Hobo Jungle

[webenda]

Yule-Amazing Grace
http://youtu.be/FD3aiNVJ7H4
That is just not right!

How about jingle bells then?
http://youtu.be/i6TyzvTeQZg

[Mitch]

Well, it's just about over. The kids and grandkids have all gone home for the evening, and the house has settled back down to the "normal quiet din" of just one TV and a stereo. In the spirit of Christmas, went across the road to my oldest son's last evening for dinner, where after seating myself on the couch, a very rambunctious 3 year old grandson ran full bore at "Pappy", leapt up, and promptly kneed me in the left gonad, after which I became fairly ill for about an hour. Still, it was an enjoyable evening. So then this morning, around 10, the kids come over to see what Santa left for them at Gram Ma's house, (I don't count), with plenty of laughing, sqealing, and cryin'. Went to reach over my granddaughter to open the door, when she suddenly whirled around and her left elbow went right..... you know where. I excused myself to the bathroom for a while. Then the arrival of another son, and his two; the littlest wanted to open every package in the room. Daughter arrived with her two; thankfully much better behaved older teenagers. The house was pretty boisterous, but we managed to sit down to dinner at 1:00. The hotdogs and baked beans were great, the milk was fresh and cold, and the pumpkin pie was just awesome. Can't wait 'til next year!

[2railjon]

LOL, Mitch!! Sounds like you need to beat feet (or limp) to your nearest local sports shop and invest in an athletic cup!!!!

[webenda]

Ouch! Got to agree with Jon. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) sounds like the way to go around that bunch.

Grandkid PPE

GrandKidArmor.jpg (85.33 KiB) Viewed 1939 times

[The Dirt]

Mitch, kids/grandkids are a full-contact sport!

Tramp, wanted to thank you for the story about getting your tree (excellent!), and your decorated and then candle-lit tree pictures. I so look forward to them every year, and you folks never disappoint!

[rogruth]

Tramp,

Beautiful tree as always.

To all,

I have been away and missed the revelry but here is wishing for a Happy New Year.

[The Dirt]

No wonder we were able to march straight into Baghdad!

http://www.wimp.com/combatduty/

[Mitch]

Fortunate that the instructor was a fast thinker!

[The Dirt]

Got a 12 year old daughter. Stands to reason, for Christmas, she'd want girlie-things, clothes, jewelry, pretty things for her room, pop culture stuff, perfumy stuff...

No, her one item on the list... a metal detector.

So we take it out yesterday, and for the hell of it, went to a secluded part of the old railroad bed through town. Expecting major disappointment, (I think she thought she'd find coins/jewelry etc) we found a few railroad items, it having had its tracks laid in the late 1880s. Found the obligatory rusty nail, but also found two spikes and a track plate, and then a really looooooong spike.

My question is whether this was even railroad-related, and if so, if it had a purpose that might be recognizable for someone here, because I'm stumped. Rust and pockmarks-wise, it would seem to be of reasonably close vintage.

[MartyE]

I always wanted a metal detector.

[2railjon]

Dirt, Metal dectectors are too cool!!! Down here where I live people use them along with old civil war maps and dig up all kinds of neat stuff like brass buckles, silver coins, musket rounds, and bayonets!!!!!!

[The Dirt]

Jon, she's on the bus, oughta get to Yazoo about 1600.

We'd love to try it at Gettysburg, but it's strictly forbidden. The b*stards.
OTOH, the fields would be full of little holes.

[healey36]

I grew up not too far from Gettysburg. When I was a kid, alot of the battlefield was still actively farmed. In the spring we'd go up a few days after the farmers turned the fields over. No metal detector was required...you could fill a bushel-basket with mini-balls in about about an hour (okay, that's a slight exageration). I recall wondering how, given the amount of lead that lay out on those fields, anyone got out of there alive.

Many years later, when my son was five or six years old, I would take him out there early on summer mornings, before the tourists overran the place. Max was a great stone-collector at this early stage. He would frequently fill his pockets with whatever he came across, where ever we went. When we got home he would dump out his treasures onto the kitchen table and have me go through them with him. On more than one occasion, his collection included a mashed mini-ball or chunk of shrapnel.

If you get the chance, go to Gettysburg at least once. It's pretty much a commercialized mess now, despite the best efforts of the park service. Still, on a warm summer morning, early, before the crowds hit, it can be a special and deeply moving place. I have always found the 20th Maine monument, deep in the woods at the far end of the line at Little Round Top, to be rather extraordinary.

Healey

[The Dirt]

Healey, we’ve been to Gettysburg many times, prowling around a different area every time. It’s a perfect day-trip for us. Last summer, my 14 year old son wanted to cruise the Confederate side, so he could get a better idea of exactly what Lee was looking, but we also were walking around the 1st day’s ground- Willoughby Run, McPherson’s Ridge, farm, and woods, and up to Oak Hill, and the Seminary grounds. Can never leave there without letting the kids hit Devil’s Den and Little Round Top. My 14 y.o. has taken two Gettysburg mini-courses in middle school with an old teacher who took them on a field trip there, and who brings in his civil war paraphernalia- my son is his star pupil. He watches everything he can find on Gettysburg on the history/military channels, has read several books, and even has the Gettysburg X-Box game.
We hit Lee's headquarters too, Pretty cool little museum there.

We did walk down to the 2oth Maine, and you’re right- something special there. That’s the only monument on the battlefield where people leave mementos, hand-written notes, and place stones on the monument, like people do in graveyards.

I absolutely love the place. I'll never tire of it.

[The Dirt]

Vampire spike for sale, from 2 centuries ago. Guaranteed full penetration. Protect your loved ones.

First thousand takes it. I'll spring for the shipping. Least I can do.