So...
First, Six Nations Rugby at Slainte this weekend ($20/day). Sat.: Italy v. Wales 11 am, Scotland v. Ireland 1 pm. There will also be cake. Sun: England v. France 11 am. No cake.
Okay, so as some of you may be aware, I try very hard to do something fun and free on my birthday. Sometimes I even succeed. In the past, this has involved trips to the Botanical Garden in DC, various Smithsonians (yeah, one year the one I picked was closed; went to the mall at the Nat'l Press Club instead; $150 necklace - sometimes I fail). This year, since I'm going to be watching rugby on my birthday (GO WALES!) and the weather was still nice Monday, I drove out to Sharpsburg, MD. I had been putting off a trip to Antietam for some time (since I bought my car, really), because (and I know this sounds weird), dead people LIKE me (no, I don't see them, just kind of feel them) and 23,000 people died at Antietam. Given my reaction to Dachau (which is why I will NEVER go to Auschwitz; Dachau wasn't even a death camp) and to DRIVING BY the Manassas battle field on the way to Nissan Pavilion, I wasn't expecting the trip to be fun. Still, it wasn't too bad. I think there were several reasons for that:
1. The battlefield is quite large and spread out. (The worst moment of the day was in the cornfield, where much of the early carnage occurred.)
2. The dead are buried somewhat away from the areas of the battlefield where most of them died. (Vs. people's ashes still in the crematoria at Dachau, for example.)
3. I know enough of the battle tactics that I was able to distract myself by admiring the defensive attributes of the Sunken Road (aka, Bloodly Lane).
4. The one relative (distant) who I know was there didn't die there. He died at Ft Wagner in 1863. Leading the 54th MA regiment. You may recognize him as Matthew Broderick in Glory. (And no, he didn't volunteer to lead that charge - they were ordered, despite being the most exhausted unit onsite. damned racists in the union army. um, right. sorry.)
5. Most of the battle field remains in agricultural use. I kid you not. there were cattle grazing among the cannons. And they still plant corn in the Cornfield, which has to be the freakiest thing EVER come September.
5a. New roads and paths have been paved in parts of the battle field, which cuts it into smaller sections. It's way better than the pristine white gravel at Dachau (I felt like blood was going to well up between the stones there with every step I took.)
6. Because it's so out of the way, what few people were there, were there for the right reasons - to learn, to honor the sacrifices made there, etc. No buses of high school kids that couldn't care less, no concert goers, etc.
7. I had taken my Ritalin, which was not the case at Dachau or on the highway past Bull Run. (Also, I didn't realize that Nissan was anywhere near Bull Run, so I was kind of taken by surprise.)
8. Matthew Brady's photos demonstrated the carnage far better than any spirit could impose on a living being.
9. Maybe because the Union claimed it as a victory and I sympathize with the North's cause? (vs. northern debacles at Bull Run and yeah, I don't know anyone who sympathizes with the Nazis, tho' I know such nitwits exist)
Anyway, at least some spirits are definitely still there. You can feel them (or I can), especially in the Cornfield, as mentioned above. I couldn't get more than 25 yards along that trail before I recognized that discretion would be the better part of valor there. The Bloody Lane is covered with grass and (grey) gravel, but oddly sanitized. There's an observation tower at one end from which one can see much of the battle field.
At Gettysburg, I purposely didn't have enough time to walk the battle field, just see the visitor's center (before the refit) and find my Great-Uncle Justin's name on the DAR memorial (he died in WWII). I was too chicken to even think of walking a battle field that well known for its ghosts. Plus, I'm not certain that all my other ancestors/relatives that fought in the war (and there were plenty - all from the North) actually lived through it. I'd rather not meet great-great-great-uncle somebody-or-other quite that way, thanks.
Anyway. Applying for jobs in MA. Back to working on the dissertation (vis.: anything but cleaning and packing!!)
Okay, so as some of you may be aware, I try very hard to do something fun and free on my birthday. Sometimes I even succeed. In the past, this has involved trips to the Botanical Garden in DC, various Smithsonians (yeah, one year the one I picked was closed; went to the mall at the Nat'l Press Club instead; $150 necklace - sometimes I fail). This year, since I'm going to be watching rugby on my birthday (GO WALES!) and the weather was still nice Monday, I drove out to Sharpsburg, MD. I had been putting off a trip to Antietam for some time (since I bought my car, really), because (and I know this sounds weird), dead people LIKE me (no, I don't see them, just kind of feel them) and 23,000 people died at Antietam. Given my reaction to Dachau (which is why I will NEVER go to Auschwitz; Dachau wasn't even a death camp) and to DRIVING BY the Manassas battle field on the way to Nissan Pavilion, I wasn't expecting the trip to be fun. Still, it wasn't too bad. I think there were several reasons for that:
1. The battlefield is quite large and spread out. (The worst moment of the day was in the cornfield, where much of the early carnage occurred.)
2. The dead are buried somewhat away from the areas of the battlefield where most of them died. (Vs. people's ashes still in the crematoria at Dachau, for example.)
3. I know enough of the battle tactics that I was able to distract myself by admiring the defensive attributes of the Sunken Road (aka, Bloodly Lane).
4. The one relative (distant) who I know was there didn't die there. He died at Ft Wagner in 1863. Leading the 54th MA regiment. You may recognize him as Matthew Broderick in Glory. (And no, he didn't volunteer to lead that charge - they were ordered, despite being the most exhausted unit onsite. damned racists in the union army. um, right. sorry.)
5. Most of the battle field remains in agricultural use. I kid you not. there were cattle grazing among the cannons. And they still plant corn in the Cornfield, which has to be the freakiest thing EVER come September.
5a. New roads and paths have been paved in parts of the battle field, which cuts it into smaller sections. It's way better than the pristine white gravel at Dachau (I felt like blood was going to well up between the stones there with every step I took.)
6. Because it's so out of the way, what few people were there, were there for the right reasons - to learn, to honor the sacrifices made there, etc. No buses of high school kids that couldn't care less, no concert goers, etc.
7. I had taken my Ritalin, which was not the case at Dachau or on the highway past Bull Run. (Also, I didn't realize that Nissan was anywhere near Bull Run, so I was kind of taken by surprise.)
8. Matthew Brady's photos demonstrated the carnage far better than any spirit could impose on a living being.
9. Maybe because the Union claimed it as a victory and I sympathize with the North's cause? (vs. northern debacles at Bull Run and yeah, I don't know anyone who sympathizes with the Nazis, tho' I know such nitwits exist)
Anyway, at least some spirits are definitely still there. You can feel them (or I can), especially in the Cornfield, as mentioned above. I couldn't get more than 25 yards along that trail before I recognized that discretion would be the better part of valor there. The Bloody Lane is covered with grass and (grey) gravel, but oddly sanitized. There's an observation tower at one end from which one can see much of the battle field.
At Gettysburg, I purposely didn't have enough time to walk the battle field, just see the visitor's center (before the refit) and find my Great-Uncle Justin's name on the DAR memorial (he died in WWII). I was too chicken to even think of walking a battle field that well known for its ghosts. Plus, I'm not certain that all my other ancestors/relatives that fought in the war (and there were plenty - all from the North) actually lived through it. I'd rather not meet great-great-great-uncle somebody-or-other quite that way, thanks.
Anyway. Applying for jobs in MA. Back to working on the dissertation (vis.: anything but cleaning and packing!!)