Then and Now

Roy:

We had the unique experience of visiting the first U.S. president’s plantation (Mt. Vernon) in the morning, and listening to the latest presidential debate on TV in the evening.  What a vivid contrast between then and now…

First of all, George Washington was never seeking of power.  Moses is described in the Bible as the “most humble man on Earth”; I believe George Washington must be the second most.  At the height of his popularity and influence, after leading the continental army to victory and independence from the most powerful nation on Earth, he simply returned home and resumed farming.  He could have easily ascended as king of the new land but insisted that the states attempt to rule themselves.  Only six years later, when the confederation of the states insisted on a single leader to head the federal government under a new constitution, did he resume his leadership in politics.

Second, George Washington was completely unselfish.  During the twenty three years of his career when he was primarily a farmer he had many innovations.  He was way ahead of his time with composting and crop rotation and new machinery and methods.  But every time he had a breakthrough that could have given him a significant competitive advantage over other farms, instead he gave away his technology for free.  He believed that those who had the means should voluntarily help those in need, and thus create an entire community of prosperity and abundance.  Today’s system of compulsory altruism would have been completely foreign to him, wholly illogical and insensible.

Lastly, the requirement of the people for their leaders at that time was strong character and demonstrated results.  It was Washington’s integrity, honesty, and proven track record on the battlefield that made him qualified to be the commander-in-chief (president) of the republic, not his eloquence of speech or charisma or party affiliation.  Washington became loved because he was respected, not the other way around.

Today was a great education, and a clear reminder of how far we've strayed (on both sides).

Sushi!!!

Hollie
My Dad loves to spoil us and we loved to be spoiled, especially with Sushi!
Our family usually eats sushi at a quiet Japanese restaurant.
My brother suggested this hip happening restaurant in downtown Baltimore.
The music was louder than the kids, it was perfect!

The Untold Anthem of Ft. McHenry

Roy

I blogged previously about the celebrated triumph and inspiration surrounding Ft. McHenry during the war of 1812 against the British.  There is however another chapter to the story of this military citadel, one that involves the Civil War about 50 years later.

It was this very fortress that Abraham Lincoln used to keep Maryland, against her will, from seceding along with the other Southern states.  Since the capitol of the Union was Washington DC, and Washington DC was in Maryland, the loss of Maryland would likely have meant the loss of the Union.  And since the preservation of the Union was Lincoln’s sole objective he would go to any length necessary to secure it.  So the guns of this garrison were turned around and aimed at their own citizens in Baltimore and the city was held hostage in the Union.

It was also at this fort that over 2,000 citizens were jailed illegally as martial law was imposed during that war.  Among these was most of the government of Baltimore: the mayor, chief of police, all of the city council, etc.  Lincoln felt it was necessary to imprison these officials lest they lead the city (and therefore Maryland) away from the Union.  The only problem was that they had committed no crime worthy of incarceration.  When the United States Supreme Court ruled that Lincoln’s actions were breaking the law he retaliated by issuing an arrest warrant for the Chief Justice himself.  Later Lincoln stated that a president could break the law if he felt it was necessary to accomplish a greater good.  This started a dangerous precedent that continues even today.

Ironically, one of the prisoners during this time was Frank Key Howard, the grandson of Francis Scott Key (the author of the Star Spangled Banner).  Frank disagreed with the methods the president was using to impose his will against the people and against the law and he used his newspaper to express his opposition.  Lincoln shut down the newspaper and had him thrown into prison.  On September 13, 1861 (the 47^th anniversary of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner) Frank looked out the barred window of his cell at Ft. McHenry and remarked:

“I could not but contrast my position with his, forty-seven years before. The flag which he had then so proudly hailed, I saw waving at the same place over the victims of as vulgar and brutal a despotism as modern times have witnessed."

When you devote the time to investigate the truth of history for yourself you often discover a story that does not align with the convenient spin that you were fed in school.  This seems to be one of our uglier sides at a troublesome time in our past.

I do want to end on a positive note and be very clear about one point: Our love and commitment to this country and its founding principles are kindled even stronger as we uncover (and admit) its foibles and imperfections.  We know there is no perfect nation and feel incredibly blessed to be born into this one.

The boys locked up in one of the prisoner cells.  “Hands-on Homeschooling” at it’s finest… J.

