"Lest we forget"

25th April is the day on which Australians and New Zealanders celebrate the lives of men and women who have served their countries (and, originally, The Crown).  For many of us, it is also a day to recall the horror stories we've heard from our parents, uncles and aunts, friends and grandparents.  I do this, consciously, also to remind me how lucky I am to have not had to live anywhere near war, either in time or place.  I cannot imagine what it would be like, so I use today as the next best thing.

My mother-in-law lives in a very large war veterans' village (several hundred residences) on Sydney's Northern Beaches.  I dropped in to deliver something today and saw these knitted poppies planted in the grass in various locations around "The Dugout", a communal space where residents, friends and families can buy food and drink.  There's also a small cinema, chapel, bowling green, putt-putt golf, full size snooker tables (and no slot machines).

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.