Reading

Back in 2001, for reasons I no longer recall (something that is happening with increasing frequency as I continue to advance in age) I decided to start tracking the books I read each year.  I've actually followed through with it, dutifully recording what I read year after year.  I started keeping track in a paper notebook, then started an Excel spreadsheet, and then added the website Goodreads to keep track of what I read (I use librarything to track what I own).  I keep track in all 3 places.  I like to keep the notebook going.  Maybe I'll have it filled when I finally depart from this existence.  About two years ago I did a memory dump and tried to recall all the books I read pre-2001 so that I would have a complete list of a lifetime's worth of reading.  As of the end of 2014, by my best guess, I have read 1,199 books.  My 2014 total was 119, which is the second most for a year (the most being 122 in 2010).
For 2015, I'm setting a goal of 80 books.  I'd like to read 20 from the "1001 books you should read in a lifetime" (2006 version).  I have read read 121 from that list thus far.  I also want to read at least 20 books that I already own.

Saratoga National Park

On Friday November 21 I went up to Vermont to bring my son home for Thanksgiving.  On the way up I stopped at Saratoga National Park.  I got there at about 9:30 in the morning and had a nice talk with one of the rangers.  I had to wait until they got the "all clear" for driving on the tour road.  I didn't see any snow worth talking about (a few scattered spots here and there) but apparently there had been issues with ice on the road so they needed to make sure it was ok to drive on.  The tour road is about 9 miles long.  After I left the visitor's center and started my tour I saw one other car while I was there.  That was it.  I pretty much had the entire park to myself.  I did see a few people walking whom I assumed were locals out for some exercise, but didn't see any other visitors.
It's a beautiful place set just off of the Hudson.  The following shot was taken at the "American River Fortifications" stop.  You can see the Hudson in the background.

There are 10 stops on the auto tour and I hit them all.  At Stop 7 is my second favorite monument from the ones I've seen while touring national parks, the "Boot" monument dedicated to Benedict Arnold.

Now of course Benedict Arnold is infamous for betraying the country later in the Revolution, but prior to that he was a very successful general for the Americans and he played a key role in the victory at Saratoga.  So there was a dilemma. On the one hand it was felt he should be honored for his role here, on the other he WAS a traitor.  So the compromise was this monument.  The boot symbolizes the serious  leg wound he received while leading an attack during the battle, but there are absolutely no inscriptions on the monument.  Not his name, not an explanation, nothing at all.  Just this boot, paying honor to a man who later betrayed his country.

Here's another view of the Hudson and the surrounding countryside from the "Great Redoubt" stop.

After leaving Saratoga I took US Route 4 north for a while.  This road generally follows the route General Burgoyne took when he invaded the colonies in 1777 (only to surrender at Saratoga).  Along the way i saw a marker for Jane McRae, the young fiance of a British soldier who was murdered by Indians allied with Burgoyne and the British.  Legend has it that her murder galvanized the colonists in New England and resulted in a large increase in the militia attached to General Gates, which helped bring about the defeat of Burgoyne.