O Say have you Seen and Heard and Touched...

Roy:

We visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor, the birthplace of our national anthem the Star Spangled Banner.  It was classic homeschooling; a day filled with rich learning supported by ample time and personal experience. 

First, a little bit about the song:  Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer who found himself aboard a British warship as it attacked Baltimore during the war of 1812.  After Fort McHenry survived the bombardment they raised an enormous U.S. flag in defiance of the British.  It was the sight of this sign of victory after a long night of uncertain fate that inspired the words to this famous song.

It was amazing to walk around the grounds, touch the actual cannons, stare out into the deep waters where the enemy ships would have been, and imagine the deafening explosions as the two sides traded gunfire through the night.  Later on they unfurled an actual replica of the American flag that was used that day and we stood in a huge rectangle holding the flag taut in the air as the park ranger retold the story to us again in vivid detail. We learned facts like the flag was 30 feet tall and 42 feet wide, it had 15 stripes (not 13!), what the word ‘spangled’ means, and the flag flown in the morning was not the one that had survived throughout the night.  Learning history in this manner (with all your senses viscerally engaged) really brings it to life and cements it into your memory in a way no textbook or even movie ever could.

 There was a recent study that found that 90% of Americans don’t even know the words to the Star Spangled Banner.  Of the 10% who do I would venture that only 10% of those know the events and context surrounding its formation.  Of the 1% who know the words and the context I would venture that less than 1% of those have actually been to Fort McHenry and held the flag with their own hands.  Therefore, our family joined the exclusive 0.01% today!

To be accurate though the 10% who “know the Star Spangled Banner” really only know ¼ of the song!  How many of you have noticed that when you sing just the first verse (there are four total) you are left hanging with the question of whether the flag is even still there or not? (the answer doesn't come until the end of the second verse!)  So the crucial question is not who knows the first quarter of the song or not, it’s who knows the true message of the whole song.  In the final verse Key reveals the secret of our nation’s founding and protection by introducing our national motto, “In God We Trust”.

Whenever we take the time to look there is ample godly heritage in our nation to hearken back to.  The problem is not that we don’t have a rich history, it’s that we haven’t bothered to study it (or even worse, allowed others to obscure it from us).  Reading through our national anthem (in its entirety) puts our nation’s dawn in the proper perspective:

O say can you see by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country, should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation.

Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

The Kids First Baseball Game

Our poor TV deprived kids have never really seen a game before.  We had a lot of explaining to do about the game and how it worked and why that person was doing that etc.  But by the end of the game, they all knew how to cheer them O's on!

We quickly became adopted Orioles fans and watched many of the rest of their games on TV while we were here.  We were sad to see the Orioles lose to the Yankees in the final innings of the last game of the series; maybe next year!

Special Friends

Sometimes God brings special friends into your life who He uses to mold and shape you for the future.  My friend Stacey is one of these people.  Stacey introduced me to the world of Special Olympics and special kids. And she didn't do it gradually, she threw me in head first as an overnight chaperone!  We get on the bus and I sit next to this beautiful girl of about 10 years old.  I of course engage in a conversation with her.  I ask her her name, how old she is, etc.  She doesn't answer a word, but smiles and claps her hands.  I keep talking to her, but she never talks back.  Finally Stacey comes up to me laughing and says "This is So and So.  She has the cognitive development of a six month old.  But you have done a great job talking to her!"
I quickly learned that these kids brought me pure joy.  I went back with Stacey year after year.  My favorite part of the weekend was always the Friday night dance.  There is something about music and dancing that is universal no matter what your developmental level.  Their laughter was contagious!

At the time I had no idea that God was preparing me for my first born.  When the nurses put Jackie in my arms I said, "She is beautiful, she has Down Syndrome."  "WHAT??" they exclaimed?  The nurses had no idea, but I saw it right away.  I remember they took her from my arms and whisked her away.  I yelled to Roy, "follow that baby!"

Later Stacey asked me if I grieved when I found out Jackie had Down Syndrome.  I said no.  She said, "Well the Downs kids always were your favorite!"

Look Jeremy!  Your mom made the blog!!!

The Stinky Slinky!

