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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

November Holiday Season Begins

Veterans Day 2013.  Seems like November brings such hints of summer past and winter coming, today nice fall day temps in the 50's, sun shine, tomorrow temps down, rain, little snow but then back up.  But I also keep thinking about all the rows of white crosses scattered around the world that allows me to write, think, become educated, marry, travel, vote, have an independent opinion, create, live where I want and the list goes on and on.  I remember standing at Gettysburg Battlefields and think about what a huge waste that this war was but appreciate the issues that led to the Civil War; still as a poet once said, "how many songs were unwritten" as the result of the war.  WWII was fought to keep the world free, was a just and necessary war and I can never appreciate men coming ashore under such intense fire that many knew that they would not survive-I have always wondered if I were man enough to take on such a task.

I create decoys of ducks, shorebirds and song birds that have a history; Santa carvings are the result of stories of a man throwing coins through the windows of people living in poverty-history.  The man who lives across the hall has family history of fine cabinet making that goes back to the 1700's, the original Dunlap furniture pieces now reside in museums.  His apartment is filled with his history as all of his pieces are created in his shop in Antrim, New Hampshire and he has others in storage; the question is what happens to these pieces down the road, will the heirs respect his art.  History comes in so many forms, from family to world, we just need to take a moment and listen to what the past tells us.

So here we are, seems like a poor way to start the holiday season, with so many negative thoughts but some how Veterans Day calls for a more serious approach.  There are no pictures to post because can't seem to think of any thing appropriate.

The next post will be about my carving classes and some pictures of what I did there.  I did visit the Ward Museum in Maryland and saw a wide range of decoys-and discovered that some of mine are really not bad.  It is a day later, and some how we quickly move on to some thing else, but I hope that we can take a moment each day to give some thanks and remember those who are no longer with us.  Much Peace