THE WAR AT ELEVEN

The Western Front…the dividing line where German and the Central Powers armies fought the British and French (and later, American) troops.

 It was the 11th hour, the 11th day, the 11th month…1918....the gunfire was silenced as an agreement was reached between Germany and the Allies…. The “War to End All Wars” was over.

15 million deaths and 20 million wounded ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history. WWI culled the potential from a generation and changed the map of the world forever.



VERDUN

The sheer number of battlefield dead was staggering…turn around and look at some of the numbers...

Somme …57,000 British soldiers killed in one day….Marne … 500,000 dead…..Ypres where poison gas was first used….over 250,000 dead at the battle of Verdun. Allied dead at Gallipoli number 43,000…..Our Marines experienced what was, at that time, the bloodiest days in its history at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood.

Somme

 It was a charnel house. It was fought with great technological advances in firepower without corresponding advances in mobility…it was fought with aerial attacks, submarines, poisonous gas, machine guns, and heavy artillery....and it was fought soldier to soldier from terrible trenches.   The technology was 20th century but the tactics came from the 1800’s with results that were shattering.

This was ARMISTICE DAY…so while we now honor ALL veterans …let us pause and remember where this day began…

IN FLANDERS FIELDS


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,              
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

 – Lt.-Col. John McCrae ( died of pneumonia on January 28, 1918 )

RUNNING IN THE GREEN FLASH

"Ever gazed upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?"

"I reckon I've seen my fair share. Happens on rare occasion; the last glimpse of sunset, a green flash shoots up into the sky!"
"Some go their whole lives without ever seeing it. Some claim to have seen it who ain't. …and the green flash happens at sunset, not sunrise."
       ........ Pirates of the Caribbean

 

"Green flash" is the term given to rare optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset or before sunrise. It is a green spot visible for a short period of time above the sun, or a green ray shoots up from the sunset point.

It is usually seen over a low distant horizon, such as that of the ocean or a prairie, when the sky is clear. It occurs primarily because the atmosphere acts like a weak prism, refracting sunlight and separating it into different colors. The green color lasts from a fraction of a second to two seconds.


I live in Florida. On any given early evening one can walk along the beach and see groups of people just stop dead in their tracks, turn their faces west and await the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico….except if you stop and talk to them about the glory of sunsets they will just look at you quizzically.

 "We’re watching for the green flash," they will say through luminous smiles.


Or they will not look at you at all saying, "Waiting for the green flash,"


"SHUSH….GREEN FLASH!”


They are frozen in time, surrounded by a sky that is ablaze in corals and reds, and yellows and pinks…. quietly waiting for that miraculous moment…. a tiny flash of green just at the horizon.


When I first had the idea for this entry I was going to speak of the Green Flash as a metaphor for life....Noble thoughts about the misguided who await short fleeting moments of perfection while overlooking all the life and lives around them….like the beach people who never saw the wonderful sunsets while they watched for a green glimmer that rarely occurred…..

And, I…. of course…. was one of the BETTER beach people …. there for the perfection of the sunset….not an elusive, 2 seconds OR LESS, of green light.


But then, my 36 year old middle son, Reece, ran 100 miles….on one of the toughest courses in the United States, had never done it before, and ran it well…completing it 6 ½ hours under the 36 hour time allotment.

 He did this despite my protestations that he could injure himself, do internal organ damage, or just DIE!   I was NOT an enthusiastic supporter of this goal..In my opinion he was pursuing 2 seconds of green flash…a fleeting…illusive moment in time..


But he DID it!   And.... as I was getting up at all hours of the night to check the computer for updates from his crew as he ran this ultra marathon, I realized I had to turn around… and see Reece with new eyes…

 What is it like INSIDE the green flash?


My son was willing to take some risk. He wasn’t careless. … But what he did was not without the potential for failure. There is a difference in people who live in the GREEN FLASH. ….

Inside the Green Flash the two risks that stop us all in our tracks, the fear of failure and the fear of ridicule, do not exist. …it is recognized when internal thoughts or MOTHERS are limiting success.


Inside the green flash is the motivation to learn, grow and improve.


What is also gained is exposure to new people, thoughts, ideas, practices, philosophies, and opportunities.

Achieving goals hones strengths which, in turn, aids in adapting to new changes and opportunities quickly.


The truth is that nothing is ever achieved in life unless you dare to believe that something inside you is bigger than the circumstances you face.




Reece & Jeremy


 A goal is an invitation to take a journey. That journey travels inward to face hard realities. Inside the green flash the enemy is only within.


Accepting the invitation requires courage and requires acting in spite of fear (or MOTHER).

We were created to achieve. We all have very unique gifts, talents, and hidden resources.
The decision is to do the work….. to decide to make the journey….to go through the struggle...and it is PERSONAL... 

The triumph is in taking the journey. And the taking of that journey can be life changing.




Reece and Jeremy crossing the finish line!



Success is about what you do with the talent you have. Inside the green flash is the love of the battle, the challenge, the journey.


Inside the green flash is the knowledge that you did the best you could to become the best you could be.

Light continues to travel…it does not stop just because someone is not seeing it.


" 'Over the edge'...Ah, it's driving me over the bloomin' edge. Sunrises don't set"               
 Pirates of the Caribbean