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The Day After
Jun. 7th, 2009 08:11 amIt is now June 7. Yesterday, a goodly number of people from many different places, including some who were actively involved in the incident, commemorated the 65th anniversary of one of those events which is known, going into it, will be remembered in History regardless of the outcome.
And most Saturdays recently, I've been not getting on-line. Might be deliberate, might not; haven't thought about that much. Still, no post from me yesterday about the date. And then, this morning while enjoying our oh so fabulous (NOT) old, rural North Central Baja Jorja telephone system dial-up connection, I see that a ton of friends posted a lot of photos yesterday, one means, manner, or other.
Damn, I love dial-up.
I also ran across one post where someone enjoyed the rising of the full moon. On several levels this really appealed to me. One of those levels is I enjoyed the same thing, immensely.
Herself and I went over to HorseRena to help a friend celebrate the graduation from High School of her son. Bit party, everyone had a great time. Barbecue meats for those that ingest such, potato salad, macaroni salad, excellent cole slaw, fresh fruits, cheeses, and Graduation Cake. Oh, and the Chocolate Fountain. ::nods::
Volleyball setups, and Slip'n'Slide which some of those folk take very, very seriously. One of the Graduates (two celebrations in one, they are or were classmates and friends and both familys are active in Herself's SCA group there) is touted as the Champion of this event, fairly commonly getting 23 metre/75 foot slides. So they made a 30 metre/100 foot slide...
And as it got dark, set up one of these new marketed free-standing 'firepits', where one builds the fire in a bronze or copper basin on a stand...
And I sat and watched the moon rise. Didn't bring a tripod, did bring the Point & Shoot camera, and made some photographs of the moon behind clouds. So did a young lady there, and she's been very politely asking me lots of questions about photography to learn more. She's some education in art overall, drawing and painting, now stretching into photography. Quite good, too. She was smart enough to bring a tripod for her Point & Shoot, eh?
Here's the thing, and why it's related to the Day. That big event, 65 years ago? One of the primary conditions the planners thereof, and the same considerations those who planned to defend against the previous planners thereof took into account, is the Full Moon. Dwight Eisenhower and the Allied command staff wanted and needed a night of low tide and full moon for the Invasion of Europe. The Germans figured the Allies would go for a night of full moon, but high tide. And so coupled with other things which the Allies did to help discombobulate the Germans, the confusion worked and the Germans experienced much surprise both about the when and where of D-Day.
I know someone, personally, who lived through being present there on Omaha Beach, on D-Day. Don't know how much longer he's got on this mortal coil. I do know him, and I know how events on that day and shortly after shaped his future life and professional career.
And I thought about him, watching that moon rise. And about the 10,000 plus others who went ashore or parachuted or glided into battle that day who did not live through the experience. And I thought about the numbers who waited for those people to come, and resisted them, and did not live through the experience. Who found the end of their days on this mortal coil there, then, in Normandy, France.
On the morning of Wednesday, June 7 with a beachhead established the outcome, while much less in doubt, remained undetermined and fiercely contested. Today we know the outcome. Today, there in Normandy, people who did live through the experience and from both sides stand on that hallowed ground to remember, and to heal old wounds.
To Absent Friends.
And most Saturdays recently, I've been not getting on-line. Might be deliberate, might not; haven't thought about that much. Still, no post from me yesterday about the date. And then, this morning while enjoying our oh so fabulous (NOT) old, rural North Central Baja Jorja telephone system dial-up connection, I see that a ton of friends posted a lot of photos yesterday, one means, manner, or other.
Damn, I love dial-up.
I also ran across one post where someone enjoyed the rising of the full moon. On several levels this really appealed to me. One of those levels is I enjoyed the same thing, immensely.
Herself and I went over to HorseRena to help a friend celebrate the graduation from High School of her son. Bit party, everyone had a great time. Barbecue meats for those that ingest such, potato salad, macaroni salad, excellent cole slaw, fresh fruits, cheeses, and Graduation Cake. Oh, and the Chocolate Fountain. ::nods::
Volleyball setups, and Slip'n'Slide which some of those folk take very, very seriously. One of the Graduates (two celebrations in one, they are or were classmates and friends and both familys are active in Herself's SCA group there) is touted as the Champion of this event, fairly commonly getting 23 metre/75 foot slides. So they made a 30 metre/100 foot slide...
And as it got dark, set up one of these new marketed free-standing 'firepits', where one builds the fire in a bronze or copper basin on a stand...
And I sat and watched the moon rise. Didn't bring a tripod, did bring the Point & Shoot camera, and made some photographs of the moon behind clouds. So did a young lady there, and she's been very politely asking me lots of questions about photography to learn more. She's some education in art overall, drawing and painting, now stretching into photography. Quite good, too. She was smart enough to bring a tripod for her Point & Shoot, eh?
Here's the thing, and why it's related to the Day. That big event, 65 years ago? One of the primary conditions the planners thereof, and the same considerations those who planned to defend against the previous planners thereof took into account, is the Full Moon. Dwight Eisenhower and the Allied command staff wanted and needed a night of low tide and full moon for the Invasion of Europe. The Germans figured the Allies would go for a night of full moon, but high tide. And so coupled with other things which the Allies did to help discombobulate the Germans, the confusion worked and the Germans experienced much surprise both about the when and where of D-Day.
I know someone, personally, who lived through being present there on Omaha Beach, on D-Day. Don't know how much longer he's got on this mortal coil. I do know him, and I know how events on that day and shortly after shaped his future life and professional career.
And I thought about him, watching that moon rise. And about the 10,000 plus others who went ashore or parachuted or glided into battle that day who did not live through the experience. And I thought about the numbers who waited for those people to come, and resisted them, and did not live through the experience. Who found the end of their days on this mortal coil there, then, in Normandy, France.
On the morning of Wednesday, June 7 with a beachhead established the outcome, while much less in doubt, remained undetermined and fiercely contested. Today we know the outcome. Today, there in Normandy, people who did live through the experience and from both sides stand on that hallowed ground to remember, and to heal old wounds.
To Absent Friends.
