Wintry flowers

Some long time ago, or at least a time that feels long ago, George W Bush told the world that Iran had a stash of WMDs -- weapons of mass destruction. He used that line to justify yet another war.

The year was 2003, so it was just about the time Greta Thunberg was born. How's that for a way of understanding time.

But back to 2020, this morning.

I'd walked to a nearby restaurant and met some friends for breakfast. Afterwards, because I wanted to mail a thank you card, I'd taken the long way around and stopped by the post office to send it.

Then, taking one of my short cuts home, through a yard where a house used to be (and where nothing new has been built yet), I discovered a somewhat straggly-looking bunch of wild daisies. So yes, I yanked at a few branches and brought them home.

They reminded me of an article I'd had in a newspaper nearly 17 years ago -- about the daisy as symbol for peace. It's too long to paste into this post, but here's a link to the archives of the Globe and Mail, the place where it first appeared.

As the day wore on, we learned at least that a war had seemingly been averted. But, as if in some horrid balance, we heard the terrible news that a plane had crashed, killing all 138 people on board, with 63 among them from across Canada, many from here in BC.

A sad little bouquet for a very sad day.