Today is Remembrance Day, and 2005 is the Year of the Veteran. The symbol of this day being the scarlet poppy, I've included a scan of an original watercolor of poppys painted by Aynihayat Kapkin, my mom.

Usually, November 11 is a sombre day marked with heavy grey clouds, sometimes rain, and sometimes snow. Well it's cold enough today with temperatures hovering just above the freezing mark, but the sun shines brilliantly and I could only imagine how it might look shining on a field of white tombstones stretching almost impossibly far, and festooned with the nodding heads of scarlet poppies. It is, in my mind, a haunting image. Men and women have given their lives, and continue to give their lives in the ongoing battle to allow peace and harmony to prevail. It is an enduring and bitter irony.