The Bible

I started reading it.  I think it was a year ago.  The reason I'm starting a thread now is because I don't know exactly WHEN I started.  I am about half way through....page 630 of about 1400.  I just finished Psalms and now it's on to Proverbs.  I am reading about two chapters a night which equates to about two pages, so I figure it will take me another year to finish.  Reading the Old Testament has been interesting.  I must say I haven't found much to be "inspired" by, lots of death and destruction.  The Psalms were nice...familiar from many a Sunday at church.  Most of the New Testament will be familiar for the same reason.  Anyway I'll come back here and update as I finish each book going foward.
Finished Proverbs on November 6.
Finished Ecclesiastes on November 12.
Finished Song of Songs on November 15.
Finished the Book of Wisdom on November 22.
I also reached the half-way point of the version of the Bible I'm reading on the same day.
Finished the Book of Sirach on December 14.
Finished the Book of Isaiah on January 9.
Finished the Book of Jeremiah on February 4.
Finished the Book of Lamentations on February 6.
Finished the Book of Baruch on February 9.
Finished the Book of Ezekiel on March 5.
Finished the Book of Daniel on March 12.
Finished the Book of Hosea on March 19.
Finished the Book of Joel on March 21.
Finished the Book of Amos on March 26.
Finished the Book of Obadiah on March 27.
Finished the Book of Jonah on March 29.
Finished the Book of Micah on April 1.
Finished the Book of Nahum on April 2
Finished the Book of Habakkuk on April 3.
Finished the Book of Zephaniah on April 4.
Finished the Book of Haggai on April 5.
Finished the Book of Zechariah on April 11.
Finished the Book of Malachi on April 12.  This completes the Old Testament.  I did it!!
Finished the Book of Matthew on April 19.
Finished the Book of Mark on April 26.
Finished the Book of Luke on May 8.
Finished the Book of John on May 17.
Finished the Acts of the Apostles on May 29.
Finished Romans on June 6.
Finished First Letter to Corinthians on June 14.
Finished Second Letter to Corinthians on June 20.
Finished Letter to the Galatians on June 23.
Finished the Letter to the Ephesians on June 26.
Finished the Letter to the Philippians on June 28.
Finished the Letter to the Colossians on June 30.
Finshed the First Letter to the Thessalonians on July 2.
Finished the Second Letter to the Thessalonians on July 3.
Finished the First Letter to Timothy on July 5.
Finished the Second Letter to Timothy on July 6.
Finished the Letter to Titus on July 7.
Finished the Letter to Philemon on July 8.
Finished the Letter to the Hebrews on July 13.
Finished the Letter of James on July 16.
Finished the First Letter of Peter on July 18.
Finished the Second Letter of Peter on July 19.
Finished the First letter of John on July 21.
Finished the Second Letter of John on July 22.
Finished the Third Letter of John on July 23.
Finished the Letter of Jude on July 24.
Finished the Book of Revelation on July 31.  This completes the Bible.  I think it took me about two years to read it.

Went up to Burlington to visit my son at college.  On the way up we stopped at Fort Ticonderoga to get my history fix.  We had visited Ticonderoga way back in the early 90s when my first born was very young, but I wanted to visit it again.  What a beautiful location!  It was a perfect early spring day to walk around the fort and the battle trail to the "French lines".  The big battle there, fought between the English and the French, didn't take place right at the fort but rather at some earthen fortifications the French had built about a half mile from the fort.  There's a trail that lets you walk around that part of the battlefield.  We had our dog with us so it was squirrel/chipmunk chasing heaven for her.  After we left the fort we took the local ferry across the lake to the Vermont side and from there up to Burlington.  Having him at Burlington will give me the opportunity to visit many of the sights associated with Burgoyne's invasion in 1777, including Crown Point, Hubbarton and Saratoga.  I intend to visit them all during future trips.

The view from the fort looking towards Mount Independence:

A few of the folks who have visited the fort.  My name not yet on this list!:

A replica of the "victory cross" put up by Montcalm after his victory over the British:

Top 10 Books

A couple of days ago I was "tagged" on facebook in a contest to name the 10 books that have "stayed with me".  After giving it some thought I came up with the following list:

