Today we’re going back in time to this period in 1863 — In mid-May, 1863, the American Civil War was taking an ominous turn against the Confederacy. Despite a brilliant victory by General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia against General Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville during May
How complicated can the sport of running get? For diehards, pretty darn complicated! I’ve seen magazine articles on how to train, what to eat, what to wear, even how to tie shoelaces (a subject that can be surprisingly detailed if one is seeking just the right amount of pressure on one’s metatarsal bones). But one
Ode to a Modern Warrior He came at me mercilessly with anger in his eyes. His body language made it clear it was I that he despised. He swung a club right at my head, I barely ducked the blow. The next time I wasn’t quite as quick, he really laid me low. My brain
It’s a common story in history — how the Indians sold Manhattan island for a few dollars worth of trinkets. As a history nerd who has done some traveling, I know that history is never as simple as recounted in standard history books. Therefore, a segment of the May 24, 2015 edition of The Writer’s
A final thought on this school year — The last week of actual school (the week before finals) we had a fire drill and a tornado drill. You may wonder what’s the point (as I did) but there are requirements to be met and apparently two more squares needed to be filled. I was discussing
You have heard of the Smithsonian Institution? The man who provided the money for this famous organization was one James Smithson. He is described on page 4 of the June 2014 issue of Smithsonian magazine — He studied coffeemaking, human tears and snake venom, and published 27 scientific papers. His brain, a friend said, was “fruitful
The Patriot Jerry is a patriot, he loves his country dear. He waves the flag on July 4th, he makes his feelings clear. He fancies himself vigilant, his loyalty is defined. But when it comes the time to vote, It tends to slip his mind. He thinks the world of veterans who‘ve come home from
Since I’ve been working as a substitute teacher, and for years was taking almost any job that came along, I’ve caught myself asking that question regularly. Like the time I had an afternoon job teaching high school Health. I was there a bit early, at the end of the period before I was to take
I’ve been substitute teaching for the same teacher for six of the past seven weeks. This is my last week — the last school week before finals. The seniors had their last day today. Overall they’ve been great kids and teachers do form an emotional attachment with their students. But you still have a job
This afternoon I was out spraying apple trees. Between me and my neighbor, we have five apple trees of different varieties. Mine are just maturing; hers are prolific. This looks like a good year for apples. The complication is about the time my trees matured and started bearing fruit in quantity, I realized I really