Pictures from Yesterday

This picture was difficult to take and it doesn't give you much of an idea of what the full Confederate uniform looks like, but I hope to take other better pictures later. Hopefully I'll get someone to take some pictures of training. I'll have a musket with me then and the pictures will be outdoors so they should look better.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon writing plans for the day camp that is coming up in a few weeks. Today I'm exploring 'Old Town Petersburg'. Going in the little shops and antique stores. There are a lot of pretty old buildings. I'd also like to head up to City Point to see that part of the park. I may have to wait until tomorrow for that. I've heard that there's going to be a cannon demonstration at the park tomorrow. So I think I'm going to go and unofficially shadow whoever is doing the demonstration.

I am seceding

I am currently engaged in picking out my reenactment uniform for blackpowder training on Monday. I have decided that I'm going to dress as a Confederate soldier. The Confederate uniforms are remakably similar to the Union uniforms. Both are going to be really hot even at 9am because its going to be about 85 degrees and the uniform pants and jackets are all wool. The shirts are linen, and inaddition I'll be wearing about 5 - 10 punds of leather (belt, haversack, and ammunition pouch). To top it all off I have a gray wool forage cap. I may lose about 5lbs just during training.  

Visiting the Eagles

This morning the group that we were waiting for showed up about an hour after we thought they were going to. The group was larger than most (about 43 kids) and all of them were between the ages of 6 and 11. We did a few activities with them inside the education building and it was good for me to see the activities. I hesitate to say it, but I'm pretty sure I can improve on Leslie's delivery when I try it. The best thing about that group was that due to their late arrival Leslie had to leave to go to a doctor's appointment. I was left to take the entire group (thankfully with chaperones) on a hike to see the eagle's nest. We walked about half of a mile in the brutal heat, and along the way I was asked nearly two dozen questions about the cannons we saw along the way. "Why'd they turn green?" "Why's that one green and that one not?" "Are we gonna get to fire one?" We also talked about the wildlife in the area a bit. As we aproached the tree with the nest in it, almost as if on cue the kids saw one of the eagles, which had been circling over head, swoop and fly straight toward us. It easily swerved between the trunks of the giant pines and pulled up and away from us when it was about 40yrds away. I gave a good tour, but the birds made it great.

I happily tromped around the woods a bit after the group left trying to find good spots for a GPS searching game I'm going to try on the older kids. I feel like I've actually had a sucessful day.

I couldn't get a good picture of the eagles but this is their nest.
The estimate I heard was that its between 8 and 10 feet acorss

  

Pizza and a Movie

I have to slightly revise my previous statement. The most interesting thing that has happened today is that in about 30min movie night is going to happen. Someone on staff was evidently recently heckled for not having seen Ferris Bueller and we're having pizza and a movie to correct the situation. Good end to a mediocre day.

Day spent in the office...

I hate to say that today has been boring thus far, but it has. The group that I thought was coming today is actually coming tomorrow. My supervisor accidentally told me the weong date.There's not much for me to do except keep writting plans for activities that we'll hopefully use during the four day camp in July.

I did get to have breakfast with the several of the staff  this morning. Evidently its a Wednesday tradition to go to breakfast at Denny's. A lot of the things they talked about went right over my head. I'm still trying to figure out how everything works here.

One of those things that I learned this morning is that it is not allowable to wear crewneck shirts under a park uniform shirt. I didn't think this would be a big deal. I looked it up and was supprised to find that there is an actual rule on the matter. So far this has been my big revelation of the day. As I said, not very exciting.

Cannons

Like most battlefields there are cannons everywhere in Petersburg. These I found last night while biking. They mark a Union defensive position. I learned today that I'll be attending the 'Black Powder Training' next Monday. After that I'll be approved to assist in firing the cannon during reenactments.

Most of my work today was to begin developing a four-day program for kids, which we will be offering from July 12th - July 15th. The program slots are already full and my supervisor tells me that this can be what ever I want it to be. We're going to Jamestown on an archeological field-trip one of the days. I've begun pulling things together for some of the other days as well. This program may end up being my internship project as well.

I did get outside the office a little today when Leslie and I checked on the stream levels in preparation for camps. When the kids get here we'll be taking them exploring in the creek, much like the PUCS creek walk. On our way there we saw the park's resident bald eagles. A mating pair and three fledglings. It makes me feel like this whole experience is worth while when I can see something like that.

Tomorrow we have a small group coming for a few hours which will be fun. I'm excited to see how things actually run, after talking about the programs and reading over them at length.

Exploring

Most of my day was spent exploring and trying to find my way around the confusing set of roads that is Petersburg. The roads aren't nearly as bad as Pittsburgh's but in its own specially annoying way Petersburg has the capability to make me think I've gone directionally deficient. I spent better than an hour looking for the very cafe in which I am typing this blog entry regardless of the fact that I passed it earlier in the day. Hopefully here in a week I'll have a decent working knowledge of the Petersburg layout.

Oddly enough, I find the National Park to be much easier to navigate. I found a bike trail today that, with a pleasant 15 minutes of pedaling, will bring me to the main road through the park directly adjacent to the main education building (a converted maintenance storage facility). This is where I'll be doing most of my work. It took me an hour of exploration to find this trail. Tomorrow I'm going to try biking all the way to the visitor's center. This will, I'm guessing, increase my daily ride to about 4miles or thereabouts.

The trees that have grown up since the siege of Petersburg create a wonderful place to get lost in. The trails are terrifically lonely and wandering and open into wide and inspiring views of the battlefield and fortifications. The Five Forks area is particularly far flung away from the city. I visited there earlier today. This station was manned solely by an interpretive ranger. He conducted me through the displays with ease and knowledge that I cannot help but envy. He then, after overawing me with his grasp of the intricacies of the battle, proceeded to tell me that this station illustrated his ignorance. My supervisor told me later that he'd been volunteering and later working at the park for a long time. What I wouldn't give to have started that early. 

Much to my excitement I have heard today a rumor that there is a member of the staff who might be willing to train me to fire a muskets. More on this later...

Merlin

I discovered last night that my quaters for the summer are almost right next to the paddock for Merlin, the park's horse. He's a pretty big horse and I am determined that we will become friends. I intend to take him some carrots tonight before I go explore the park more. I also intend to learn how to ride him. I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet but will do so soon.

I recived my badge this morning, and I want to find time to find out what I can unlock with the keys I got yesterday. For now its about time for my orientation to begin. Leslie, my supervisor, says we have a really busy summer ahead.

Made It!

I made it to Petersburg, VA in just under 7 hours. I've unpacked, met my housemate (Matty), and had a brief intro to the park. My house is right on the southern edge of the battlefield and just down the street from Fort Lee military base. My real orientation begins tomorrow. I'll be having a crazy summer it seems like. Details and pictures will follow, but for now I need to find groceries and get something to eat.