When I was a kid there was an annual fund raiser where you were given a red paper poppie to pin on after you had made a donation probably for Memorial or Veteran's Day. As a kid I thought these paper poppies were quite cool. As an adult I was able to visit Europe and see the poppies growing wild in the fields of Flanders, and you could believe that there was a poppy for each fallen soldier of World War I and maybe even WWII. Pictures or paintings of poppies continue to interest me and catch my eye. At the November Weems Art Fest in Albuquerque, an artist had captured such a scene of poppies growing wild in the field, and I had to come back several times to enjoy her fine work.
When HW2 and I were visiting the island of Elba off the west side of Italy, we found some of these red poppies growing wild and brought some of the seed home with us, but they did not survive after two seasons. I would like to visit a real scene of poppies growing again. What a striking symbol for those who gave their lives so that we might enjoy our hard won liberties!
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