"Do I feel sorry for you? No I do not. There are people way worse off than you."

 

To those around me I have been a bear.

Spring has been rough on me for some reason. I could opine all of the reasons why but ... quite frankly, they don't matter. The final nail in Spring's coffin was yesterday I received formal notice that I wasn't selected for an opportunity I had been working towards and hoping for. This is the fifth straight letter in as many years and I suppose that has been weighing on me. I keep asking myself how many times do I apply before I become 'that guy'.

There is a line from a Milton sonnet which says, "I fondly (read that as 'foolishly') ask/ but Patience, to prevent that murmer/" My "Patience" moment came this morning as my son, who has borne the brunt of my growly-bearness reminded me that he loved me as he got out of the car this morning. We say that to each other most mornings but that he wanted to say it me this morning reminded me that I'm a blessed man. Blessed with a wife who is not feeling well but still lets me rant. Sons and daughters who love me despite a shockingly long list of failings. I'm blessed I get to do what I love every day. I have friends who have comiserated at what really is a minor loss in the scheme of themes.

Patience also reared its ugly head in class today. I am writing bios for the students I'll be taking to DC next week. They've earned the right to perform on Ford's Theater's stage and I couldn't be prouder of them and my class as a whole. One of the student's selections is the Gettysburg Address. I've stood on that battlefield and I've stood in that cemetery and that reminder humbled me. The other student is reciting Lou Gehrig's Luckiest Man speech. I've experienced a minor professional setback, but still get to 'play ball'. I listened to both speeches again and I felt embarassed at how hard I am taking the disappointments of the last few weeks.

I kept thinking of a moment in West Wing between the president and his secretary. He's had a bad few weeks as well and Mrs. Landingham reminds him that he needs to get over it.

Thanks for the reminder Mrs. Landingham.

Dedicating bloodsoaked sod

 

This is the pew Lincoln sat in while attending a service on the evening after the address. It is also the church Ike attended when he lived in Gettysburg. There is a plaque showing where Vice President Nixon sat while visiting his former boss. There is something odd about Nixon having sat just feet from where Lincoln did. Two years later, I'm still wrapping my brain around it.

This is the Will's House. Its where Lincoln stayed while in Gettysburg.

The statue of "War" on the Soldier's National Monument at Gettysburg National Cemetery

"History" on the Soldier's National Monument. The other corner statues are "Peace" and "Plenty".

The first two unmarked graves. They are within paces of where Lincoln geve his 'dedication'. The named grave stones are connected together, forming semi-circles around the  Soldier's National Memorial. There are two types of unmarked graves. Some are individual, like the ones above. There are, however, mass grave makers which read 'unknown' and the number of bodies. Several of them had penny's all over them. (Lincoln side up.)




"We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place." One of the things which hits the kids is that this dedication is not just in a pretty garden like most cemeteries. This dedication is on actual site of the battle. Men would have fought and died for the very ground Lincoln and his listeners would have stood on. This battle marker is feet from where Lincoln delivered the address and the center of controvery then and now about Lee's command to Ewell about taking the hill 'if at all practicable.' That hill (some argue it was Culp' Hill to the east) was where the national cemtery will be located.

In addition to meeting our Ford's Theater teaching artist today (YEAH JOJO!), we have been unpacking the Gettysburg Address. YEsterday we took a look at the first sentence. Today we looked at the section starting, "Now, we are engaged in a great civil war..." to "...it is altogether fitting and proper we should do this." Tomorrow we will tackle the rest. Their insights on the speech have been cool. They've noticed that he frames the speech in past present and future. They've noticed that the words dedication and nation are repeated (three times so far). One even noticed that there are no proper nouns in the piece. They are also wrestling with writing the sections in either a tweet or a haiku.
I have blathered on about how much I love the Gettysburg Address on this blog before. I am inspired even teaching it. I love it when they get 'stirred' by it as well!

In honor of all things Gettysburg I wanted to post a couple websites.

This one gives a nice analysis of the speech.

This one is Ford's Theater. I loves me my Ford's Theater.

The photos on this post are mine, except for the one of the interior of the Ford's Theater box. A buddy, James, scored that one and forwarded it to me. He cajoled the Ford's Theater folks until they opened the box for him.

 

 

 



"Lord of the Flies meets Federalist One"

Source: National Archives

I'm getting ready for Student Council and my classes this morning. We should get to Gettysburg today and I decided to take a trip down memory lane. The links below are my posts while in Gettysburg. A couple years out, you forget how profound a moment in time is. I'm really glad I captured these. To anyone reading this, you need to go to Gettysburg and take in the battlefield as well as the cemetery and the town. I can't full explain it, but I think I can explain better my sense of who I am as a citizen better having spent a week there.

Gettysburg and 'history as art' (July 18, 2011)

Gettysburg National Cemetery (July 21, 2011)

Have a great day...

1863--Pardon a Turkey or deliver the Address?

 

Souce: National Archives

On November 26, 1863, America celebrated its first thanksgiving as a nation.
Granted, Thanksgivings were commemorated for nearly 250 years before that and on that Thursday in '63 we were still emmeshed in a Civil War. But ... Lincoln's Proclamation on October 3, 1863 set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficient Father who dwelleth in the Heavens". Prior to that, each state set when to observe the holiday. An editor from Godey's Lady Book had been lobbying presidents for almost 20 years for a national holiday and it was Lincoln who complied.
FDR would formally move the holiday up one week in 1939 in a attempt to spur Christmas sales. 1939 would end up with two Thanksgiving days as a result. If Lincoln would have set that day, Thanksgiving would have fallen on the Thursday he delivered the Gettysburg Address! Just thought that was interesting to note.
Above is the first page of Lincoln's proclamation, below, the final two pages. It is commonly accepted that Secretary of State Seward penned the proclamation for Lincoln's signature.

Note: the title is a little deceptive since the proclamation was issued on October 3 and Lincoln's invitation to speak at Gettysburg probably came later (the first Lincoln mentions his plans to attend the event at Gettysburg is October 30). Take it as a writer's perogotive...but it got you to read the blog, didn't it?