Dog Red Beach, June 6

Dog Red Beach, Normandy

70 years ago this morning was the Normandy Invasion; D-day.  It appears today without much fanfare, fuss and feathers, and the like.  Maybe we are getting close to our limit of war or tolerance of it and, in particular politicians who talk about the grandeur of the undertaking.  The grunt in the field probably doesn't share the enthusiasm.

I happened upon the picture (above) of a scrubby little tree in the midst of bomb craters on Dog Red Beach in Normandy. Dog Red was the name given to one sector of Omaha Beach and pretty much smack dab in the center of things. I doubt there was a tree to be seen and that got me to thinking.

The clump of trees on the right was the focal point

Trees are focal points of sorts.  They mark and decorate our property as living landmarks.  I'll meet you by the tree is a clear as a bell remark.  When Pickett charged at Gettysburg (151 years ago next month) the "target of the charge, where the line was to converge, was a group of trees on the right.  All accounts depict the trees after the battle as useless bits of splinters.

Mulling this over this morning I noted some trees on the far south of the property, up against the bay backdrop.

Their enemies have been hurricanes and  nor'easters and have survived pretty well.  In fact very well considering.  They have done so well in the elements due to their type and perhaps, just perhaps, no one dropped a bomb nearby or used them as a target. The rough and tumbles of nature were testing but not life threatening. Bombs and hot lead -  well not so good.

I think people are like trees. They do so much better when they don't grace a battlefield.