Let Us Rest Under the Shade of the Trees

Mumma Cemetery, Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD

The title comes from one of my favorite quotes of the American Civil War. This may surprise you, but a Northerner did not say it. It was said by General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson right before he died from wounds he received at the battle of Chancellorsville, VA. He was accidentally shot by his own men. the entire quote is, "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees."

This past week has been one hell of a week and I just want to go and rest under the shade of the trees, except it’s just too damned hot and humid outside this weekend.

To start off the SLJ was the shittiest it has been in a while. Project schedules were rearranged yet again and projects that were slated for December or later were moved up to September and August. Of course I hadn’t started any work on these projects yet because they were supposed to be in December. Now they were top priority and all the work for them had to be done in one week’s time with materials delivered to China by August 1st (yeah, right). In spite of my primary artist being away on a cruise (how does someone with only seven months with the company get to take a total of two weeks vacation already?), the film processing machine breaking down, the initial research not being completed or done entirely wrong, and the fact that labels, boxes and instruction sheets hadn’t been ordered everything did get done thanks to my own Herculean efforts (yes, I am patting my own back as work never does). The cost was mental and physical exhaustion and not a word of thanks. The weekend so far has been a mixed bag of good and bad. Having a nice dinner Thursday evening with Jenne was good. Hanging out with Michael on Friday evening was good. It was just he and I, a few Sapporo beers and a film. It was great to hang out just he and I, as we haven't done that since March. Saturday started the mixed bag. Wake up and steam-clean carpets on the second floor. Cleaning must be done. Jenne and I are very clean and neat people, but I still hate steam-cleaning carpets. On the plus side (I'm looking for silver linings here) the house smells spring-fresh. Then it was off to my brother’s for my niece, Heather's third birthday party. This was the third week in a row spent with family. I am done with family stuff for a good while now. Well the birthday party is a good thing because I get to spend lots of time with the kids. It’s nice to see their faces light up with smiles when Jenne and I arrive. So much time was spent playing with the kids that I didn’t take any photos. The downside to the party is putting up with family polarization and politics… and my dad. It’s fine being with mom and dad when there’s no one else around, case in point is last weekend and our Saturday day trip. When it’s a big social gathering it’s a different story. I’m not going to go into any details this time about my dad’s latest antic except to say that he crossed a serious line and it has disgusted and upset me to no end. It also angers me that no one confronted him about it, and I am sad to say that also includes me. Oh I could use the excuses that it was a party and I didn’t want to make a scene, or, it was my brother’s house and hence his responsibility, or, the persons involved should have spoke up and slapped his fat ass down and told him what a disgusting pig he is. The point is I could have said something too. I get the distinct impression that this is EXACTLY what everyone in my family (immediate and extended) is waiting for. As the oldest son there is this expectation that I should take the lead, pave the way, lead the charge. No one will do anything before I do it. Oh they will all bitch and moan and whine about it away from my father, but no one will say or do anything... except make a myriad of excuses and whine. With the exception of my father’s serious antic and some attitude from both of my parents the party was a good time. Sunday has been more of a mixed bag and I am finally (after publishing this post) going to get to sit on my ass and relax. We had breakfast with God, I ran a few errands and came home to steam-clean the first floor. At least now it’s all done and I can sit at the table with a beer, my colored pencils (just bought new ones while on my errands) and color the maps in Antietam, The Soldier’s Battle. I hope all of you are having (or have had) a good weekend.