Day 21: Leaning Into History

I couldn't sleep past 4:10am. So now I think that sleeping outside is good for me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do about that, but I'll think on it. Maybe Val will move into a yurt.

So I got up and went for a run through the city. It was just a big loop. There was a bit more traffic than I expected, but what do I know, really?

And then--what an amazing day at Civil War Graffiti camp! We got to hear a couple of extremely knowledgeable professors and went on a really fun field study!

I know I don't know a lot about the civil war, but today I learned that I really don't know anything about the civil war, other than it was North vs. South--and that ain't even exactly right!

Some highlights from my notes:

While Walt Whitman said that "the real war will never get in the books," I wonder if he wasn't limited to the sick, wounded and dying which he attended. I wonder if there aren't many "wars" being fought in any war. There were profound differences in the North and South, or heck, how else would they come to blows? There is a significant difference between the causes of the war, which are societal, and the motivations behind a soldier's willingness to fight in that war.

There is a bunch more, but you'll have to wait until I present my stuff at school this year!

Then we went to the historic Blenheim house in Fairfax, VA. Union soldiers either camped or were hospitalized here from 1862-3. There is a bunch of information that they left here in the images scribed upon the walls, and it all provides insights into the who and what of the war in that space at that time. But it really brings up a lot more questions, too!

I didn't take the image on the right, but it is fantastic! I can see that as being the intro page to whatever format I apply this information to. Of course, the "1863" ain't too bad either, and I did do that one!