Memorial Day Poppies

On this Memorial Day, I have been intrigued by the holiday's history and significance. My interested started when the Vanguard University Veterans Center wrote an article about it, so I did my own research about those who made this special day of remembrance happen. 

This poem In Flanders Fields was written by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada's First Brigade Artillery, in 1915... 

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.

In response, two women - Anna E. Guerin of France and Georgia native Moina Michael worked hard to start the sale of artificial Poppies that could be given to the families who lost someone in the war. The poppy became known as the "Flower of Remembrance" and was adopted as the official memorial flower for the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This was written by Moina Michael... 

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

#MemorialDay #WeRemember 

Pina Colada Song

I recently looked up these lyrics for a caption of one of my Instagram photos. The song is called Escape (The Pina Colada song) by Rupert Holmes from 1979. It’s quite clever! 

“I was tired of my lady, we'd been together too long
Like a worn out recording of a favorite song
So while she lay there sleepin' I read the paper in bed
And in the personal columns, there was this letter I read

If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain
If you're not into yoga, if you have half a brain
If you like making love at midnight in the dunes of the cape
Then I'm the love that you've looked for, write to me and escape

I didn't think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean
But me and my old lady had fallen into the same old dull routine
So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad
And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half bad

Yes, I like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain
I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon and cut through all this red tape
At a bar called O'Malley's where we'll plan our escape

So I waited with high hopes and she walked in the place
I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face
It was my own lovely lady and she said, "Aw, it's you."
Then we laughed for a moment and I said, "I never knew."

That you like piña coladas and gettin' caught in the rain
And the feel of the ocean and the taste of champagne
If you like making love at midnight in the dunes on the cape
You're the lady I've looked for, come with me and escape

If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain
If you're not into yoga, if you have half a brain
If you like making love at midnight in the dunes on the cape
Then I'm the love that you've looked for, write to me and escape

Yes I like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain

I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon and cut through all this red tape”