Roy:

Potty humor is a universal comedy that transcends all social, economic, and cultural boundaries.  But potty odor is really no laughing matter.  So when our “black tank” (where the sewage in an RV gets stored, kind of like a septic tank) began to smell, we knew we were in big trouble.

Thank goodness we just happened to land at a friend’s house who knows a lot about this subject.  So much, in fact, that we have lovingly bestowed on him the title of “the Prince of Poop”.  Our conversation went something like this:

“So, how you been enjoying your trip?”

“It’s been great so far, Joe.  Except one little thing.  Our toilet has begun to smell.  Terrible, in fact.”

“Wow, sounds like you’ve got an improper ratio of your organic material, liquid emulsifier, and chemical cleaner.  I think I need to introduce you to ‘the Flush King’ ”.

The Flush King is an amazing piece of technology that no RV owner should be without.  I won’t go into the details of how it works (for those readers with weak stomachs), but suffice to say it does everything you need to take care of the problem.

Lucky for us too that Joe had an access pipe to his sewer line, conveniently located, right there in his front yard.  So we did what any pair of self-respecting rednecks would do.  We pulled the trailer out onto the road (nearly blocking all of the traffic going both ways), and built a homemade sewage treatment center, replete with bungee cords, 2x4’s,  and of course, duct tape.  Then we got to work.  Our first task was to connect the trailer black tank to the sewer pipe with a long hose that Joe has affectionately named “the stinky slinky”.

 Roy learning from the master, Joe doing the dirty work behind the “stinky slinky”.

Perhaps the best part of the “Flush King” is that it’s made entirely of clear plastic.  Most manufacturers of sewer line and accessories make their products out of black plastic to hide their disgusting contents, thus making it impossible to see what’s really going on.  But not the Flush King, it’s like witnessing a poop aquarium through a glass window.  Totally awesome.

Grossing the kids out!

When we started it was quite obvious that our blank tank had been hiding some pretty nasty secrets.  But by the end of the process it was churning out what looked like the pure drinking water that comes out of the exhaust pipe of a hydrogen powered vehicle.  For those of you who are dying to ask the question, no, I didn’t sample!  Sure, Niagara Falls was impressive, Boston was informative, and Philadelphia was memorable.  But our experience using the stinky slinky may have just been the best part of our trip so far!

(Look Jeremy, you Dad made the blog!)

Flat Jeremy

Have you ever heard of the book Flat Stanley?  Several years ago my friend Stacy's son Jeremy had to trace himself and mail it to someone, and they chose us!  We had lots of fun taking him all over the place and snapping pictures.  Of course, I turned it into a homeschool project, and each kid had to do a different report, on our house, our city, and our state.  We then mailed the pictures, reports, and Flat Jeremy back to his school.  Out of this project, Mary Anne and Jeremy became real pen pals.  You know, with real pencil and paper!

So you can imagine how excited the kids were when they realized they were actually going to meet the real Flat Jeremy!

Pen Pals!

Look Jeremy! You made the blog!!!

Hanging out with Lincoln

Hollie:
Gettysburg was a little too much for the kids.  The reality of how many people died was heartbreaking.  This is the first time my kids have been exposed to war in a video.  They didn't like it.  Neither did I.  But it is good that we teach our kids history, so they learn from it.  This is also where Roy began his obsession about the civil war.  By being onsite at so many of these historical places in a row, and reading the primary sources firsthand with no filter or spin or bias, a whole new picture has been emerging.  For example, the Civil War was not primarily a war to end slavery.  It has been hard for Roy and I to undo the teachings we received in school, and then reeducate ourselves with the truth.  I am sure that at some point Roy will write a blog on this.  He is still in the fact gathering stage.  He keeps buying more and more books!  Then I get to learn all the interesting things he has learned.  It is quite fascinating!

A funny thing did happen in Gettysburg.  I had all the kids sit on a bench while I went to go try to find Roy. (A common occurrence in museums!) While they were sitting there, a group of Asian tourist came in.  They all immediately started snapping pictures of the kids sitting on the bench.  The kids didn't know what to do.  Should they smile? wave? pretend they don't see them? The kids said it felt super weird.  It has since happened again several times, especially in DC.  And especially of Ellie.  She is a super star with her fat cheeks and thighs and bright blue eyes.  They actually lined up to get their pictures taken with her!  Who knows?  Maybe she will show up in the next Gangnam style video!