The Gettysburg Battlefield in Winter (part 1)

After visiting The Mannings yesterday (blog post here) I realized that I was only 14 miles from Gettysburg.  The trip to The Mannings hadn't taken as long as I had thought it would, I hadn't been to the battlefield in forever (at least 17 years), and I had never been there in the winter.  So, instead of heading north on PA Route 15 to come home, I went south.

I found the new Visitor Center easy enough.  It is a beautiful building.  But, I was only there long enough to take this picture of the sign at the entrance and grab a map.

I've been to the Gettysburg Battlefield once in the spring and a handful of times in the summer.  Never in fall or winter.  I am not a history buff, a war buff, or a lover of anything military related (although I DO love a man in uniform but that's different). I can't really explain (nor do I have any desire to do so as they are private) my beliefs or lack thereof when it comes to religion, spirituality, ghosts, or similar topics.  

I CAN tell you that the Battle of Gettysburg occurred over the 4th of July weekend.  So, being here in the summer is more appropriate if you want to get the 'feel' of what this place would have been like (the weather, the terrain, and so on).  I can also tell you that I personally experience a very 'heavy' or somber feeling every time I am there.  I have experienced such feelings of sadness every time I have visited.  The words needed to accurately describe this place, these feelings are not in my vocabulary.  Sadness doesn't do this place justice.  

There is a somber, aching beauty here.  The sense of history, of terrible sacrifice is almost palpable.  It's one of those places that causes me to pause and reflect.  For that reason, I am not going to comment on each of the photos.  I do not know who or what most of the monuments are dedicated to.  Personally, I don't care.  Whether a statue is specifically for a particular General or Regiment or act of bravery doesn't make any difference in the total that is Gettysburg.

The Gettysburg Battlefield in winter is all that with another layer of coldness on top.  

This is the central part of the main monument for the State of New York.

The Pennsylvania Monument.  The largest on the battlefield.

Because there are so many photographs that I wanted to share, I have split this post into two parts.  Part two will be up shortly.

Animal Cannibalism

Okay, you've seen the pictures of the snow.  And more pictures of the snow.  And, finally, MORE pictures of MORE snow!  What you haven't seen are the pictures of me pulling my hair out.  Pictures of Max (the 16 year old) red-faced growling at Jake (the 5 year old) and threatening to dismember him.  Pictures of the cat sliding around the corner of the kitchen with his rear claws scratch-scratch-scratching to gain footing as he careens out of Jake's path.  Pictures of Carter (the 12 year old middle child) burrowing down in his bed (a lofty upper bunk) to play hand-held games in peace hoping that if he's quiet no one will come looking for him and force him to interact with the rest of the inmates. Pictures of the vein on (husband) Addison's neck pulsing.

What I haven't shown anyone are the pictures of CRAZY that happen when Mother Nature collides with a Wednesday.  The first snow storm happened on a Friday night through Saturday.  No problem.  Sunday was a gorgeous day for digging out and playing in the white stuff.  The kids had a two hour delay Monday morning and life went back to "normal" on Tuesday.  Apparently, we were a little cocky with that first storm.  

"Eighteen inches of snow?  Why, when I was a kid we had a blizzard that lasted for a week!  Snow drifts made it all but impossible to tell where one house ended and the next one started.  Ha!  This is nothing."

Yea, I know.  It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature.  

So everyone was home for round two on Wednesday.  The Governor shut down all the highways and declared a state of emergency for Thursday so everyone was home for that too.  School is closed today for an already scheduled In-Service Day for the teachers.  Then, we're back to the weekend--no school.  And, if that wasn't enough time for family togetherness, Monday is President's Day.  Ugh!  No school AGAIN.

If you've done the math, you know that this succession of days of no school now equals SIX.  That's six days of not dyeing anything.  Six days of not knitting anything more complex than a ribbed sock.  Six days using the computer only after threatening bodily harm or when they go outside to shovel/play.  Six days of watching Nickelodeon.  Six days of the fighting, yelling, threatening, bribing that is three boys of widely differing ages in a very small house.

Addison went to work today.

Now, I know why some animals eat their young.  They got snowed in with them.

Okay, enough with the snow already!

