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A week ago we had a weather event which brought a bunch of the white stuff to the region. Wasn't really a whole lot, my guess is three to four inches (at least that's what I cleaned off the top of my car). It was also enough for the neighbors to break out their snowblowers.
It was also the first time that I could watch it snow and not worry about having to get up in the morning and go to work. People had told me what an awesome feeling that was. Now I know, and I most wholeheartedly concur. It's an awesome feeling.
I like snow. Being from Vermont one gets used to the idea of seeing the stuff from about November to March, sometimes April. But even we old Vermonters get tired of the stuff after a while. Not having to go work makes me tolerate it a bit more, I think.
Anyhoo, you're not seeing an historical fiction post today for two reasons, first and foremost, those posts don't generate a lot of hits, nor a lot of comments. I know some of you really enjoy them (looking at you, Joe Lovell) for others I sense a rather large "meh" factor. If it's not about Americans and if it's got weird foreign names, folks tire of it quickly. I don't, but ...
(For those of you breathing a sigh of relief that you won't have to read about Frenchmen from two centuries ago struggling in the depths of winter in Russia, don't celebrate just yet. I mean to continue that story until the end of that campaign. I live and breathe that stuff, so I write about it. For those who are missing that stuff, read that preceding sentence again. As Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over until it's over.")
And secondly, I took some photos during the aforementioned storm and hadn't really looked at them since. Today (Monday for me) I looked at them and saw this ...
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Well, when I took the photo I had a reason to do so, and yes, I'm going to belabor you with that reason. For on the Book of Faces I use the following Currier & Ives print as my cover page ...
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Here's what I saw which reminded me of the print, and which I tried to capture on my cellphone ...
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The tree, the peak of the house roof behind it, a bit different in size, but the elements are there, the quality of the light is similar, yes?
Side by side ...
When I put them beside each other, the similarities are, to me at any rate, striking. At least that's what my mind pinged on, that's why I took the photo. But there's that weird glow from the chandelier in the dining room which made me feel that the photo had been "ruined." Reexamining it, I saw the details of the chandelier (which, I must add, The Missus Herself hauled all the way from Prague to Little Rhody, via Germany of course) and thought, wow, that's kind of awesome. The warm glow of the dining room chandelier juxtaposed with the cold of a dying winter's day. Look again ...
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Or is it just me?
Well, I was fascinated by that photo (which I had written off as being "no good") which is one reason why you get no history today. Yup, wanted to write about that, so you get to read about it.
Also, The Missus Herself and I were out and about shopping for garbage disposals and decided to have dinner while we were out. In other words, we got home late-ish and I didn't really feel like doing the research necessary for the history lesson.
Which some of you apparently don't care for.
Which is why I now understand why my freshman history professor was always looking out the window at the school's clock tower during his lectures.
Not all of us are passionate about certain subjects. But for those who are, Lieutenant Marais et al, will be back.
Soon¹.
¹ Some of you will see that as a promise, some as a threat. Oh well, can't please everybody.
Interesting photos there Sarge, as to your footnote.... a promise....after all History was one of my majors at University....:)
ReplyDeleteVery good!
DeleteEven in winter, that tree is beautiful. Once all the buds go KER-LEAF, you should show it to us in all it's glory.
ReplyDeleteElsa, our eleven month old tuxie, ( twin sister of Firecracker the Enormous ) , has a bad cold. As usual, she is sacked out between P. Peaches Pussycat, and myself. She just looked at me, and with a might HONK!, blew her sinuses clear. So, washing my blanket just got added to my things to do list.
In my 63 years on this Earth, I have heard many cats sneeze, but this was the first honk
I shall have to remember to snap a photo when the tree is in full splendor. It is a lovely tree.
Delete(blinking, as opposed to Blinken, in innocent confusion) Hey! Whaddid I do??? Just because I happen to believe that the actions and technology of the past inexorably shaped our present, and that no matter what century people in certain positions or conditions stay pretty much the same, and that you happen to capture the essence of that human trait, no need to point fingers!
ReplyDeleteI like the composition of that photo. Artistic like. An intentional juxtaposition of human and nature.
Snow. That's something you drive to and play in. As a native of Coastal California, and excepting about 3 years in Clearlake Oaks which is in the Coastal Ranges, lived my entire life in Coastal California, snow is something I have rarely seen actually happen. I can count the number of times on the fingers of both hands and still hold a shot glass. Driven in it, I think, 3 times.
You are marked by your consistency and your contributions to the study of history. Guilty as charged I would say.
DeleteLUSH lives about an hour west of Fresno. They can make that drive then continue on up to Sequoia National Park to see snow. Which they've done a few times.
