The Horned Poppy is a relatively scarce shingle beach-loving plant to be found almost exclusively in coastal areas. I found this particular example still flowering on Loe Bar, Cornwall in mid-October. It’s a close relative of the more familiar red Common Poppy that grows in national significance as we move into the month of November and, with Remembrance Day almost upon us, it’s vitally important to start thinking about what we’re supposed to be remembering….
We have basic freedoms of speech and freedoms of movement today only because of the sacrifices that our parents and grandparents made on our behalf during a war of unimaginable suffering. Yet it’s so easy to take it all for granted and with so many of a brand new generation of young people not even aware that the likes of Churchill or Hitler ever existed, it’s more important than ever to remind everyone that the self-indulgent, complacent, trivial, commodity-driven but oppression-free lifestyles we tend to relish so much these days are possible only because of the price paid by others over the decades who definitely weren’t so fortunate.
Just as importantly, we must remember the men and women of all our armed forces in whatever harrowing corner of an unforgiving world they happen to be and who will continue, even as I type this piece, to protect what they believe to be our most fundamental and worthwhile social values. Forget the self-serving politicians (whatever the party….they’re all the same) and the politics to which they subscribe….The ordinary Bootneck or Squadie doesn’t understand or care about insidious political motives….or the men and women who advocate them. They care most about the soldier or civilian standing or cowering right there next to them, up to their sorry necks in the mud and the blood as desperate sanity collides with blind reason! They care too about their families and friends back home who they need to know will always love them and they care that in some small way (a way that will never be entirely clear to them) they might make a difference….for the good of us all! BazBaz….full name, Barry the Buzzard, lives not far from me, inside a 10sq km area with lots of other Buzzards dotted around and I’ve been studying them all for quite a few years now. Unfortunately, it’s one survey that I wont detail on this website because there are still a few individuals in the Cotswolds who continue to harbour somewhat medieval attitudes towards Buzzards and I’m not about to compromise the safety of the birds I’ve come to know quite well!
