Remembering
Remembering...a good day for it I guess.
Not that I'm remembering dead soldiers. I don't know any, so that makes it difficult.
Not to piss anyone off, but seeing as how the "war to end all wars" proved not to, and seeing as how one of the biggest historical outcomes of WW2 was the rise of the USA as a superpower, I don't see a whole lot point in dedicating a day to remembering war..theres no need to remember - it's still happening. Clearly we haven't learned anything from history, and frankly I reject the idea that those earlier wars happened for noble reasons...the sacrifices made were for the same economic and political reasons that wars have always, and still do, occur. When world peace happens, a day to ponder war would be appropriate.
Some people tell me that without the brave sacrifices of those boys, I'd be living under Hitlers Third Reich. This seems somewhat unlikely,although arguably Europe may be a different place . Gerry never really had a beef with Canada, until we started shooting at him in Europe.
I suppose its the portrayal of these great wars in Europe as being such noble fights that bugs me the most. It really shows up the Eurocentric world we still live in. After all, do the Japanese Canadians who lived in internment camps pause for a minute to remember the fallen Canadians in Europe. Also, the assertion that WW2 was the single largest loss of Canadian life probably doesn't ring true in most first nation communities, they'd probably go with the introduction of small pox.
That being said, Remembrance Day, beyond being a statutory holiday, has made some impacts on my memory. Despite having no poppy on my lapel (or no lapel for that matter), if some veteran put me to the test, I could rattle of "In Flanders Fields" flawlessly. It is the only poem I know verbatim...I have been trained to write it, with all the punctuation in the correct places. I hope that doesn't make me a hopeless patriot.
So instead of dwelling on to much of long ago battles in France and Belgium (two countries who celebrate Armistice Day on this day...with good cause), I spent most of my day cleaning the basement, and sucking spiders up into my shop vacc (sorry sister, but they were over running the place). I also started to paint some of the old wooden walls white, to brighten the place up a bit, and give it the appearance of being cleaner. It occurred to me about halfway through this task that I was the first person to paint this wall. In the 71 years my house has been standing, this wall has remained untouched by colour...unpainted since before Hitler invaded Poland, untouched before the Blitz. There is something meaningful in this somewhere, but even if there isn't, its still a little strange that no one had tried to spruce that one dark corner up in the last 7 decades.
Finally, while outside walking my dog in the pouring November rain, I remembered what my garden looked like last August...not at all like it does today.
Long weekends are better in the summer.
Not that I'm remembering dead soldiers. I don't know any, so that makes it difficult.
Not to piss anyone off, but seeing as how the "war to end all wars" proved not to, and seeing as how one of the biggest historical outcomes of WW2 was the rise of the USA as a superpower, I don't see a whole lot point in dedicating a day to remembering war..theres no need to remember - it's still happening. Clearly we haven't learned anything from history, and frankly I reject the idea that those earlier wars happened for noble reasons...the sacrifices made were for the same economic and political reasons that wars have always, and still do, occur. When world peace happens, a day to ponder war would be appropriate.
Some people tell me that without the brave sacrifices of those boys, I'd be living under Hitlers Third Reich. This seems somewhat unlikely,although arguably Europe may be a different place . Gerry never really had a beef with Canada, until we started shooting at him in Europe.
I suppose its the portrayal of these great wars in Europe as being such noble fights that bugs me the most. It really shows up the Eurocentric world we still live in. After all, do the Japanese Canadians who lived in internment camps pause for a minute to remember the fallen Canadians in Europe. Also, the assertion that WW2 was the single largest loss of Canadian life probably doesn't ring true in most first nation communities, they'd probably go with the introduction of small pox.
That being said, Remembrance Day, beyond being a statutory holiday, has made some impacts on my memory. Despite having no poppy on my lapel (or no lapel for that matter), if some veteran put me to the test, I could rattle of "In Flanders Fields" flawlessly. It is the only poem I know verbatim...I have been trained to write it, with all the punctuation in the correct places. I hope that doesn't make me a hopeless patriot.
So instead of dwelling on to much of long ago battles in France and Belgium (two countries who celebrate Armistice Day on this day...with good cause), I spent most of my day cleaning the basement, and sucking spiders up into my shop vacc (sorry sister, but they were over running the place). I also started to paint some of the old wooden walls white, to brighten the place up a bit, and give it the appearance of being cleaner. It occurred to me about halfway through this task that I was the first person to paint this wall. In the 71 years my house has been standing, this wall has remained untouched by colour...unpainted since before Hitler invaded Poland, untouched before the Blitz. There is something meaningful in this somewhere, but even if there isn't, its still a little strange that no one had tried to spruce that one dark corner up in the last 7 decades.
Finally, while outside walking my dog in the pouring November rain, I remembered what my garden looked like last August...not at all like it does today.
Long weekends are better in the summer.
posted by adman at 4:39 p.m.
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