I was previously aware of, but had forgotten the ‘Yet another made-up thing’™ known as ‘The month of the military child’. Not disparaging the concept as a concept, but I typically file these month-long ‘things’ in the dark recesses of my memory, only seeing the light of day when called upon by some external query. Filed somewhere between “National Cat Day” (a thing), and Zombie Awareness Month (also apparently a thing…), I was only reminded of the Military Child thing when Mom noted that it was apropos that I had sketched a dandelion earlier this week.
Thus this explanation, from militarybratsinc.org:
The Dandelion was chosen in 1998 as the “Official Flower of the Military Brat” during a discussion on the Internet Newsgroup alt.culture.military-brats. It was voted on and adopted on the Military Brats Registry. During the thread, Anne Manning Booher suggested the dandelion:
How about the dandelion? The plant puts down roots almost anywhere. It is almost impossible to get rid of. It is entirely useable except for the little puffball thingy. An unpretentious plant, yet good looking (except for the habit of being where you least expect it.) It’s a survivor in a broad range of climates. And even where those who are so inclined would apply poisons, they have to do it one plant at a time season after season. This just illustrates my motto which is “bloom where you’re planted”
So after this revelation, I noticed that one patch of dandelions which had been 3 or 4 bunches strong when we arrived a week or so ago has exploded, now covering some hundred square feet or more:
Blooming where planted. What we on our little Torch team are here to do, in order to prep the ground for all the guys coming behind us. Life in quarantine continues, albeit with a bit more involvement than quarantines past, due to the advent of digital everything. Simulcasting a remote meeting from over 5,400 miles away, conducted over a cellular network WiFi puck, from the computer we’re signed into, over to the TV in the room, at 2030hrs (because timezones…) would have been unheard of 10 years ago. Yet here we are.
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