Summer has come to Northern Virginia! Though we are still
having some beautiful weather on days like today, there are also clear
foreshadowings of the oppressive humidity that is to come. Along with
the summer weather we are also enjoying lots of bugs, significantly more
commemorative events for the Civil War in the near future, and NOT
BEING IN SCHOOL! For the past six years summer has meant little
different than any other season in terms of my schedule, but this year I
once again experienced that feeling of blessed relief that only summer
break from school can bring.
I have continued to
enjoy a variety of projects and opportunities at work in the last few
weeks. Memorial Day weekend this year marked, not only the unofficial
beginning of summer, but also my 29th birthday and the concert on the
west lawn of the US Capitol. Even though I am no longer working on the
National Mall, because I am still in the National Capitol Region I was
able to work the Memorial Day concert and get paid a little overtime.
Alison came along and attended the rehearsal on Saturday, which went
very well. As it turns out it is good she came to the rehearsal, because
the actual concert on Sunday ended up being cut short because of a huge
thunderstorm heading for the capitol. It was quite a sight to see the
entire audience and all the performers evacuate. I was truly amazed how
many capitol police officers showed up from wherever they were hiding to
help facilitate it. As the evacuation was about to take effect I passed
within a few feet of Chris Daughtry and Selma Blair and a little before
it ended Colin Powell walked right in front of me to get into his car.
So I got a pretty good dose of "celebrity" sightings before running from
the rain and thunder myself. I arrived back at my truck just as the
storm was hitting. It couldn't have been any closer!
This
past Thursday I spent the day speaking to eighth graders about the Park
Service at career day at a local middle school. I put together a
powerpoint presentation highlighting the different types of positions
with the park service and many of the more interesting and unique things
I have gotten to do in the four jobs I have had. I had a lot of fun
putting it together and enjoyed the actual presentation as well. It was a
great opportunity to tie my experience together and tangibly represent
to others why I love my job. I was one of around 20 different options
the kids could choose to learn more about and I ended of giving
the presentation 12 times to different groups of kids. Many of them
were squirrely eighth graders, but I had several that were genuinely
interested and asked good questions. One boy in particular was quite
interested and engaged. In my mind it was worth going just for him!
In
the past month several anniversaries of elements of the Peninsula and
Valley Campaigns have occurred and I have helped to write accounts of
different elements of the story that have appeared on many of the
different park facebook pages. The one I am most excited about will post
this Monday, June 18, and will actually show up, not at one of the
battlefields, but on the Shenandoah National Park webpage.
I
had the idea of including the stories of "Stonewall" Jackson's movement
of troops through the Blue Ridge Mountains as a part of the larger
story of the war and presented a plan of doing so to the chief of
interpretation at Shenandoah. After I described what I wanted to do, he
signed on to the idea, and I put it together. What I wrote will go up on
their website and facebook page on Monday. It was a fun way to use my
former knowledge, experience, and connections to accomplish something
new.
We put the finishing touches on the magazine I have
been working on for the past few months and actually got the physical
copies in hand on Friday morning. It turned out well overall. This
magazine will be out in all the parks in the region and available for
visitors to pick up to learn more information about both the history of
what happened 150 years ago and about events that are occurring
now. Though I am not officially an author, I did help edit each of the
articles you will find inside and I was the primary designer of the
finished product.
Work
has also provided an opportunity to enjoy a family of groundhogs who
has taken residency under the house I work out of. These are some of my
favorite pictures.
More can be found in an album I posted a few days ago.
Alison
and I have officially been married for five months. It has gone rather
quickly thus far, and we are continuing to enjoy the many blessings of
our new life together, and adjusting to all that it means. We now have a
plethora of pictures related to the wedding on our wall including a
recent addition of a drawing my sister Callie did of one of
our engagement pictures. It is definitely feeling like a home. :)
In
addition to my trips to cover anniversary events at Civil War
battlefields our hope is to enjoy a few short camping trips this summer
and then take a drive up to New England in October to see the fall
colors and to visit four of the five states I have not been to (leaving
only Alaska outstanding).
The Adventure continues!
