Remembrance - and other things...

[curiouswombat]

As well as taking part in a Remembrance service at church this morning I also watched some of the programme from the Royal Albert Hall last night, and from the Cenotaph today, as I am sure many of my FL did.

As always, the moment when the poppy petals slowly drift down into the still silence in the Albert Hall, made me cry. Each of those poppy petals a life lost in war; piling up in the aisles, landing on the flat white tops of the caps of the sailors, and on the elaborate headdresses of some of the QAs and the PMs (The army, navy and air-force nursing services)...

Then the march past the Cenotaph - old, old men and women, a small boy wearing his grandfather's medals, the girl carrying, not a poppy wreath, but one of bright yellow flowers...

But the thing that brought the biggest lump to my throat today is this tribute to her uncle written by virtuella. If you read anything written in memorium this evening, read that.

Under the cut are a couple totally unrelated pictures -

Shaka likes to sit on the cushions on the settee and cover them in cat-hair - preferably a good coating of black hair on the cream covers. Generally he is not keen on anything meant to be sat on by a cat.

But when I went to the garage for petrol the other week they were selling 'Pet Pads' for only £5.50 - and it did look very cuddly.

So, I bought one, put it on the settee amongst the cushions, and told him not to sit on it and get hair on it. Result...



And sometimes...



And the cream cushion covers are still cream almost three weeks later!

Hopefully, eventually, if I put it on the floor at any time, he'll follow it.


Also - I am slowly writing the story that demanded me to do it... but it is painful, it also brings tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat; writing it is almost like drawing teeth...

Comments

[shirebound]

and told him not to sit on it and get hair on it.

How clever of you! That does look like a snuggly bed.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is really soft and cuddly - and currently Shaka's very favourite place to sleep...!

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful piece. It had me in tears pretty much the whole way through, but even so, thank you for the link.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is a wonderful piece, isn't it? She is a lovely writer - but more usually writes tales of Rohan.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Ah, the secret of getting a cat to actually use something you buy for it! I'll have to remember that.

And what a beautiful way to commemorate the fallen, with the falling poppy petals.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

As long as I can remember the Festival of Remembrance from the Royal Albert Hall has been shown on television on the Saturday evening before Remembrance Sunday.

And always, after the parade in, and the singing and prayers, there is this incredibly moving time when everyone stands totally still as millions of poppy petals are released to drift down - one for every soldier killed since 1914. There is a picture here (http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/calendar-of-events/general/festival-of-remembrance-2010) - but it is when they settle on the white sailors' caps, and the white of the nurses' hats that affects me most.

As for the cat - it certainly seems to have worked this time, anyway!

[azalaisdep.livejournal.com]

Thank you for that link. It's easy for those of us for whom the WW1 and WW2 cemeteries are a "quick hop across the Channel" to forget quite how far from home so many of the dead are buried. We have a small Commonwealth War Graves corner in our own local cemetery and I'm always intrigued, and a little sad, that we have Germans and Italians and even South Africans and Canadians there, such a long way from their homes and families.

(On a lighter note, chuckling at the reverse-psychology on the cat - it's just as well he can't read... ;-) )

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

There are Canadian pilots buried in churchyards here on the island, too.

The cat seems very proud of the way in which he has claimed this new cushion for himself!

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

I bought one, put it on the settee amongst the cushions, and told him not to sit on it and get hair on it.

Nods. That'll do it every time.

And what a lovely tribute to her Uncle.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I finally figured cat psychology...

Virtuella's tribute is very moving. She says, in a comment, that she wonders, now, whether to translate it into German to send to her mother.

[hobbituk.livejournal.com]

I too always cry at the service when the poppies come down. Oh, who am I kidding? I cry all through it. The minute the military bands strike up I cry. Playing the last post? I cry. And moving onto today, the part in the marchpast at the cenotaph where the men (and women) from St Dunstans turn their unseeing eyes right? I can cry just thinking about it.

This year I also managed to embarrass myself completely at the two minute silence on the 11th, (which is always observed on the Town Hall steps) because two elderly gentlemen complete with medals and red berets stood to attention as the bugle played and saluted.