Sarge,
ReplyDeleteI like the first picture. Clicked on the internet icon on my iPad, my homepage came up ( giving you your first Texas hit of the day of course) and thought “ Oh goody, is Sarge taking a shot at SciFi”. Alien space ships and Death rays! Can’t see how that fits in to Napoleon's Russia campaign. Should be an interesting twist to the story”
Well, I was half asleep.
As to lack of commenting it’s an excellent story and I am looking forward to reading it in a one, maybe two, night binge. Easier to keep the who’s doing what to whom straight in my mind. Not a criticism, just the way I like to read stories like this.
In other words, “Keep up the good work and ‘git ‘er done and published” so I can add to your retirement income!
Cheers
juvat
Sorry, second picture. Coffe hasn’t kicked in yet!
Deletejuvat
Oh, and you might want to change your copyright notice to 2012-2025. Just so nobody can steal your stories.
Deletejuvat
Juvat #1 - No one expects you to be fully awake at that hour. Heck, I'm not, but I consider 0800 to be the "crack of dawn."
DeleteJuvat #2 - Commenting before the caffeine hits the brain? What were you thinking?
DeleteJuvat #3 - Good idea on the copyright notice, 'tis done.
DeleteI vote for the alien ships and death rays in the retreat from Moscow!
DeleteNow that would be a twist!
DeleteKind of a Napoleonic version of "Cowboys and Aliens." A movie I liked very much but Mrs. Andrew did not. Sigh.
DeleteOdd that, I thoroughly enjoyed that one!
DeleteI haven't been commenting lately, but I certainly appreciate the history lessons disguised as entertainment. I suppose you deserve some time off pursuing garbage disposals and eating...occasionally.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally one must eat, and perhaps shop for garbage disposals. 😉
DeleteI don’t comment much at all but I love your fiction and look forward to it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ron.
DeleteIt is just amazing to me how the fat and saltwater we have in our cranium works. You keyed in on a familiar sight. Had to record it. Wow.... Very cool.
ReplyDeleteI thought so too. My brain triggers on things like that. Like I tell people, we humans are supposed to be good at pattern recognition. Well, some aren't, like certain voters.
DeleteSarge, I have had the same sort of event, where I took a picture and the unexpected showed up in it due to "modern life" - windows, lights, etc. - and it completely transformed the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI for one enjoy all of the history - which, partially, explains why I had to do something entirely different for a living: History does not pay well.
"Which is why I now understand why my freshman history professor was always looking out the window at the school's clock tower during his lectures" - Me, almost every time I start to bring up history in general conversation.
History is my passion, however, one must have something to pay the bills and stock the larder. History as a profession just doesn't pay all that well. Unless one is an exceptional writer, there are a few out there.
DeletePlease keep writing. I enjoy your serial stories, and am looking forward to your World War II (the working title escapes me at the moment) novel being published. I will buy it, for sure. I recommended your WWII series to my wife. She and I both read lots of historical novels along the ilk of Andrew Wareham and the like. Some of these series are 14 books long, but we follow them.
ReplyDeletePlease don't give up publishing your stories. I read your blog every day, and am always happy to see a new episode published.
Thanks for taking the time to entertain us.
And, by the way, being able to sit by the wood heater with a cup of hot tea watching it snow . or sleet, or rain, and deciding to NOT go out in it is great.
I did not mean to publish as Anonymous, but I am not able to use my Gargle Account for some reason.
Ed Brown
edtheham@gmail.com
Many thanks, Ed. I shall get that novel published eventually! (Gargle has been messing with many people as of late, not sure why.)
DeleteSnow & winter, even into April... I worked for guy in Bemidji Minnesota & his thing about snow was to use the lawn tractor/snowblower on all the snow until Mother's Day, snow after Mother's Day he let melt on it's own... Snow after Mother's Day .... I moved!
ReplyDeleteSnow after Mothers Day, yeah, that's just too much!
DeleteSorry for not commenting on your historical posts. I am a great fan of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series and I read your stories about the French side of the equation with great interest. They've all been excellent reads (too short--but that leaves me wanting the next installment), engrossing and my professional side appalled at how logistics (or the lack thereof) can bring even the most brilliant plans to naught. Winter warfare is hard enough without the extra burden of no regular rations (we normally get extra rations when operating in winter/arctic operations) and improper clothing (those Napoleonic uniforms look great on parade--but provide minimal protection in -20ºC conditions)--and the footwear would have even been worse considering the only way one replaced one's boots at that time was to take a "better" pair off a dead enemy or comrade with the same or almost the same foot size.
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine marching through snow, ice, and mud with leather shoes. Poorly made ones at that!
