On the Battlefield - Yorktown

It was a cold, rainy day on the battle field. Below is a panarama of the Americans breaching one of the British positions. This was inside at the National Park Service building.



The earthworks that were re-built...I think in the 1930s. These would have been the British positions.



Below is how they built the earthworks during the revolution...early version of Hesco barriers. These are kind of falling apart. They would have been filled with dirth and the covered with dirt.



"The Fox" , this is a French made cannon manning a British position. "The Fox" was the name engraved on this cannon. It could fire a cannon ball as far as a mile.



Below, are American and French positions. This is part of the Grand French Battery. This battery contained 30 pieces of artillery which bombarded the main British Defenses. The two cannon below are field guns.



Below a Mortar (front) and a Howitzer (back).



Looking down range...that house is in big trouble.



Below, the American Approach Road. This ravine protected Americans from British cannon fire as they moved up to build the main seige lines.



Yours truly "manning" one of the American cannons.



Then down in the trenches. I actually slipped in the mud while walking around and up on this Redoubt... Yes, I was almost impaled on one those logs. Would have been very interesting as one of my ancestors survived the Revolution...lost a leg, but survived the war...could you imagine that meeting in heaven..."Hi great-great-great-great-great-great-great....grandfather, I died on the Yorktown Battlefield...no there was no war...I slipped in the mud and was impaled on one of those big spikey log things."

Recreation of a Successful Virginia Farm

My favorite things about the Yorktown Victory Center were the immersion type displays.

Clearly, this turkey wasn't afraid of losing his head.



Below, a recreated, successful Virginia farm during the pre-revolution/revolution era. My ancestors were successful Virginia farmers (Not wealthy, but successful, according to documentation my family has). As I walked up to the farm, I imagined myself walking up to the S. farm.



The house was modest, single room building with a loft.



The lady of the house was de-seeding cotton... looked like quite the tedious chore.



One one side of the room was the dining/work area, on the other was the bed. If there were additional children, they probably slept above in the loft.



This "family" had a separate building that served as the kitchen.



The barn was full of drying tobacco. Looks like they had a bumper crop, the barn rafters were full.



Most households grew their own fruits and vegetables. This is the vegatable garden.

Back in March, I took five days of vacation and toured Virginia's historic triangle. On my first day, I spent a rainy day walking around the Yorktown battlefield.

Below, is the Moore House. This is where the British surrender was negotiated. Imagine, riding up the drive via carriage or on horse back.



The front door of the the Moore house.



Inside the sitting room, a recreation of how it may have looked at the time of the surrender. At the table were representatives of the British (2), French, and the Americans. The interesting fact shared by the park ranger was that the only one at the table that understood both English AND French was the American Lt.Col.



For more information on the Moore House and the articles of capitulation that were signed, check out the National Park Service's Moore House site.

The Dash and Stache Kitten Update

So I have the day off and I'm catching up on blogging, reading and writing them. I've been meaning to give you all an update on Dash and Stache, the last two of my foster kittens to be adopted this summer.

As you remember, my heart was torn, I loved those little guys. When they weren't adopted, I wasn't disappointed. However, when they weren't adopted, I was a little afraid as they got bigger and started to lose the kitten cuteness, that they wouldn't be adopted. I was baffled that no one was adopting them as they were so friendly at events, their fur was so soft and shiney and they were cute as could be. How could all those people reject my babies?

As the weeks progressed and I got more and more attached, I did what several of my friends parents did for them...kind of. I have several friends whose parents prayed for their spouse from the time they were babies...and they all were married to good, Godly men. I decided to bring in the "big guns" and pray to God for a family for Dash and Stache. I was very specific. I wanted them to have a young couple that would spoil them rotten, treat them like children and just love them up.

Prayer works. Two weeks after starting my prayer and after an evening of tearful pleading with God the night before....my prayer for Dash and Stache was answered.

The cool thing, their new mom friended me on Facebook. She gave me permission to share a couple of the pictures they posted of the boys at the beginning of Football season.

Here, the boys are sporting Ohio State sweatshirts. Yes...how cool is that, their new parents are Ohio State fans!

Stache is at the top, Dash is at the bottom.

Stache: "Hey, help me out of this sweater!"
Dash: "I can't, I think I'm paralyzed!"

This is Dash and his mom. He was very upset over a score made by the other team.

Dash: "UNBELIEVABLE! How hard can it be to tackle someone?! If the Buckeye's lose I think my short life will END!"

Below, Stache realizes that he can move...and still eat while wearing his sweater.

Stache: "Hey Dad, hand over the grub and no one gets hurt!"

I laughed and laughed at the pictures. I know they are being loved and spoiled rotten. They are adorable little guys. I also got a kick out of reading all their friends' comments on the pictures. Their parents' kept their names, Dash and Stache, and people thought those names were cool.

Their mom updated me on their first vet visit. It went well and they are healthy. Stache is going to be the big guy and was a whole pound heavier than Dash. They enjoy chasing each other up and down the stairs and entertaining their parents.

....and they lived happily ever after!

Handwriting from the past

Today, I decided to make these peanut butter and chocolate bar cookies that are quite famous in our family. You can't just eat one....

I pulled out one of my old cookbooks to get a peanut butter cookie recipe. There, written on the cover of the cookbook was a message from my grandma. Seeing her handwriting was almost like seeing a ghost. It brought a flood of memories back. Suddenly there was that desire to see and to talk to her but that isn't possible as she passed away 11 years ago. I wish the cookbook was a hardcover book. Eventually, it will fall apart. I will never get rid of that book. It would be like getting rid of a piece of my grandma.

Holy Crap! I'm 40!

This is yours truly just 9 days ago with one of my fellow volunteers at the National Museum of the Marine Corps' Birthday Ball and Volunteer appreciation ceremony.

I don't think I look like I'm 40.

O.k, technically I wasn't 40 when this picture was taken...but still, I don't think I look like I'm 40. Have no idea what I expected myself to look like at 40. I wish I were a little bit thinner - - but hey, I've always wished that even when I was in the best shape of my life. One of my goals this year is to get back into the best shape I can be. 40 just seemed like such an old age. Almost an end to things, until I started getting closer to that number.

So any way, here I am. No bells or whistles. It is what it is, just another day. Hopefully tomorrow will be another day and I'll have about 80 more years of another day because there is a lot of stuff I still want to do.

Um, like work on my 40 on 40 journal entries. I think I have 38 more to go.

Premonitions

This morning, I shot past the first exit I take to get to work. I turned around, missed the next exit I needed to take. Finally got on the toll road. Then I missed the exit I take to get off the toll road.

It was the most bizarre thing. Something that hasn't happened to me since September 11, 2001.

I met one of my co-workers in the parking lot, she was also arriving late and I told her how unsettled I felt and all the exits I had missed and the last time this had happened to me. Her response, "Jeez, I hope nothing like that happens today."

Today, as I left work I heard about the shootings at Ft. Hood.