I do appreciate their sacrifice. And it's just so painfully sad that these often very young men are still dying, only this time for a reason that is not clear, not easy to understand. They aren't dying to make the world safer for their own loved ones, but more to fulfil a political end. :(

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

And it's just so painfully sad that these often very young men are still dying, only this time for a reason that is not clear, not easy to understand. They aren't dying to make the world safer for their own loved ones, but more to fulfil a political end. :(

Sadly you are all too correct, I think.

[momflower.livejournal.com]

Pretty kitty! :)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

He's an old softy. And very proud of having 'claimed' this new cushion for himself!

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Being TV-less I now only catch those services in snatches at mum's but she told me they were especially moving this year.

You cat looks extremely pleased with his new bed!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I didn't watch all of either of them - but I think she is right about them being especially moving this year.

The cat is very impressed with his ability to claim this new cushion...

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

That essay is really powerful-- thanks for the link.

Also, Shaka continue to be adorable. Glad he likes his pillow!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I am so glad that Virtuella said I could link people to that - such a powerful piece of writing.

Shaka is really a big softy.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

When Bojoette was itemizing all the things she needed to get her new furboys, I told her it was a waste of money to buy a bed, as every cat bed I've ever purchased has been ignored and snubbed. I purchased one for Trophy last year that was touted to capture his body heat and return it to him. As he is aging, I thought he might enjoy the extra warmth in winter. He sniffed it a few times, but he was totally disinterested in sleeping in it. In desperation, I even tried placing him in the bed, but he would shoot out of it as if he were spring-loaded. I purchased knitted covers to place in his favorite sleeping spots of the sofa. He avoided those areas afterward. The only concession he has allowed is a towel placed in the old chair downstairs. He will sleep on it at night, and that does capture a great deal of his fur.

Shaka looks well pleased with his bed. It does look soft and comfy.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

We have had cat beds in the past - and the cats have always studiously avoided them, too. I think this has only worked because I put it onto the settee rather than the floor, just where his favourite cushioned spot is. And because it is so soft and squishy - there is nothing hard, it is all made out of stuffing and blanket fabric.

[talesofsnape.livejournal.com]

Lol! I wish I could train our cat to sleep in a basket of some sort, but no, he has his favourite spot on the carpet where he sleeps twenty-three hours a day and makes it near impossible to Hoover.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

There is no 'basketiness' about this - it is purely stuffing and blanket material - probably why he thinks it's a people cushion and has, therefore, claimed it as his. With any luck I can now move it, with him in it, now and again if I need to use al of the settee!

[rs9.livejournal.com]

I would have love to have seen those poppies falling. It must have been a sight to see. And I would have bawled my eyes out! Virtuella's story was touching and beautiful. Thank you for the link.

So that's the secret...tell them the opposite of what you want. I'll try that with my kids! (Although I'm afraid it might work better on a cat than kids!)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It has been part of the Festival of Remembrance as long as I can remember - one petal for each service man or woman killed since 1914 - they drift down from the roof and settle on the floor, but also on the heads and shoulders of all the people in the main body of the hall.

Virtuella's tribute to her uncle is beautiful - i was so happy she let me link to it and share it with people.

As for the 'on no account must you do XXX' - it works with kids until they are about 8...

[lialathuveril.livejournal.com]

I've had a painful story like that, which demanded to be written. But I think it's part of the healing process and you'll feel better for it afterwards. Hugs!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I find all sorts of other things to do instead of writing (for example I've re-read all your Éomer and Lothiriel stories over the past two weeks - a real pleasure, but not helping me write about the family of Elrond - which is exactly why they have been my chosen way of spending time!)

But it won't let me write anything else either - and I did get about 500 words done yesterday... I reckon, given another few weeks, it might be ready to post here.

[lialathuveril.livejournal.com]

Of course time spent in the Mark is never wasted ;-) However, it sounds like the story just wants to be written in its own manner and at its own pace. Hang on in there! And you can always write something absolutely frivolous and silly afterwards as a relief.