D-Day

Today in 1944 Operation Neptune commenced. Starting with the an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing. of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France starting at 6:30 am. The landings took place along a 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.

At the end of the operation the Allied had gained a foothold in Europe. This landing would eventually lead to the Surrender of Nazi Germany, the Liberation of Europe, the rescue of millions of civilians and halted the expansion of Nazi Germany. the landings involved over 156 000 combatants of the Allied Forces, and at the end of the landings there were over 12 000 casualties.

 

69 Years ago today the tide of war turned, the Allies landed and had to fight for every inch of the beaches, they fought up the beaches and into the countryside, up into the villages, and across the countryside. Nazi Germany would sign the Total and Unconditional surrender on May 7, 1945. Japan would surrender on August 15, 1945.

 

Why do I post this you may ask? This is a blog about a Redneck Pagan, who writes about religion and spirituality, Magic, Spells and sarcastic commentaries on the state of Modern Society from the odd view point and sense of humour I have. Well to be honest, it has everything to do with me.

 

You see we are here today, free and speaking English because of the bold men that jumped from the security of the ships, into the gunfire on the beaches. Had Nazi Germany been allowed to continue to expand they very well may have invaded North America, which includes my home here in Canada. Had they not been halted they would have ruthlessly cut through to our shores, to our beloved free nation. They would have stomped out any opposition, executing anybody who did not agree with their policies, or who did not meet their standard of Racial Purity.

 

I can sit here and be sarcastic, write my blog, work in the job I choose, marry whomever I want, follow the religion of my choice and go to school, because I am free. I am free because many men and women have laid down their lives to give me this great gift. I can sleep in my bed safe at night because there are people who stand between me and those that would do me and my country harm.

 

For a long long time in the days of WWII Europe was swallowed by darkness, slavery and mass murder were every day occurances. Violence, oppression and tyranny were the way of life for millions. As a species the human race sank to a level of such depravity and darkness that we had not even been able to convieve of in our deepest and most desperate nightmares. June 6, 1944 the world came together and said "NO MORE, the darkness stops here, we will push you back, we will fight and librate those you have enslaved, we will hunt you down and we will stop you".

 

That is why I honour today, and all those who took part in it, who laid their lives on the line and fought forwards, to defeat the darkness. I live in the light that they secured for me.

 

Yours Humbly

 

The Redneck Pagan

 

Original CBS broadcast of the invasion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vSpvFLpS7I

Rain Break!

Well the best laid plans of men and mice... I think most of my plans are laid by a mouse some days! The weather the last two weeks has been nice and warm and so I went outdoors and attacked our garden and yard! We cleaned up all the leaves that were buried by winter’s sudden arrival in October, pulled a ton of weeds from the flower beds and tilled the vegetable garden. It took us three hours with both of us on the job with a lawnmower apiece but we were able to get the lawn mowed before the rains settled in! And in less than a week it looks like the lawn needs it again!

We are busy running ahead with our Youth Group’s year end wrap up in early June, which will be nice. As much as I love the kids and the program it can be exhausting running the hours we do and therefore some rest and relaxation is going to be very much in order. My husband and I are planning to do lots of camping and day trips into the wilderness this summer, which will be just what the doctor ordered!

I have been busy taking lots of pictures of our trees and yard and will be sharing them as soon as I find where on earth I put the memory card this time! I know it is in a safe place... I just wish for the life of me I could remember where on earth it was that I put it! I have so many wonderful safe places at home, that I have no clue where they are!

I have also been working on scheming up some new blog topics that will be coming out over the course of the summer, along with my random pieces of information, rants and raves! Now to just find the time to sit down and continue updating everyone!

Yours Humbly

The Redneck Pagan

Magic is afoot... and so is change!

I still live, honest! And I once again have to convey an apology as I am once again not posting due to being extremely busy. We have just finished off the settling of my Mother in Law's estate, which included cleaning out her house. We are also getting ready to wrap up the training year in the youth group I belong to and that has meant that every weekend I am just at a run getting things wrapped up. We had our weekend field training last weekend, this weekend a meeting, next weekend they are cleaning up the building and grounds of our local hospice, the weekend after that they go flying, then it's our final wrap up. Somewhere sandwiched in there we are doing regular training nights, band nights and at the end of May we are lucky to have a local Holocaust Survivor coming in to give a presentation (I'll let you know how that one goes, I think it will be a great experience for the kids, even as heartbreaking as it is).

So with all of this, along with the chores of daily living, I have not been writing much. However what I lack in writing, I more than make up for in thinking (this could be trouble). I am plotting some changes to the way I work this blog. You might have noticed that most of my posts are nice essay formats. I chose that when I first started this blog in the middle of summer. Well after almost a year at it I realize that there are going to be times in my life (like now) that I may not have the time to wholly devote to the time and work of the longer article. I also found the format somewhat constricting, having to have well thought out and planned arguments... sometimes I just want to rant! Or share a story, or a picture.

Therefore with all this in mind I have come to the conclusion to tweak some things within this blog. I am adding to it. There are still going to be times when I want to write the full blown articles and will continue to do so whenever I can.  I am also going to be doing the odd things such as "Redneck Rants", when something drives me nuts I will probably write about it here and explore why I find it annoying (like kids runny loose in the supermarket, Facebook game requests, or using the cell phone while going to the bathroom). "Redneck Raves" will be the opposite, things that I absolutely love (chocolate will probably be on the list, people who inspire me, events I attend etc). "Redneck Recommends" will be books, movies and television shows I find worth watching.

Also expect a lot of garden pictures, I love taking pictures in my garden and go a little crazy. I'm also thinking of adding the odd spell, ritual or magical thing I do share some ideas and tricks I have learned along the way (like when mixing oils into clay wear gloves...). I might even ask readers to let me know what they like to read, or have them ask me questions and I will answer in a post. Hopefully this will liven things up and allow me time to explore and share my path, while keeping somewhat sane!

Hope you enjoy this new aspect of the journey with me.

Yours Humbly

The Redneck Pagan