blogcutter

Today marks the beginning of Veteran's Week, so the organization I'll highlight for November is the Royal Canadian Legion. I bought my poppy yesterday, at a Pet Valu location.

Most people know that proceeds from the sale of poppies are used for programs supporting veterans. But during the pandemic, even if you have regularly bought and worn your poppy every year, you may have found that opportunities for obtaining a poppy are very limited. And I fear sales may be lagging, and services to veterans may be compromised.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in Canada. And if you wish, you can order a $10 made-in-Canada 100th anniversary edition of the poppy from the Legion's website, here:

https://www.legion.ca/remembrance/poppy-100-anniversary

There's also a variety of merchandise you can purchase from the Poppy Shop, again with all profits put towards supporting veterans. Or you can join the Legion and pay annual dues.

I don't plan to attend any in-person Remembrance Day ceremonies this year but I still consider it important to wear the poppy during Veteran's Week.

The Canadian flag will be restored to full mast on federal government buildings on Sunday, November 7. It will be lowered on November 8 to honour indigenous veterans and restored on November 9, lowered on November 11 for Remembrance Day and then raised on November 12. I'm pleased to see an end to the six months of half mast, which to my mind merely served to cheapen the symbolism of half-masting the flag. I mean, consider even very famous people of national, sometimes international significance for whom we lowered the flag. I don't think we ever lowered the flag for more than a week at the most.

OK. So I'll end on a personal note. My father, who worked for many years for the Defence Research Board, part of the federal Department of National Defence, died on November 7, 1999. Visitation was held in the evening on November 11 followed by a private funeral on November 12, 1999. My mother had opined that no one would be interested in visitation and that we would all be rattling around the funeral parlour getting on each other's nerves. But as it happened, there was a steady stream of people paying their respects all evening. Many of them were Dad's former colleagues but there were also extended family and friends.

Today, after picking up a library book at the Nepean Centrepointe branch, I visited my parents' gravesite at Pinecrest Cemetery. It's not something I feel the need to do all that often but today seemed like the right time. The weather was sunny if a trifle cold. There was a funeral or memorial service going on nearby. I wandered the graves and reflected on the continuity of life through the generations.

Remember, remember, the fifth of November...

Yes, today is Guy Fawkes Day:

https://alwaystheholidays.com/guy-fawkes-day/

I've never actually lived in the UK and in these parts, people don't typically mark the occasion to any great extent. But maybe we should.

There's so much emphasis these days on marking Black History Month, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Indigenous celebrations, Chinese New Year and much more. I'm not opposed to any of that. Goodness knows that during a pandemic, we need a few excuses to kick up our heels, even if we can't do so in manner to which we're accustomed. A multicultural society, especially a reasonably harmonious society, is a rich one.

But although by birth I'm a first-generation Canadian - my family came to the country in 1950, before I was born - I almost feel at times as if I have to apologize for my British roots. The Brits, and especially the English, are viewed by some, perhaps even unconsciously, as the oppressors and colonial overlords. Sort of like Canadians are now expected to shoulder collective guilt for residential schools, the sixties scoop or the relocation of Inuit groups to the High Arctic. Only for folks like me, I guess it's a double burden of collective guilt.

But enough of that. I was trying to remember when I first heard about Guy Fawkes Day and was pretty sure it was some time in the late 1950s. Sure enough, I found one of my early introductions to the occasion in chapter four of More About Paddington. In that story, Paddington celebrates his first bonfire night. His friend Mr. Gruber fills him in on what's involved and Paddington sets about building a Guy. Mr. Curry, the Browns' obnoxious and free-loading neighbour then invites himself to their backyard bonfire night, where he scarfs down all of Paddington's marmalade sandwiches. But when the guy hits the bonfire, it's wearing Mr. Curry's good suit. He had put it on the Browns' porch so it would get taken to the cleaners along with their stuff - only to find out in the end that HE had been taken to the cleaners instead!

What are we to make of Guy Fawkes the person? Was he just a misguided freedom fighter or was he a terrorist? By modern standards, even for committed anti-royalists, I don't think many people see him as a hero. Here's one perspective:

https://yesterday.uktv.co.uk/blogs/article/guy-fawkes-terrorist/

November 11 is Remembrance Day and for this year, ceremonies at the War Memorial are being drastically scaled back. The killing of Nathan Cirillo is still very recent history. And of course, his killer also ran rampant through our Parliament Buildings while Stephen Harper cowered in a closet. Well, maybe that's what happened, anyway. I wasn't there in the Parliament Buildings although I WAS downtown the day it happened.

All of which kind of gives a whole new meaning to "Lest We Forget", don't you think?