Sunday, June 21, 2009

A Little Musical History


We were having a lazy afternoon in the cool air conditioning down here where it's about 100 deg. and the same humidity outside. It was a nice time for watching a little TV, reading email and magazines and talking to our children on the phone. Then something happened that took over our plans. I read an email from our good friends, Jerry and Dee Thomas, that challenged a group of friends to name selections of the best songs from various decades. Jerry T. is known for his creation of favorites cds. So, of course, we had to be a part of this group effort. And the deadline for submission was Sunday, June 21 -- today! And, did I mention that these selections would be one per couple, per decade?

Why not? This is history, right? That's our mode right now. And we both love music!
So we got started by looking through our own cd collection to see if the years were listed on our our favorite albums. Before we knew it we firing up the Internet. It was dueling computers on about six internet sites each, speakers turned up to outblast each other. After all, we had to really remember how good each song sounded. It was hysterical. Music does evoke a variety of responses from two compatible individuals. "How could you say that one was even worth mentioning?" "I never even heard that song before." Not to mention the various disagreements about artists in general.

But soon we decided that it would be impossible to choose one song from each decade, even if that was one of the six rules that Jerry T. gave us. And we also decided that Jerry would choose the 1950s and I (Nancy) would choose the 1980s. Also, we agreed to leave out certain artists that we knew the other person did not care for at all. It was interesting to say the least, agreeing on the 60s and 70s. After all, can you just imagine that I had to eliminate The Beach Boys and The Beatles !?!

When all was said and done, we came up with the songs below:

1950s: "Hey Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley
1960s: #1 - "Solitary Man" by Neil Diamond
#2 - "Fortunate Son" by John Fogerty
1970s: #1 - "Up Around the Bend" by Creedance Clearwater Revival
#2 - "Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin
1980s: #1 - "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner
#2 - "Sarah's Smile" by Hall and Oates
1990s: "Good Man, Good Woman" by Delbert McClinton and Bonnie Raitt
And, just because he can, Jerry has an all time selection: "Strokin" by Clarence Carter

It's amazing, considering both of our music interests, that we didn't have The Allman Brothers or B. B. King on our final list. There's just too much gooooood stuff. For instance, I think that "The Rose" by Janis Joplin (or Bette Midler) ranks up there on the top, just for the lyrics.

But anyway, what about it, you guys? Do you think you have better picks? Would you be able to decide on one for each decade? Let's see what your favorites are. I'll post the results in a few days. Just click on the comments button below and give me your selections.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Our Tennessee Home – Stones River National Battlefield

The “Magical History Tour of 2009” brought us north another 200 miles to our Tennessee volunteering destination, the Stones River National Battlefield, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. We arrived about ten days ago and are settled into our home for the next two months. Our parking spot is in the driveway of one of the houses next to the national cemetery, with 6,000 very quiet neighbors. Actually it is a superb spot! We are near the Visitors Center where we “work,” and we have a shady location. Our volunteer job is digitizing the photo collection for the museum. With 1200 photos under our belt, we are well into the project already. We'll keep you posted on developments as we learn more.

What else has been going on? The first weekend here in the battlefield we heard multiple viewpoints from soldiers and civilians as they described the Battle of Stones River and other Civil War events in Murfreesboro. They shared vivid descriptions of life for the local residents as the war approached and during occupation by the troops. We heard from the boys in blue and in gray who were in the horrendous battle at Stones River. They related their own regiments' experiences on Dec. 31, 1862, January 1 and 2, 1863. I can't say enough about all of these actors. They were all so great at activating our imaginations. They painted a clear picture of the emotions felt by an elderly southern widow trying to survive, a young black woman fleeing slavery, the town merchant dealing with new laws for selling goods, a Yankee doctor running the army hospital setup at the local college and a loyal young woman resentful of Union soldiers.
As well, the soldiers made us see the details of the battle as it hit them, their friends falling next to them as they were bombarded by ear-shattering cannon fire and dodging bullets running through an open field. Then we witnessed cannons firing with our own ears, although only one shot at a time, rather than 50 or 60 at once.


And to finish the day, we journeyed into 1895, visiting with families in the cemetery as they shared letters from their fallen friends and sons. All of us in the group walking through the Stones River National Cemetery had adopted our own soldier to memorialize. We all were given a dossier . Our soldier was Elijah Waller, private, 29th Indiana Infantry, from Angola, Indiana, who was killed on July 10, 1863, in Tullahoma, TN, after surviving the Stones River Battle. We found his grave and paused for a few moments to thank him for his sacrifice.


Sunday, June 7, 2009

Tracking George in Georgia

During our travels through Georgia we decided to concentrate on family --- dead ones, that is! You see, Jerry's great grandad, George Begle, was in the Civil War. He was a soldier in the 91st Indiana Infantry from 1862 to 1865. We knew from his military records that among other battles, his regiment participated in the "Siege of Atlanta," May-Sept, 1864. We was shot in the left leg with a minie ball resulting in the amputation of his leg at the knee. This took place at the battle of Utoy Creek on August 3, 1864, just outside Atlanta. So, if we were going to take our "history tour" to Georgia, it had to include a look inside this episode in the life of the man Jerry has nicknamed, "Peg-Leg Begle."

On the western edge of Atlanta flows Utoy Creek. We located this historical marker on the side of Cascade Avenue in Fulton County, within a heavily developed residential area.


The terrain has changed somewhat. But just imagine for a minute: George was a wagoner, or teamster. He would have been driving a team and wagon with ammunition and supplies through dense woods filled with outcroppings of stone while trying to avoid artillery and rifle fire. The Union troops were trying to take over the stronghold of the train supply lines leading to and from Atlanta. Eventually, we all know that the Union army did take Atlanta and points east.

Stepping just a few weeks further back in time, on June 22- 27, 1864, George's regiment and the entire Army of the Cumberland to which he was attached, was involved in the Kennasaw Mountain Battle near Marietta, about 20 miles north of Atlanta. There is a National Battlefield Park on the mountain where this bloody conflict occurred, so we made that our last history stop in Georgia.


Fortunately, the day we chose to visit there was an encampment of re-enactors in the park. These Confederate soldiers did a nice job of taking us back to 1864. We learned first hand from the soldiers about the rigors of their lives, how they used their weapons, and the stories of the Kennasaw Mountain battle. They fired their muskets and demonstrated bayonet usage. The color guard displayed the regiment's battle flag for us.

One unique presentation was by the bugler. He related to us the role of the bugler in each movement of the troops, from the time they awoke, assembled, marched, fought and rested. There are 150 different bugle calls used to relay the officers' commands. And the bugler is always at the side of the officer. The calls used for these commands were the same for Union or Confederate troops. It was interesting to hear his story of how buglers created a special call for their own regiment to sound before each command to try to avoid the confusion that happened on the battlefield.


As the name depicts, the battlefield is basically on a mountain. So part of our tour was the ride to the top. The canon placements on strategic precipices going up the mountain make it clear how difficult it would have been to take the entrenched Confederates. It rained steadily on them for a week. But both Federals and Confederates bombarded each other day and night. By the end, the Union forces withdrew and this was a victory for Confederate General Johnston's forces.

At the conclusion of the presentation the flag bearer carried out the Stars and Stripes and everyone stood. The soldier ended by stating that the reason every soldier fought, regardless of their loyalty, was for 'freedom', that which we all enjoy today in this country. After all the explanations and disagreements about the reason for the Civil War, I think he said it best.