Let it snow. Part II (at Nana's house)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

For the Men in Your Life

I offer the following pictures for the car enthusiast in you or in your life.  Max and I went to the Harrisburg Auto Show this afternoon.  

Lamborghini Murcielargo  (this is Max's spelling cause I have no idea)

Ferrari F430 Spyder

Mercedes SLR

The classic Porsche emblem

The iconic Ford Mustang

The Chevy Camaro Transformer Edition

Customized Ford Mustang

Possibly the ugliest color at the show

This car is smiling.  I don't know why though.  It's gas mileage isn't even as good as my 2003 Chevy minivan.

Not on his life!

Some thoughts on "following" on Twitter

Possibly the coolest thing about Twitter is that you "follow" people. By word of mouth or by searching out people with the same interests, or by finding their twitter name on a list. You chose whose voices you want to hear. Or be aware of. The people you "follow" don't necessarily follow you back. In the case of the celebs with thousands (or even millions) of followers they can't possibly be reciprocating the 'follow'. Yet they are keenly aware of how far they are 'reaching' out into the Twitterverse.  They just have their own personal list of who they chose to follow.

Your list of who follows you and who you follow is all public knowledge (unless you keep that under lock and key which is your right but defeats the whole beauty of twitter and is not part of this conversation. I am speaking only about public accounts.) .as is your entire stream of tweets. So, at any time you can pull up what someone has said, who they follow and what that person has said and who they follow...

I find this fascinating. When you see someone's twitter stream you see who they are having conversations with. Who they really listen to, who in their opinion has authority. Then you see who that next person listens/talks to and on down the line.

If the people you have chosen to follow in the first place have similar interests as you well then you will quickly find yourself in an entire community of like-minded individuals. You are making the acquaintance of people you can commiserate with, learn from, grow with, who can encourage you and whom you can also cheer on.

If, like most people, you have a number of different interests you will probably find that you have a number of these different communities residing in your twitterverse.

Personally, I first went looking for other knitters.

Then the occasional musician or actor or celeb that I enjoy and was curious about.

Then, came the SAHM's (stay-at-home-moms). Then, even though I am way past having kids (ok, it's only been 5 yrs since Jake was born but I was already too old then) I seem to gravitate toward some younger women just starting out on the Mommy trip. I am sensitive to the issue of postpartum depression having suffered terribly 16 yrs ago.

Then, I love writers. I personally love mysteries and a well written romance but the genre doesn't matter. Writing is something I will never be really good at so I admire their craft the way I admire any artist working in a different medium than mine.

I have also added a number of other artists just because they are well, artists. Photographers (I have two degrees in Photography), some painters, some IT designers, some print media types. No rhyme or reason here other than they are artists who seem to have something interesting to say.

Finally, because I have become an Etsy seller I also follow a number of other individuals from there.

I almost forgot, the reality show folks. I follow a bunch of folks from SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) my favorite reality show because they work their asses off and the dancing is pure art not the simplified crap they do on Dancing with the stars. (Although a couple of SYTYCD alum are pros on that show too). Plus a few from PR (Project Runway) and Ryan Seacrest from AI (American Idol).

You would be surprised how many of the people from these different communities overlap. Like me, the people I follow also have a lot of different interests.

Nationality, religion, sex, sexual orientation, race, age. None of these things that so often divides us in the 'real world' apply here. I follow those who have interesting points of view, open minds, who speak candidly but not cruelly. I quickly 'unfollow' those who only use Twitter to sell their stuff. (I tweet about the things I list for sale but limit it to just 1 or 2 tweets per item.) I don't mind cursing so long as it is not all the time or gratuitous. Personally, fuck is one of my favorite words in the English language. I just try to use it sparingly in my tweets. I once lost followers instantaneously when I combined the words 'ass' and 'rape' in the same sentence. Oh, well. That is their prerogative and the beauty of chosing whom to follow. Or not.

So, that gives me what? Seven distinct communities that I am either a member of in some way or that I listen and pay attention to on a regular basis. They are:

The Knitters
A few musicians & actors
The Moms (young & old)
The Writers
The Artists & Craftspeople
The Etsy Sellers
The dancers, designers, and singers trying to break into their dream profession

They are me.. We are Twitter.

You can follow me @BrightEyedDyer