Gettysburg

If you want a historical or education field trip and find yourself heading to Gettysburg, these places are definitely on my list of places worth visiting:

1. Gettysburg Diorama - If you like miniatures, you will LOVE this. If you need to see the large picture or no little about the Battle of Gettysburg, this exhibit not only explains it very well, but brings the little details to life.

Loved the spreaded cotton balls for the smoke...from a distance it looked very realistic!

Not only did they have canyons in the fields, they also had soldiers
(from both sides) taking down fences.
A true but sad fact.

2. Gettysburg National Park - a tour Yes. You can drive yourself around and look at a book and look at monuments, but here's some of the special things you're learn with a tour guide.

This is one of the US regiments that fought the 26th NC Regiment. (We hired a personal tour guide rather than deal with the lift on the tour bus, and he pointed out some extra things for us.) Almost everyone in this regiment were school teachers.

After the war, vets from both sides returned to the site and showed exactly where their units had camped and fought. As a result, most regiments have foot markers in each corner of the square where they fought. US regiments also have their own monuments, as opposed to the South, who only have State monuments. This is the far left corner of North Carolina's marker.

Bobby's great-grandpa had six older brothers who fought in the war. Three of them never came home. One died in Gettysburg, fighting with the 26th North Carolina Regiment. From the marker showed earlier, his regiment had to climb over three such fences while fighting. (In other words, they crossed through three different farms trying to conquer their assigned area.)  I look at an area that is so pristine and beautiful, and find it heart-breaking that it was one of many scenes of devastation.

This marker shows how far the 26th came (you can't even see the first fence or the NC camp site/monument from here).  As most of the Confederate soldiers were buried in mass graves with no names or markers, our tour guide said this field (between the fence and marker) is most likely where Needham Bryan is buried, (basing it on the fact he died July 3rd, which is the day they crossed the last fence). 

"Ten paces"  - that's how far the men had to go when the cannons opened fire.  I walked to the stone wall, "the high water mark" and it was more than ten steps for me. Although, I imagine if I were running in attack mode and in fear of my life, it might be less than 10 paces.

Bobby looking across the field on our "take our time" trip the 2nd day.

One of the areas where soldiers tore up farm fencing to add to rock fences as ways of making barricades.

Our tour guide gave us the stories behind many of the monuments, but this one was one of my favorite. A PA regiment was standing near a tree during the battle, when a cannon ball hit the tree, causing part of it to fall, along with a nest of baby birds. The men stopped fighting, and put the nest and the baby birds back in the tree before resuming the fight. This monument for that regiment illustrates that story, as well as showing the regiment crest, backpack, rifle, and ammunition box. We did see one or two other tree statues, but this one looked fairly realistic and truly captured the humanity of a group of boys in the middle of a very trying time. New York's regiments also had incredible monuments, especially the ones from the group of engineers or firefighters.

3. Dwight D Eisenhower farm

and for #4 and 5, pics will come tomorrow
4. Christ Church  - Sat night presentation of civil war music and poems
5. Wax museum of Presidents and replicas of First Ladies' gowns to the inaugural ball 

my inner liberal child

I'm very conservative in many things.  I have a lot of ultra-conservative friends. But the older I get, I find my eyebrows wrinkling and my inner child saying "Huh?" when I hear/read comments on current events.

For instance: "the President is on vacation when..."
My uber conservative friends who show nothing but disdain and disrespect for our current President were complaining on social media yesterday how the President, even though he gave a press conference and met with his aides, was on vacation after the beheading of an American journalist. I'm really not sure what they expected him to do. He's already made a decision on what our country's position will be (airstrikes and weapons deals only), has talked with the family, is getting briefed daily (at least), and received multiple phone calls from allies all over the world about the situation. We're already bombing and will continue to do so. I'm not sure what more canceling the family's vacation right before school starts would accomplish.
On the other hand, liberals are actually complaining about him playing golf instead of heading to Ferguson, MO.  They want him to handle the unrest there. Personally, if I were the secret service, I'd be dead set against taking him there. What could be worse than trying to protect the President (or your own skin) in the midst of an angry, belligerent mob who throws urine and bombs on people after spray painting "the only good cop is a dead cop" on walls?  Um, no. That's not exactly the crowd you want to usher the President into, especially not one who has received more death threats than any other sitting President.