1. A Separate Peace; John Knowles
2. To Kill a Mockingbird; Harper Lee.  No need to explain why this is on the list.
3. Killer Angels; Michael Shaara
4. War and Remembrance; Herman Wouk.  I read a lot of books but I'm very VERY rarely "moved" on an emotional level by them.  However, there was a passage in this book that did strike a very deep emotional cord with me.  While this book is "historical fiction", there are several times during the novel where the author stops to narrate a point of historic interest.  He did so when the book reached the point of the Battle of Midway.  Midway, while being a tremendous victory for the Americans, also witnessed the type of self-sacrifice that makes me wonder where the courage came from.  During the battle 41 American torpedo bombers, manned by two man crews, attacked the Japanese aircraft carriers.  They had become separated from their fighter cover and went in unprotected.  They were old, obsolete planes and the sky was filled with Japanese fighters, but they pressed the attack home.  And they were slaughtered.  34 of the 31 planes were shot down.  Of the 82 men in those planes, 14 survived.  The squadron known at "Torpedo 8", from the carrier Hornet, lost every one of its 14 planes, and had only one man survive. None of the planes recorded a single hit on a Japanese ship during their attack.  The sacrifice was not in vain however, as just at the moment the last of the torpedo planes was shot down or driven off, the American dive bomber squadrons arrived over the Japanese fleet.  With the attention of the Japanese fighters fixed on the torpedo planes, the dive bombers had virtually no resistance as they attacked.  They hit, and sank, 3 Japanese aircraft carriers that afternoon (one additional carrier was later sunk in a subsequent attack). "It was a perfect coordinated attack.  It was timed almost to the second. It was a freak accident.  Wade McClusky had sighted a lone Japanese destroyer heading north-east.  It must be returning from some mission, he guess; if so, it was scoring a long white area on the sea pointing toward Nagumo.  He had made the simple astute decision to turn and follow the arrow.  Meantime, the torpedo attacks of Waldron, Lindsey and Massey had followed hard upon each other by luck.  McClusky had sighted the Striking Force at almost the next moment by luck.  The Yorktown's dive-bombers, launched a whole hour later, had arrived at the same time by luck.  In a planned coordinated attack, the dive bombers were supposed to distract the enemy fighters, so as to give the vulnerable torpedo planes their chance to come in.  Instead, the torpedo planes had pulled down the Zeroes and cleared the air for the dive bombers.  What was not luck, but the soul of the United States of America in action, was this willingness of the torpedo plane squadrons to go in against hopeless odds.  This was the extra ounce of martial weight that in a few decisive minutes tipped the balance of history.   When telling the story Wouk included the following lines.  "So long as men choose to decide the turns of history with the slaughter of youths-and even in a better day, when this form of human sacrifice has been abolished like the ancient, superstitious, but no more horrible form-the memory of these three American torpedo plane squadrons should not die.  The old sagas would halt th tale to list the names and birthplaces of men who fought so well. Let this romance follow the tradition.  These were the young men of the three squadrons, their names recovered from an already fading record".  He then proceeds to list their names. Pilot followed by rear gunner.  I've never forgotten that.
Torpedo 3 (Yorktown)
Lance Massey, Leo Perry; Richard Suesens, Harold Lundy Jr; Wesley Osmus, Benjamin Dodson;
David Roche, Richard Hansen; Patrick Hart, John Cole; John Haas, Raymond Darce'; 
Oswald Powers, John Mandeville; Leonard Smith, William Phillips, Curtis Howard, Charles Moore;
Carl Osberg, Troy Barkley; Wilhelm Esders (Survived); Robert Brazier (deceased); 
Harry Cord (survived); Lloyd Childers (survived).  10 of 12 planes shot down.  21 of 24 airmen killed.

Torpedo 6 (Enterprise)  
Eugene Lindsay, Charles Grenat; Severin Rombach, Wilburn Glenn; John Eversole, John Lane;
Randolph Holder, Gregory Durawa; Arthur Ely, Arthur Lindgren; Flourenoy Hodges, John Bates;
Paul Riley, Edwin Mushinski; John Brock, John Blundell; Lloyd Thomas, Harold Littlefield.   Survivors:
Albert Winchell, Douglas Cossitt; Robert Laub, William Humphrey Jr.; Edward Heck Jr., Doyle L. Ritchey;
Irvin McPherson, Wililam Horton; Stephen Smith, Wilfred McCoy.  9 of 14 planes shot down.  18 of 28 airmen killed.

