Last Week - One to Remember!

The first week of June proved to be a very trying week. It was busy at work and in my home life as well. In fact, the roller coaster never ended until Sunday--June 8th.

First off, I was hosting a conference for work with about 140 attendees. No small task that required endless planning and activity associated with that. I was also working to ensure the presentations were in place and ready to go on time AND acting as the on stage coordinator and part-time joke teller. The good news is the conference went very well. It was my second year and i learned a lot about how to make a conference run smoothly. So all of that happened for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Wednesday, June 4th was an especially unique day. For the conference I was hosting a social gathering at The Greene Turtle in Columbia starting at 5 PM. Severe thunderstorms blew through about 3:30 PM and took out the power, so on my way to the Turtle about 4:15, Chris called to tell me the house had been burglarized. So instead of going to the Turtle, I went home to make a police report and assess the storm damage. We lost a huge walnut tree which took out an elm and a tulip poplar tree when it fell. Although there was not damage, the pool was thoroughly trashed from all of the junk being blown off the trees. The loss in the house was not huge--it was just very disturbing that we were the first burglary in our neighborhood in many years--and we really don't know why.

Friday--was a highlight day. The weather was HOT! But I did a staff ride (as it is called) to Antietam (or Sharpsburg as the Southerners call the battle). We were sponsored by work and a historian went with us as well as two reenactors--both a federal soldier and a confederate soldier. It was a great and long day--but I learned a lot about the battle as well as the leadership styles of the various commanders, especially Lee and McClellan. We also focused upon the intelligence support that each of the commanders received. I was left with the appreciation that despite his best efforts, Gen McClellan of the North commanding the Army of the Potomac, almost ended the Civil War in 1862. For the South, Gen Lee was lucky and had good control of his forces with Gen A.P. Hill arriving from Harpers Ferry just in time to save the day, literally for the South and the Army of Northern Virginia. We went all over the battlefield and were treated to very insightful discussions and gained a much fuller appreciation of how the two opposing forces were different. I really urge everyone to take a look at this battle--which is still the bloodiest day in the history of America.

Saturday evening was also a new experience. We went to the Comedy Factory in Baltimore. We went with friends and had a good time. Some of the comedy was really funny--but some was just a routine. Either way, it was an entertaining evening and a new experience.