I think the battle happening In Ukraine currently is a reminder of how things can escalate so quickly. The previous World Wars sucked in millions of people on either side fighting for a cause they believed dying for. I can understand the people in Ukraine staying behind to fight as you are fighting for not just yourself and your family, but future generations.
There is no beauty in war as there are no winners as everyone loses whether it is loved ones or friends and colleagues. Look at what Ukraine is experiencing right now and this is not normal as this should never happen. Things will never be the same no matter how hard one tries as there may always be a next time. Memories and experiences that will last with you forever and can never be forgotten.
Over 100 years later the scarred landscape shows the horrors that took place.
Many years ago whilst living in the UK I used to drag my family out on a regular basis driving around Northern France exploring the area and cuisine. Unfortunately this region was known more for it's battles in the First World War with every town name having some significance regarding a skirmish. The landscape is littered with memorials and grave sites which tell you the scale of devastation that happened all those years ago.
I think what stood out for me was the Poppy fields and didn't know the significance until I returned home and did some research. Poppies are everywhere whether it is in hedge rows or complete fields of them as far as your eye can see. The odd thing is they are not being farmed but are perennials that magically appear year after year. It seems very little of the landscape was left untouched as poppy fields are in their abundance throughout the region. One would imagine the farmers are growing them to sell for Remembrance Day, but no these are natural events not being farmed.
After doing some research I found that these Poppy flowers lie dormant in the soil and are only germinated under the right conditions. The soil needs to be disturbed and nitrogen from the shells that blew them into the sunlight helped them blossom into what we see today. War had disturbed the dormant seeds into life replacing the scars of war with beauty adding a reminder of the horrors that took place over a century ago. This is a natural phenomenon and not something created by man which mkae sthis even more remarkable. The Poppy fields are that large one could imagine that they had to have been planted by man as they are everywhere.
Vimy Ridge was an eye opener for my family as the grave crosses never ended, same story at Flanders Field where the Battle of Passendale took place in 3 separate time periods during World War 1 where estimates have the death toll at over 700 000. Not surprisingly the Poppies are known for their abundance in this part of the world as nothing was left standing as trees and bushes were blown to pieces. The soil was turned over like a giant plough time and time again as heavy shelling tore into the landscape.
6 years ago I visited Normandy and knowing the Poppy story and how they come about I couldn't help noticing these flowers were randomly everywhere. Others would just notice the beauty not understanding the significance of what had taken place in that spot. The hedgerows were known for fierce fighting during the D Day landings and this is where the poppies were now blooming. Every flower could tell a different story.
The Poppy is significant as it is now the symbol of Remembrance and rightly so as it makes no one forget. A Doctor in the First World War by the name of John McCrae first noticed the importance of the Poppy as these flowers were now growing besides the newly dug graves. The grave digging had disturbed the soil and like the shells had disturbed the seeds bringing them into the light to flourish. He wrote a poem as he was so moved at what he was now seeing happen before his eyes.
The Poppy fields that bloom every year are in stark contrast to what took place and it is like nature is trying to heal the past yet reminding you of what had taken place. The sheer beauty of what you see with poppies blowing in the wind is the complete opposite of what others saw being involved in a horrific conflict of life and death. Nature is so powerful and why whatever happens will reclaim and repair what we have destroyed.