Torpedo 8 (Hornet)
John Waldron, Horace Dobbs; James Owens Jr, Amelio Maffei, Raymond Moore, Tom Pettry;
Jefferson Woodson, Otway Creasy Jr.; George Campbell, Ronald Fisher; William Abercombie, Bernard Phelps; Ulvert Moore, William Sawhill; William Creamer, Francis Polston, John Gray, Max Calkins; 
Harold Ellison, George Field; Henry Kenyon Jr. , Darwin Clark; William Evans Jr., Ross Bibb Jr.;
Grant Teats, Hollis Martin; Robert Miles, Ashwell Picou; Robert Huntington (deceased).  George Gay Jr (survived).  15 of 15 planes shot down.  29 of 30 airmen killed.

Total  34 of 41 planes shot down; 68 of 82 airmen killed.
5. A Stillness at Appomattox; Bruce Catton
6. Washington's Crossing; David Hacket Fischer
7. Enemy at the Gates; William Craig
8. The Stand, Stephen King
9. The Mysterious Island; Jules Verne
10. Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett

I'll come back and add the reasons over the next few days (ok, the next few MONTHS).

Recent Reads

With this summer being the 100th anniversary of the start of World War 1 there have been quite a few new books released on that topic.  Four that I recommend are "The War that Ended Peace" by Margaret MacMillan, "A Mad Catastrophe, The Outbreak of WW1 and the Collapse of the Hapsburg Empire" by Geoffrey Wawro, "Prelude to Blitzkrieg, The 1916 Austro-German campaign in Rumania" by Michael Barrett, and "Catastrophe 1914; Europe goes to war" by Max Hastings.  The first book is an excellent review of the events that led to the war, covering the period from approximately 1880 through July 1914.  The second two cover portions of the "eastern front" in WW1 which doesn't get a lot of coverage in western press.  Both are excellent.  And the last one by Max Hastings covers the first 4 months of the war.  I view it as "The Guns of August" extended through December.  An excellent read.

The trip to NC also regenerated interest in the Civil War, especially the "Overland Campaign" of 1864.  I read books about the North Anna River campaign, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and a travel guide of the overland campaign.  I really need to get down there to explore those battlefields, probably on my own since the family isn't interested.

I've also read two books for my book group, "Six Guys from Hackensack" (so so) and "Devil in the White City" (quite good).  A couple of classics and supposedly top contemporary fiction novels were also read (Great Expectations, Return of the Native, and the Crying Lot of 49-which I didn't like).

Finally I read a book in a genre that I usually have no interest in...Romance.  Only this is bit more explicit than the regular romance novels.  There's no "she fell breathless into his arms" stuff here...it is VERY explicit. A woman who joins us for our weekly trivia contests has been teasing me about a particular author and I finally asked her to lend me the books.  She lent me two, and I read one.  I didn't like it that much and thought the story was silly.  Plus I couldn't care less about the characters.  I started the second one of the series, had the thought "I just read this in the last book" and put it down.  I'll skip it.  As for the explicit parts, well, let's just say books like this should be read having someone you're quite fond of close by.  'nuff said.

Spent a week down in Topsail Beach, NC.  It's a good ways down the NC coast, about 40 miles north of Wilmington.  It was our first time there.  We've only had beach vacations at the Jersey shore so we decided to try something different.  We rented a 3 bedroom house across the street from the beach.  It was a very nice house within easy walk of the public beach access.  The beach was nice too, and the water very, very warm.  We brought our dog with us and she had a blast running around the sand and digging in it.  Topsail is a VERY dog-friendly place so there were lots of other dogs there too.  Topsail is a nice place to go if you're looking for a week of relaxing on the beach, but if you're looking for "things to do" it might be a letdown.  There is kayaking and jetskiing, but it's not a very "commercial" place so the pickings are slim.  That said, I liked it very much.  I don't think we'll go back next year...not because we didn't like it but rather to go to some place different.

