hard hit unit meant that one town, one village would lose large numbers of its young men in one horrible day.


Every town has a war memorial. A wall with the list of the dead, a cross at the intersection. On these memorials there is usually an additional list of those lost in WWII. In the last two weeks, I see more and more red circles with a black dot.

The lamp posts are often adorned with a poppy. The kids draw poppies at school (and are encouraged to buy poppy stuff.) Most people wear a small poppy somewhere on their shirt or jacket.











Visit this site on the memorial at Llanidloes. Look at the list of names, click on the extended list. Say the names out loud. Evans, Evans, Evans. Davies, Davies, Davies.

I have been reading the novels by Jacqueline Winspear and Laurie R. King. They are well researched novels about the time between the two wars. About a time that shaped England, Europe, and perhaps the whole world.

By truly understanding this part of history, we can more fully appreciate what we ask of the young men and women that serve in the US military.







WWI and WWII are not something distant, or taught as history. They do not tout the Holocaust, or how bad Hitler was. This is personal, their parents, grandparents, uncles. They bear the names of those missing. I believe this photo was taken from the market hall.  It is from an on going history project.



Let us also at this time spend some thought on those that work so hard to prevent war. Not just those that put on their white robes and preach, but those that have been in war and then devote their lives to preventing it happening again. I suggest listening to Utah Philips. A lot. Understand that war is not just about going to battle. Serving country and homeland has often been the call that has lead to the madness of war. Listen to John McCutcheon


Listen, learn, and challenge your own beliefs. Reflect, honor, and make it personal.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ecotravel and Greenwashing and a Ramble on Ethics

As someone who strives to reach the unobtainable goal of living ethically (or if you prefer the word: moral, holy, pure.) I am always questioning the decisions I make. I rarely get it right, but I make the effort. In these blogs I try to share not just the travel experience, but how these travels have changed me. Travel is a big issue in my personal path, and for the planet as well. Travel has its cost. I am not speaking of the monetary cost, but the ethical cost of going to another place and the affect on that place. I was accused by one troll of “Killing the penguins.”  The question becomes how do I tip the scales of Osiris in my direction. "Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with moral questions and values."  Encyclopedea Britanica This essay is on my thoughts on that particular dilemma. I can’t tell you what to think, but perhaps in reading how I came to my decisions you can add to my thinking, and perhaps think about your footprint. The photos are from my va...
7 comments
Read more

Antarctic, Tuesday 14 November 2023

A week and a half after landing, and I am still processing this trip.  I may be processing for the rest of my life. I think any trip to the Antarctic would be life changing. For me as a geographer, traveler, and elder, this trip was on my probably not gonna happen bucket list. Getting there was hard work. Getting over my personal barriers was difficult. There was nothing easy about getting there, a personal triumph. But there was something magical about this trip, this voyage. Even the Expedition leaders noted there was something special about it, a luck.  The weather, the sea conditions, the sightings.  All were way beyond expectations. I will begin as the voyage begins with Drake Passage. This passages has two settings one  involves sea sick meds, learning how to wedge oneself into bed, how not to smash fingers in doors. The other is Drake Lake. There is nothing in between.  We did the crossing in a day and a half rather than the usual two. There were bulletin...
7 comments
Read more

Revisiting Riverfront Park

  Riverfront Park near Windsor California has become my familiar walk.  I have walked it in many seasons, many weathers. I have posted about it before. So why am I doing yet another post on it now.  One of my biggest impediment (a word that literally translates to shackling the feet) is my self starter doesn't work well. The roughest step is the first one. There are many reasons for this problem, but the reasons are not important. How to get past the first step is important. That is the first and most important object of this blog is that by sharing what helps that first step for me may help other people in their taking the first step. Doing something over and over is not my best talent. Been there, done that, and don't even bother with the tee shirt. Coming to this particular walk seems to be more like comfort food. And yet I still have a need to keeping it fresh. In this episode I will discuss a little of what keeps it fresh for me. Sharing  Please stay on the trai...
Post a Comment
Read more