Or fundraising.  The whole ice bucket challenge thing has bombarded my Facebook feeds all summer long. The first time I saw it was raising money for a fire station, then for a drug rehab facility, then a group of people stating their charity, then ALS, then it seemed people started doing it just because everyone else was without realizing there was a REASON behind the insanity, and then the media started showing it and talking about the fundraising aspects of it, then people who did it without knowing how it worked realized "Oops! We're supposed to be giving money to this group if we do this" and then the backlash of "ooohh you can't give to that group because they support this or that" started, with the follow-up knee-jerk reaction "I didn't know. I don't support this group or this viewpoint or sand turtles or ..."  (Okay, no one has mentioned sand turtles, but you get the picture.)  Besides the hilarity of all the knee jerk reactions to an hilariously insane way to raise money, is the bizarre reality that people will attempt to alienate groups (almost always medical research groups) that are actually doing some very good things?  Do I support stem cell research? Not in most forms.  But the reality is, I do use information and either I, a family member, or close friends, have been benefited from groups that do (the Miami project, Christopher Reeves Foundation, Susan G. Koman, etc). Almost any medical foundation that is working to eradicate life-altering situations support stem cell research. While I don't agree with their positions on everything, they do offer real life advice and support on things that impact my day-to-day life, and that is something all these Christian groups who are pointing their fingers and shrilly screaming "They kill babies" are NOT doing. They say they are pro-life, but they are doing very little, if anything, to make the life people ARE living more bearable. I've yet to hear of any pro-life groups offering grants for adapted vans or providing wheelchairs or ramps or on-going medical services for people whose lives are impacted for the better by many of these organizations.  And if it were their child, parent, or spouse, who had the potential to have a better or healed life because a frozen stem cell was not thrown away but was instead used in a science experiment that could change their life forever, would they accept it?  The sacrifice is/was already made. It was made when a couple decided to try scientific methods and froze embryos at a chance to have a child. Those extra embryos (they always created them in batches as it often takes multiple attempts) only last so many years, and then are thrown away. It's a sad, sordid mess where there aren't a lot of black or white positions, but mainly grey.  And people who point figures and "take the high road" aren't having to travel the roads full of potholes and heartache that impact the very ones trying to get off those roads in the first place.

and my last rant (for today) is the arming of local police. I have many good friends from high school, from churches, and from my extended family who are police officers. I've witnessed the bruises, cuts and black eyes they get from interrupting a fight, a domestic dispute, or a gang fight. I do read the newspaper and watch the local news. While we only see/hear of a minor meth lab exploding during a raid and think of drugs and its dealers, the reality is, there was a father, a son, a brother, a church member, a youth worker, who was in that uniform knocking on the door that night.  Had that lab exploded a little more to the left or the right, they would be in a burn unit or dead instead of helping their child with homework, taking care of their widowed, arthritic-bound Mom, or teaching a teen Sunday school class this weekend. And that "routine" traffic stop where he pulled someone over to tell them their brake lights had a short in them? (never knowing the woman had a mental illness and was reaching for her gun to shoot the cop as the voices were telling her but stopped short because she thought he looked familiar and upon seeing his badge realized he was related to a pastor...true story) Maybe I'm selfish, but if having riot gear gives my family and friends an extra layer of protection when facing a mob of anarchists, I want them to have it. If having a military rifle, a helicopter, and an army tank will provide them a little more insight, protection, and safety during that drug raid, I want them to have it. After all, the drug dealers have them and are not afraid of using them. And while I don't have family or friends who are school resource officers, I do have a lot of friends and family members who teach in the public schools. And on the high school level, student violence is BAD, and sometimes is drug related. I have no problem with teachers or school resource officers being armed. Are there officers who overstep their bounds and need training in conflict resolution?  Of course. But denying safety to every policeman or officer because of a few crazies is like saying because a few mentally ill people are a threat to society then all of them should be locked up.  It simply doesn't make sense.

And if that makes me a "blazing liberal", so be it. It's what I think and how I feel.

new territory

After our robbery last summer, I finally got in gear at the beginning of winter and started finalizing the process of learning more about self-defense. The more I learn, the more I realize there is to learn. But the biggest surprises have been the discovery that many of my pre-conceived ideas are wrong.