The trip down almost KILLED me.  We past a bunch of civil war-related sites...Fredericksburg, Jackson Shrine, North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Beaver Dam Creek, Petersburg but on the way down I didn't stop at any of them.  On the way back I WAS able to stop and see a portion of the Petersburg battlefield, but I had a bunch of impatient kids and wife with me so it wasn't very enjoyable.  I'll have to go back there again on my own one day.

"One Train Later" by Andy Summers

In addition to the "ADD" affliction mentioned in an earlier post I think I may have a tiny bit of obsessive-compulsive behavior as well.  I will go through stages when I "obsess" on a certain topic.  The most recent one has been the rock group the Police.  At the height of their success in the period 1980-1983 I was focused on my girlfriend, graduating from college, getting that first job and the early years of being married (to previously-mentioned girlfriend).  I was certainly aware of the Police through their big hits and their MTV videos but I can't say I was a big fan.  I'm not sure what kicked off the most recent interest, perhaps it was seeing one of those old videos, but in any event I started to look at them a little more closer; watching concert footage from the early 80s, footage from their reunion tour in the mid-2000's and various interviews they gave over the years.  All of that led me to this book, written by the lead guitarist.  It's the story of Andy Summers life growing up in Britain, getting involved in the music scene there, his struggles pre-Police, meeting Sting and Stuart Copeland, joining the band, and their enormous success.  He also details the growing tensions within the band and Sting's growing dominance over the decisions on what material would appear on the albums, but it's done in a non-accusing way.  It's not a gossip memoir, it was simply a "this is what happened".  This book was released prior to their reunion tour, so there's a "we never got closure" feeling at the end.  As Andy points out they were not "over the hill", they were not on their way out, Sting simply wanted to go off on his own so he did after a hugely successful tour in 1983 (I believe that Andy got his "closure" in the reunion tour, one of the most successful tours ever).  It's a very entertaining book written by an obviously talented individual (he's also a very skilled photographer) and I highly recommend it.  The part I liked best was what happened between him and his second wife.  They were married just prior to him joining the Police and they had a baby girl.  But the demands of being in the band...the tours to build their name recognition prior to their big success..and then the tours to promote their albums and meet the demands of their fans, put an understandable strain on the marriage.  He was away on tour all the time while she was a single mom.  Finally it reached the point where she couldn't deal with it anymore and divorced him.   In a recent interview he said the parting was on good terms, and they both agreed that it was important that he be allowed access to their daughter as she grew up.  That's exactly what happened, and by doing that the door between Andy and his ex-wife was left open a crack.  In 1986, three years after the Police break-up, four and a half years after their divorce, they reunited, remarried, had twin boys and moved to California.  And they've been together since.  A nice love story.

