a message from willie

well, today is groundhog day! in canada, our mascot for this event is called wiarton willie, an ontario albino groundhog. unfortunately willie is deceased but lives on through "wee willie".

willie predicts an early spring!

this article gives some more info about willie and says that, groundhog day was inspired by the old scottish couplet:

"If Candlemas Day is bright and clear/ There'll be two winters in the year."

the origins of this observance are actually quite old......

groundhog day, something unique to canada and the united states, is based on a superstition that if the groundhog shows his face and doesn't see his shadow, an early spring will follow.

for everything groundhog day related, look here. screensavers and greeting cards?? ok......

happy groundhog day!

eleven

In Flanders Fields

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.

at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month canadians will remember for two minutes those fallen during war [ww I].

death toll of ww I: approximately 10 million, followed by a similar number only 20 some odd years later.

lieutenant col. john mccrae wrote the poem in memorium of a friend; this poem has come to symbolize the horrors of war and and the valor of soldiers who fought for freedom. it is learned by school children during their elementary years.

oddly & sadly, nov 11 is not considered a recognized "holiday" [cessation of work] in my home province of quebec.

the museum in belgium at flanders.

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seeing as poppies are the theme for this post, check out:

poppyseed.org

for everything poppy, especially edible

or

AAArecipes for more

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from mccormick's:

Poppy seed has been cultivated for over 3,000 years. The tiny poppy seed actually comes from the plant that produces opium. The botanical name for the poppy flower means "sleep bearing." Poppies were even used in the Wizard of Oz to put Dorothy to sleep. The seed does not have this effect. Poppy seed was used as a condiment as early as the first century A.D. The red poppy flower has been the symbol of fallen warriors throughout history and was adopted as the emblem to commemorate Veterans Day in the United States.