DeleteI never liked Hx, still don't, (too dry, n' takes a lot of effort to make the connections n' I hate watching it being repeated constantly; came to the conclusion a long time ago that people just don't learn from their mistakes) but I do enjoy well-written fiction (yours)
ReplyDeletemany moons ago. I taught skiing in western Mass; absolutely loved driving thru/on the slippery sh.. (uh) stuff; cold temps never bothered me (just dress properly); when the AF sent me out to GF, ND for a tour, I couldn't thank 'em enuf; no hills though.
Now that I'm stuck down here on the west coast of Flawreeduh, do I miss the white sh.. (uh) stuff: you betcha! OTOH, there are compensations
BTW: the whole point of being retired is you get more/enough time to write (assuming the Muse is kicking you in the right spot)
So much that is written by professional historians is dry as the sand in the Sahara, it's no wonder that many cannot abide it!
DeleteI saw the first photo and spent a few second trying to figure it out, intentional with a deep message, an accidental quirk, or whatever. I see the later side by side comparison and agree they are very similar, albeit with many evolved differences over time.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly a fellow history addict, I love all your stories and don't feel a need to comment on each (eagerly awaited) installment.
John Blackshoe.
I know you're there. I can sense it!
DeleteWell, next time you know to go outside to take the photo. A very remarkable photo it is, so close to the C&I version. Well done.
ReplyDeleteIf I had gone outside the angle would have been wrong, the light may have changed, so I fired at will.
DeleteWell, you do what you like. It is your blog. People will read or not, but you are happy and that is what matters.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many people might have taken your chandelier photo (people smarter than me), erased the lights and tried to pass it off as a giant UFO in the sky over your city?
And after looking at the comments, I saw I was not the first to think of it.
I agree with you. Not having to get up to be somewhere is very nice. Even if it makes it hard to get up when you do have to be somewhere.
You all be safe and God bless.
That is the drawback. I need to get up early Saturday to meet some very good friends for breakfast. That makes it worth the getting up early. Besides which, I can always take a nap in the afternoon!
DeleteNaps are a blessing!
DeleteOnce a month on a Saturday, my son and I get up early and he drives me to a flea market to meet very good friends. We met them before my husband passed. Hers passed last year. The meetings are all the more necessary now. The hugs much appreciated.
Be safe and God bless.
Thanks, Linda. May the Good Lord keep you safe and happy.
DeleteAnother daily reader who appreciates your historical fiction, but doesn't comment.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ralph!
DeleteI enjoy your fiction and read every post. I seldom comment as I can't think of anything that adds to the discussion.
ReplyDeleteLike JB above, I know I can count on you, WSF.
DeleteSpeaking of names, I forced myself to read "War and Peace" while on my '88 WESTPAC... The names were the biggest problem, so many characters, absent for chapters pop up having the same first or last name as someone you just read about. Forget about Ivanovitch v.s Ivanovanavitch, close enough, Piter, Pyter, Peter. I do like that timeframe. I saw posted somewhere at the lab where I work, a graph representation of Napoleon's army from start of campaign to end of retreat. Found it. https://ageofrevolution.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Minard.jpg
ReplyDeleteSarge, I must admit, I fell behind on some of your stories, so that I have to search back to my last read, makes it so I skip some new ones. I do keep you on my daily read list. "And comments, I've made a few. But then again, too few to mention".
I've seen you in these spaces enough to remember you well. I read War and Peace once, it suffers from the malady common to so many Russian novels, it drags in spots. When Tolstoy went off on his rant about Napoléonb being the Antichrist near the end, I put it down, never to revisit. (Who knows, maybe I'll try again, never say never, "they" say.)
DeleteSeeing how we don't pay for our visits here, I don't think you have to worry about the numbers.
ReplyDeleteI do like the Currier and Ives photo you took, I'm just glad I don't have to live in it.
On another note, sorry for the late comment. I am still unable to comment from my desktop or not top. Only my phone. Troubleshooting has failed me.
*or laptop
DeleteIt's an ego thing with me.
DeleteGoogle seems to be messing with you, have you tried logging off of Google and logging back on? Powering the computer off, then back on? Without actually being able to muck with your computer, I'm at a loss for solutions.
DeleteThanks. I'll try that again- work desktop reboots/logs me off regularly.
DeleteYour work machine may have certain protections in place to prevent you from enjoying yourself at work. 🙄
DeleteTest. If you see this, it worked.
ReplyDeleteIt works!
DeleteHurrah!
DeleteHome and work computers?
DeleteHmm, I forgot to check at home last night. I think it must have been something with a Chrome or other NMCI update as I didn't do anything here at work. Most of my chanting is here at work anyway (don't tell H e g s e t h). The thing is, I was able to get into blogger to do a test draft, just not for commenting.
DeleteSounds very Google or Microsoft update related.
Delete