Idea #1: Small guns are better.
Whenever I envisioned myself as a gun owner, I always thought I'd have the tiniest gun possible. Boy was I wrong! The day I had some introductory lessons with a friend, I kept eyeing the smallest handgun they had (which in my opinion still wasn't small), and when I finally got to hold it and learn to shoot it, I absolutely hated it. HATED it. It felt awkward in my hand, I was scared of dropping it or shooting myself, my fingers more than swallowed all the safety feature buttons, and I felt myself becoming apprehensive. When my friend handed me her personal handgun later, I thought I'd hate it even more because it was SO big, but the instant it hit my palm, it felt right. As I've researched different brands and styles, I'm finding that the smaller guns are actually the least accurate in shooting. And the two times we've been to stores and looked at things, it was the larger handguns that "felt right".  Yesterday I couldn't help but laugh when a friend said, "You don't choose the gun. It chooses you."  I actually understood what she meant. Had you told me 20 years ago I'd be looking at the top 5 brands on my list, I'd have thought you were absolutely crazy.

Idea #2: It's easy to buy a gun.
I've completed paperwork, paid a fee, stood in line for 30 minutes on 2 different occasions and received paperwork that must be submitted when I purchase - to buy a gun that can only be on my property. If I carry it to a firing range, it has to be stored in a locked case in the trunk of my car until I arrive. To have a gun under the seat of my car, in the glove compartment, or on my person, I have to take an 8 hour class (which is not cheap) that includes a shooting test, pay to be fingerprinted, sign a release to have any mental records checked, fill out a three page form, pay another fee, and stand in lines at least two more times. I really don't mind all these safeguards, but to hear the media talk, I only have to walk into a shop with some money. It really doesn't work that way, at least not in NC.

Idea #3: Gun cabinets are pointless.
I've always wondered why people harped about having guns locked up. Most of the ones I've seen have glass covers so you can see the guns. (Think China cabinet, but for men) For serious collectors, I've seen the safes that are taller than me (and that cost an arm and a leg). But for something you plan to use at a moment's notice, having to get a key before you find the ammo and load seems like a waste of precious seconds. And if you've ever had to shoot at a fox or coyoted in the hen house, you know that every second counts. But as I've started thinking about safety and other issues, I realize the need for gun locks and safes. The coolest thing I've seen?  A biometric safe that only opens when the owner places their hands in the slots. It reads their fingerprints. It's not cheap, but I think if I'm going to waste money on a safe, that's the safest and easiest to use.

I told Bobby the other day that I feel like guns are a lot like fishing: everyone has their own opinion about what is best. But I have found that over and over I keep hearing experienced owners advising to get what you feel most comfortable with, because if you're not comfortable with it, you're not likely to use it, not even for practice.

If anything, I've learned reality often changes ideals. Who knows what I'll think about all this when it's all said and done. But for now, it's an interesting, and a bit intimidating, journey.

early bird lessons

It's not quite 7am.
The geese go crazy.
I finish fixing breakfast.
The dogs are going crazy.
Bobby looks outside and frowns.
"The geese are paired off," he says.
It's nesting season, not mating season.
Perhaps the flux in weather has them mixed up.
The dogs go berserk.
A fox is staring them down, right outside their pen.
I run out on the back ramp, and yell at him like before.
He ignores me, and the goose chase begins.
I run inside, grab the gun, pull out the bullet box, sending wheelchair replacement parts everywhere.
I start trying to figure out how to load the thing, calling for Bobby.
He's outside watching the chase!
I am not a happy camper.
He comes in, giving instructions and a play-by-play account of what's happening.
Directional communications has never been our strong point.
It took 5 minutes to load one stupid bullet.
I can't see through the scope.
I point in the direction of the fox and shoot.
It scares him off and everything gets quiet.
We eat breakfast.
Bobby finishes getting ready for work.
I get a lecture on gun safety.
Our geese are safe.
I've shot a real gun for the first time ever - a .22 rifle, to be more specific.
My heart is still racing.
Sitting at a computer typing and drawing boxes seems a little lame at the moment.
Go GEESE!