The Cliff Notes version:
"Poppy" is dedicated to my dad and the veterans of ALL wars.

If you have the time...
The One:
Red Poppy - A unique singular specimen in all her glory. Precisionist oil on canvas painting by Georgia O'keefe - 1927

So, why the name "Poppy"?

The Poppy Boat: Another unique, singular specimen.


Well, it comes from a couple of elements really, the first one, kinda superficial, is just about flowers and boats -Pretty simple.

The Many:
Just a reminder that we each as "The One" are part of "The Many" - like all these poppies, and responsible for our universe.


Page two:
Then there's this other element - This patriotic, old world dominating, militaristic, empire building, American Dream Scheme. Until a year or so ago, I was proud to be a a part of all this, all before the dawning of the TRUMP ERA.

So - two steps back and here enters The American Legion / Vererans of Foreign Wars Remembrance Poppy:

The remembrance poppy was adopted at the end of "The Great War". The armistice was signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France on November 11th, 1918. Yep, we call it Veterans' Day now.

The use of the poppy was inspired by the World War I poem "In Flanders Fields". Its opening lines refer to the many poppies that were the first flowers to grow in the churned-up earth of soldiers' graves in Flanders, a region of Europe that overlies a part of Belgium. The poppy it seems flourishes in that environment.

Not that popular in the U.S. since the 1950's, the wearing of the poppy is common in the U.K. and Canada on Armistice Day and other veterans' holidays.

"In Flanders Fields" by LTC John McCrea, written on the battlefield in 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres:

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
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.


My dad, Robert A. Patrick, ETC, USN, a WW II veteran enroute to Japan March 1, 1960 aboard the USS Yorktown (CVS-10). In his later years I called him 'Poppy".



Poppy - 2009 - San Luis Obispo, CA: And I just noticed - the vase in the background - looking like it's sitting on his shoulder has... a POPPY!!


So, the PoppyBoat is a dedication to my dad and the veterans of ALL wars.

And now you know... the rest of the story. (You were reading this in Paul Harvey's voice, right?)