Are you wearing a poppy at the moment?

[TomUK]

There have been a couple of different news stories in the British press recently about poppies and this has got me thinking about how many people actually wear them. I read on BBC earlier that it was a practice that originated in America but seems to have fallen out of practice in recent years.

So, do you wear a poppy?

[CSMR]

I have to admit these days it seems to pass me by. We used to have a remeberence service at school which was a very special occasion but now there doesn't seem to be much to mark it... except poppies! This year I've been homebound so I haven't got one.

[karen freeinchristman]

Yes, I wear one.

When I lived in the States, I never heard of the practice of wearing a poppy at this time of year.

[SumTinWong]

Nah, but i gotta tell you around June we have so many poppies around here to celebrate the birth of Baum the guy who wrote the wizard of Oz. Ironically I hated the movie but found the books to be okay, but it is Oz and poppy crazy around here that time of year. Our side walks are yellow to match the yellow brick road downtown. Complete cheese.

[Inside Edge]

Yep. In Canada they're all over the place.

When I lived in Pennsylvania, no one wore them (near as I could tell). Didn't even have a stat for Nov 11.

[Aymn27]

could someone tell me what a poppy is? never heard of it..

[karen freeinchristman]

could someone tell me what a poppy is? never heard of it..

Here is a neat link (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/closeup/qa_poppies.shtml)I found this morning. It describes who makes the poppies, how the tradition began (yes, it did start in America), and what it signifies.


And here is a link to the poem "In Flanders Fields". (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm)

[TomUK]

Or here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6133312.stm

[JoshuaCh1v9]

I got mine

I can sit here today and say that Tony Blair is a bumbling fool with no idea what he's doing (I'm not saying I think it really but I can say it)

Without those guys who died in the war, I could be shot for saying it.

[Aymn27]

Here is a neat link (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/closeup/qa_poppies.shtml)I found this morning. It describes who makes the poppies, how the tradition began (yes, it did start in America), and what it signifies.


And here is a link to the poem "In Flanders Fields". (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm)
Thanks - and I've never heard of it before...

[Caesario]

No. They were offering poppies to wear at the service in my parish today, but I was away visiting another parish.

Besides, I really would rather not wear one.

[karen freeinchristman]

In the sermon at Church yesterday, our rector said that wearing a red poppy and commemorating those who have fought in wars is not a case of glorifying war. You know, I think some people don't understand the ramifications of the victory the allies had over the Nazi's. Can we imagine what life would be like for us now if Hitler had been successful? Meditating on that for a while really brings home the reality that we must sometimes engage in war and we must always defend freedom.

[JoshuaCh1v9]

Heard Rabbi Blue on the radio this morning talking about this.

He was a yuong man during the second world war, living in London.

He said that, after Dunkirk, he expected to end up in a gas chamber. He went on to say that that fact that he didn't was because of all those brave men who gave their lives to defeat Nazism.

[karen freeinchristman]

I didn't realise they gave their livers... ;)
sorry, I couldn't resist! :sorry:

[JoshuaCh1v9]

I didn't realise they gave their livers... ;)
sorry, I couldn't resist! :sorry:


Look!!

It's Monday

I got up at 4am

It's the third day in row I've got up at that time.

What do you expect:doh: :D :D :D :D

[karen freeinchristman]

Look!!

It's Monday

I got up at 4am

It's the third day in row I've got up at that time.

What do you expect:doh: :D :D :D :D
^_^

[Tawny]

I always wear a poppy at this time of year, and it is the first time in 13 years I have not paraded in my village.

My Guide unit and I were away this weekend, so we had our own service on Sunday Morning.

[pmcleanj]

Poppies are as common around here as the ubiquitous yellow ribbon is in the United States. I wear mine most of the year (most, not all, because it's on the lapel of my coat, and there are two or three months when it's warm enough to go without a coat). Every Canadian knows what the poppy stands for, or at least as high a proportion as of Americans who know what the yellow ribbon is supposed to mean. I think the only reason most Canadian's don't wear them year-round, is that the little bent pins they're mounted on are notorious for sliding out and getting lost, along with the poppy they were supposed to secure. The secret (for those of you who would LIKE to wear it year round) is to bring the pin back up through your lapel just short of the petal-edge, pin it THROUGH the very edge of the petal, and then stick it back down through the lapel so you don't scratch your lover when you hug him/her. That turns the poppy into a pseudo-safety-pin, and it will stay in place until you forget to take it off before sending the coat to the drycleaners who will destroy it.

Here's my Remembrance Day post from last year: http://www.christianforums.com/showpost.php?p=19889975
We did the same thing this year. The buglar didn't play this year -- I hope he's alright. We had an Air Cadet squadron show up: can't say they added much. Their C.O. acted like he was M.C'ing the occasion (which has managed to get along without an M.C. for the last couple of decades) and they got the timing wrong and started their two minutes of silence before the CP Rail whistle went. But, if they come to a few more, they'll probably get the hang of how things go.

I do wish the construction crews on the adjacent jobsites had stopped their machinery for the two minutes...

[RedneckAnglican]

huh?...

[JoshuaCh1v9]

We observed the 2 minute silence on both days this year.

Saturday for the actual armistace day and sunday for Rememberence Sunday

[Tawny]

Same here Andy, I am so proud of my Guides, they all stopped what they were doing and we gathered together for the 2 minutes silence on Saturday

[Finella]

I was at diocesan convention (PA) on Saturday and saw my first "American" poppies there ever -- I'd noticed them a lot in England, but never in the States before. I thought it was an English thing! Although now that I think of it, someone was selling them outside of a local convenience store last year, so they are around. We bought a couple but didn't wear them.

During convention the bishop had us mark two minutes of silence in commemoration of Nov. 11th.

[Adammi]

LOL, never heard of this before.