Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Yes, it is my favorite holiday of the year. It's all about the three Fs for me - food, family, and football. My grandparents, aunt, uncle, and two cousins are making the trek from PA to be here for the holiday, which they do most every year now. It's been quite a while since we've gone to PA for Thanksgiving, although I wouldn't mind doing it again. The holiday will offer a nice break before the December craziness begins (more on that later). One place you won't find me this weekend is out shopping. I despise Black Friday and all that it signifies. I mean really, stores are opening and 3 am nowadays. Sorry, not for me. I hope everyone has a safe, happy, and meaningful Thanksgiving. We should all have something for which we are thankful.

Artillery School

So the artillery school that I conducted November 1-4 went off very well. It was a very long four days, especially for the instructors, but everyone had a good time and the class ran very smoothly for the most part. Sunday afternoon training on the swivel guns and 32-pounder was quick and easy. We knew Monday would be the slow day, due to the fact that it was the day we were doing most of the classroom work. It was made even slower by the fact that when we did get outside it was chilly and misty. Tuesday and Wednesday could not have been nicer though. On Tuesday we drilled all morning and fired blank rounds all afternoon. We also had a visit from our Department head and Division director, which was well-received and appreciated by all the participants. Late Tuesday was test time, which was stresful for some. Wednesday we pulled the cannons to Camp Lejeune for our live-fire exercise, which is always the highlight of this class. We had the Commanding Officer and some staff from the 10th Marines (the artillery unit at Lejeune) attend and they were very interested. I think I've finally recovered and am moving on to other things, but when you spend months planning something like this it can be very hard to move forward. Without further adieu, here are some photos.Photo of me on the artillery range Blank firing the 3-inch ordnance rifle Officers from the 10th Marines watching us shoot Rev War 3-pounder live firing Fort Fisher's 12-pounder live firing (best photo from the whole class)

A Departure from the Reading List

If you take a look at my current reading list on the right of the page, you will see a new book at the top of the list. I just received this one from History Book Club and decided to read it right away in the spirit of the season. The book is James W. Baker's Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday. Baker, a native of Plymouth, Massachusetts and Director of Research at the popular historic site, Plimoth Plantation, recounts the history of this distinctively American holiday, including how it came to be and how it has evolved. Through the first three chapters the book is very enjoyable and informative, so I'm plowing on through. As many of you will already know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday so how could I resist this book? A number of years ago I read a history of Christmas, and this book seems like a nice companion.

Update Coming Soon

My apologies for my lack of posts lately. I've spent the last week and a half either at artillery school, doing follow up work in the wake of artillery school, or playing catch up on all the stuff that didn't get done while I was at artillery school. I've also delayed posting about the school until I had some photos I could put up. I'll be receiving LOTS of photos tomorrow when I return to the office so I'll put some pics up here and tell you folks all about it!