On our trip to France I took a lot of pictures of town square war memorials. They’re beautiful, many dating from the first half of the 20th century with wonderful Art Nouveau and Art Deco features. We have our own monuments here , commemorating the Civil War in stolid 19th century style and everything since then on a big 1980s slab.

But luckily, bless their kooky little hearts, the Baha’i community got in on the act and planted a peace tree just a few yards from the big somber slab of Vermont granite.