Gettysburg

Over the last two years I've had the opportunity to visit Gettysburg on several occasions.  This has given me the chance to explore the entire battlefield, including sections of it that most visitors don't see.  In addition I have been able to walk many parts of the battlefield at my leisure.  I've visited the various parts of the battlefield for both the historical interest I have in the battle and also to see all the various statues, monuments and markers in Gettysburg.  It was to see these markers that took me to the less visited areas that I mentioned above.
One of the most seldom-visited portions of the battlefield is Neill Avenue, also known as "Lost Lane".  Although it's only 600 or so yards from the Baltimore Pike it really feels like the middle of nowhere.  Although Lost Lane is national park grounds, it is surrounded by private property so it's important to stay between the marked areas for the national park property. Also it's best to go with a companion.  It IS isolated and trail is very rocky. If you're by yourself and have a fall you could be in a world of hurt (I don't think the cell phone reception out there is good either).  If you go however, you will see a portion of the battlefield that few others have seen, completely untouched by development.  I went with my buddy and after a couple of wrong turns we finally found it.  Believe it or not, there are actually four large monuments for the regiments posted there; 49th New York, 7th Maine, 43rd New York and 61st Pennsylvania.  I'm sure the story as to how these monuments were built in this location would be a story in itself.
In addition to visiting Lost Lane, I've walked along the old trolley path and then into Rose Woods to find the marker locating the spot where Captain Henry Fuller fell, I've walked along the horse trail to Slyder Farm to find the monuments for Companies E&H, Second US Sharpshooters and Company D, Second US Sharpshooters (which also has a great view of the ground leading to Devil's Den), I've walked up the reverse slope of Big Round Top to find the monument to the 118th Pennsylvania, I've walked along the trail between the Emmitsburg Road and the State of Virginia monument to see the monuments for the First Massachusetts (skirmish line) and Wisconsin sharpshooters, walked out into the fields of Pickett's Charge to find the location of the Bliss Farm, walked down a portion of Culp's Hill to find the advanced skirmish line marker for the 123rd New York, and I've walked between Hancock Avenue and the Codori farm to find the marker showing the location of where Colonel George Willard fell.  I've walked down the hill from Barlow's knoll into the woods alongside Rock Creek to find the marker showing the advance position of 45 soldiers from the 54th New York, saw the mural along Coster avenue and did a quick tour of the monuments and markers on "Jones Battalion Avenue".  I've also walked up Bushman Hill to see the monuments for the 5th New York Cavalry and Battery E, Fourth US Artillery, the markers to the 1st & 2nd Regiment, US Cavalry and Fifth US Cavalry off of Ridge Road.  I've walked to Willoughby Run to see the bridge abutments, and also saw Brockenbrough's Quarry, just west of McPherson's Ridge.
I've also walked the battlefield from the Eternal Peace monument down Doubleday Avenue (where I saw "General and Mrs Grant" checking into the B&B after touring the town), down Reynolds Avenue all the way to Fairfield Road.  I've done the walking tour of Seminary Ridge (in the snow), walked the grounds of Pickett's charge with my buddy (including a dramatic recreation of climbing the fence along Emmitsburg Road), walked up Little Round top, found the position marker for Company B of the 20th Maine, walked the length of Brenner's Hill and also toured the monuments and emplacements on Power's Hill.  I've also seen the monument to the 16th Pa Cavalry standing alone along Highland avenue and I walked down the McLean Farm Lane to find the advance marker for the 45th New York.  I've also walked down Culp's hill to see the large "sniper rocks" that the confederates and US soldiers hid behind when sniping at each other; toured Powers Hill to visit the monuments and markers there. I visited the hospital at the George Spangler farm, where Armistead passed away, and my friend and I walked along the horse path to the Spangler farm off Emittsburg Road. 

Gettysburg is a huge battlefield, too much to see in a weekend if you're interested in the details of the battle.   Going there several times has given me the chance to focus on portions of the battlefield each trip.

Writing

As I've gotten older I've come to believe that people are born with various inherent abilities and talents.  Perhaps they're athletic, or musical, or some other type of creativity.  People with that ability can be coached into honing it into something special. But without that inherent ability no amount of coaching will develop that skill beyond a basic level.  The inherent talent simply isn't there to be something special.  This also applies to writing ability.  I had that point hammered home to me last week when a friend forwarded to me a paper she had recently written.  As I read it I couldn't help but be impressed by the clarity of the writing and how point after point was made succinctly and was supported by references either to the work being evaluated or other material. As I read it it became obvious that this wasn't just someone who was taking a stab at writing but rather someone who had that inherent talent and was letting it show.  The paper was part of an assignment, and I guess a cynic might say that anyone could write well within the parameters laid down by the assignment. And while I don't totally agree with that,  I CAN see there might be a LITTLE something to that.  However, as I read the most recent work my mind wandered back to another piece of writing that was sent to me by this person that explored some the history of the church.  Only this one was more spontaneous..no structure provided, just a flow of words.  I remember being incredibly impressed by it, knowing that I couldn't replicate that type of thing in a million years.  It's talent.  Period.  When it comes to writing, this person clearly has it.  As for me, I'll continue to muddle along.