  Imaging and spectroscopy of the knots, clumps, and extended arcs in the
complex ejecta of VY CMa confirm a record of high mass loss events over the
past few hundred years. HST/STIS spectroscopy of numerous small knots close to
the star allow us to measure their radial velocities from the strong K I
emission and determine their separate motions, spatial orientations, and time
since ejecta. Their ages concentrate around 70, 120, 200 and 250 years ago. A K
I emission knot only 50 mas from the star ejected as recently as 1985 -- 1995
may coincide with an H2O maser. Comparison with VY CMa's historic light curve
from 1800 to the present, shows several knots with ejection times that
correspond with extended periods of variability and deep minima. The similarity
of this correspondence in VY CMa with the remarkable recent dimming of
Betelgeuse and an outflow of gas is apparent. The evidence for similar outflows
from the surface of a more typical red supergiant suggests that discrete
ejections are more common and surface or convective activity is a major source
of mass loss for red supergiants.
