Things Heating Up as Fall Approaches

Things are about to get very busy. Last week the new semester started so I am back in my familiar schedule of grading assignments and answering student emails. However, everything is about to get very busy starting later this week. On the agenda this week are trips to Fort Fisher and Tryon Palace. Labor Day weekend will find me at Fort Macon for our last cannon shoot of the year. The weekend after that is my much-anticipated trek to Fort McHenry for their 195th anniversary living history program. Lori's birthday is the weekend after that and then two weeks later is Home School Day at Tryon Palace. Maybe things will slow down a bit in October, only to get cranked back up again in November. The end of the year is coming fast whether we know it or not, but hopefully I'll be able to enjoy the fall. It is my favorite time of year.

Fun at Bentonville Battlefield

I went to Bentonville Battlefield on Saturday, the trip having two purposes. First, was to assist the site with their living history program. Second, was to gather all of the 19th century instructors for the upcoming artillery certification class and go over some details. The instructors crewed Bentonville's 3-inch ordnance rifle and conducted three demonstrations for the public over the course of the day. We also talked about the upcoming course, made sure we were all on the same page in terms of how the drill will be taught, and took step-by-step photos of the misfire procedure for inclusion in a PowerPoint I am putting together. The PowerPoint will go step-by-step through the whole drill and misfire procedure for firing a 19th century artillery piece. This will be burned onto a CD and placed in every student's class materials folder. Hopefully, we will eventually do CDs for 18th century artillery and both century's small arms as well. For those that are visual learners this should be a big help. Though we endured some pretty heavy thunderstorms, we accomplished all that needed to be done and got all our demonstrations in as well. All in all, not a bad day!

Brandywine Battlefield to be Closed - Please Help!

Here's a link to the article in the Philadelphia Enquirer

Here's a link you can use to help Save Brandywine

In an update I saw yesterday, it appears that there's been a tentative agreement reached to keep the site open. Unfortunately, staff members are "volunteering" until a long-term agreement can be worked out. Please also see Eric Wittenberg's comment on this matter.

And, further updates found in this article. (8/21/09)

Odds and Ends

Haven't posted to the blog lately because there hasn't been much happening. I finally wrapped up my summer session and am now looking forward to three classes this fall (the aforementioned US History I, plus two sections of US History II at the other college). But, I'm glad to have a few weeks off to catch my breath first.

I've gotten quite a few books lately, through various sources. Without going into much detail, here's a list: Commanding Lincoln's Navy, Wars Within a War, Eagles and Empire, American Heroes, Peaceable Kingdom Lost, and Rommel: Leadership Lessons from the Desert Fox. A number of these titles were backorders and special deals from History Book Club, but a couple were also freebies that I picked up. And yes, that is a random World War II title thrown in there at the end. One of my nicknames that I've picked up over the years is "Rommel." I received it from my mates in the living history group. They aren't prepared to call me Hitler, so they took it down a step. Just because I have a highly organized and efficient German nature, doesn't make me a Nazi, but they think its funny. At any rate, I was interested in the "leadership lessons" part of this book, which is why I picked it up.

I also invested $20 in a used flatbed scanner so I could make digital reproductions of two or three boxes worth of photos from childhood, high school, college, and beyond. So far it's working well. I doubt you'll see too many of those photos here on the blog, but if you are friends with me on Facebook you will be able to see quite a few of them!

Life right now is relatively mundane, but I'll keep things fresh on here as much as I can. Things get busier the closer we get to fall, so keep checking back with me!