2016 Holidays

As anyone who has followed this post, for any time, knows at this time of year I try to post something other than stories about Vietnam memorials. It just seems incongruent to write about the loss of so many at this particular season of joy and renewal.

So, I have been thinking about what to share this year.

I visited Ireland in the fall and these are a few of the more interesting pics I was able to take.

An ancient Irish High Cross. Most of these were destroyed by Oliver Cromwell and his troops who used them for target practice. I have seen these before but never with this detail and color. It seems the originals, which depict Bible scenes, etc, were highly colorized by the builders.

This is an Ogham stone. Note the carved slashed on the edges, this is an example of what is often called Tree Writing as the slashes come off a center line. the Ogham alphabet at 25 letters and these stones were a type of message board, sometimes marking boundaries.

This stands just on the edge of Stephens Green in Dublin. It commemorates those lost in the Irish Famine.There is currently a movement to stop using the term famine, because famine connotes that this tragedy was an act of nature, it was not. There was NO famine in Ireland. There was a potato blight and millions of people dies or fled Ireland, half the population was lost, but it was completely man made. All the crops, other than the potatoes were taken and shipped to England. The Irish were left with only the potatoes, and they were destroyed by the blight, hence the starvation. In an effort to unsanitize this treachery, the movement to call it what it was, has emerged.

This a Dolmen, thought to be a burial facility, and they are scattered all across Ireland. Ions ago, it would have been a completely covered in stone. It is believed that over the centuries the missing stones were carried away for other purposes.

And, finally, the Molly Malone statue in Dublin. The Irish have a quick sense of humor and they have a propensity for calling things by other names. I have seen another statue of a water sprite in flowing water which has been renamed by the locals as The Floozy in the Jacuzzi, well, so too this the famous Molly, renamed the Tart with the Cart. It is also customary to flip a coin into her ample cleavage for luck. Ah, the Irish!

So, that's it for today. I hope to have a special greeting up on the 24th, so if you have a minute at this hectic time of the year, plaese check back.

Otherwise, have a most joyous and peaceful hoiday however you choose to celebrate it.

If you are brand new to this site, click on a state name at the left to see Vietnam memorials from any state in the union and check back often as new ones are posted every 5th day at 9:00am.