Coastal Defense

Construction of Fort Sumter, named for South Carolina Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Sumter, was begun in 1829.  It was one of any number of coastal fortifications built in the years following the War of 1812. 

Its five-foot-thick brick walls towered approximately 50 feet above low tide to command the main ship channel.  Four sides, 170 to 190 feet long, were designed for three tiers of guns; the gorge, mainly officers' quarters, mounted guns only on the third tier.

Enlisted men's barracks paralleled the gunrooms on the two flanks.  A sally port (pictured below) was situated at the center of the gorge, opening onto a wharf.

The fort was designed for an armament of 135 guns and a garrison of 650 men.  By December of 1860 the fort was 90 percent complete, unmanned with only 15 cannon mounted at the ready.

casements

 

Maj. Robert Anderson moved an 85 man garrison to the fort the day after Christmas 1860.  In April of 1861, Brig. Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard commanded Confederate forces at Charleston.  He was one of Anderson's artillery students at West Point in 1837.  His job was to evict Federal troops from the fort.

In the very early morning of April 11, Beauregard demanded Anderson surrender.  Following a pause of several hours, Confederate positions opened fire.  Anderson defended Fort Sumter for 34 hours before surrendering.  Miraculously, no one on either side was killed.  Five Federal soldiers were injured.

 

The long-awaited civil war had commenced.

By the close of hostilities Fort Sumter has been reduced to rubble from frequent bombardment and bore little resemblance to what stood there in 1861.  

In the decade following the war the Army attempted to clear the rubble and return the fort to a working military installation.  

fireplace from what was the officers quarters

15 inch solid shot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From 1876 to 1897, the fort served mainly as a lighthouse station.  Guns rusted in-place and the fort continued to deteriorate.  With the run-up to the Spanish American War, Battery Huger was constructed in 1899 including the installation of two long-range 12-inch rifles.  Those guns were never fired in anger.

Battery Huger now houses a gift shop, museum and Park Service offices

During World War I the rifles were manned and a small garrison maintained for another 20 years.  Antiaircraft artillery was installed during WWII.  In 1948 the Army transferred ownership to the National Park Service as a National Monument.

Text failure - no cellular service

Charleston Randomness

From our vacation a few weeks ago to a part of the country we've previously not been.

So much pre and post colonial history this was like trying to sip water from a fire hose...

Rainbow row - Charleston Historic District

Graveyard at Circle Congregational Church.  St. Philip's Anglican Church in the background.

Restaurant mural 

Smallest bar

They're real.  Working gas lamps

John C. Calhoun and James Gadsden are buried here.  Saint Philip's Episcopal Church Cemetery

Established in 1686 this is the oldest liquor store in the Americas.  The big red dot is found across the south where liquor store signage is restricted.  So, the Big Red Dot is a universal sign as to where you can go to get your drink on...

The Cure

Last evening presented us with a puking puppy and diarrhea.  Blech!

She obviously ate some scat (shit) as it was in her vomitus and it clearly upset her digestive tract.

We skipped dinner and after the worst of it was behind we made sure Ruby had plenty of water to drink.  She seemed better having cleared-out her system and rested in a crate and with me on the couch.  I stayed-up late with her to keep an eye on any further developments

Meanwhile, I whipped-up a batch of the Universal Bland Diet.  Boiled, skinless chicken breast (diced small) and Uncle Ben's parboiled white rice.  No seasoning, butter or anything else. It is really bland.  Possibly like jail food.  But I digress.  Remarkably, I've never met a dog who didn't like a stint of universal bland diet.  Go figure.

This morning's breakfast starts with 1/2 cup of this; followed by five additional small meals spaced throughout the day.

I have enough for about two days.  Generally, this is the cure.

Fingers-crossed.....

Wassup In The October Night Sky

It has been clouded-over yesterday evening and tonight so no viewing of the Hunters Moon.  At least here anyway.

If you could see it this is what it would look like.  From Friday evening.  The bright 'star' to the left of the moon is planet Jupiter...

Don't Curb The Enthusiasm

What our redheaded bundle of energy lacks in finesse is more than compensated-for with enthusiasm.

It was a cluster.

Nevertheless, Goal One is to keep this immersive experience fun and enthusiastic.

There is a high probability of pheasant fingers during happy hour.....

dog is airborn

 

The Hunger Games

When I tapped-out this post yesterday it occurred to me that I didn't have to blog about House Republicans still without a speaker.  Whew!  That white smoke you saw floating from the outhouse stovepipe signaled that as of Wednesday we finally have a Speaker of the House.  Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana has won the gavel after three weeks of Republicans eating their own.

I was thinking to myself, Jeez, Tom.  You certainly are living during interesting times.  

The party of Ronald Reagan is done; replaced by the party of possibly the 47th president; Donald Trump.

A world where populism has replaced policy.  Fiscal responsibility is but passing lip service.  Choosing  winners and losers has supplanted free trade.  Pugilists are venerated.  Institutionalists are pariahs.  Chaos over stability.  In ousting Kevin McCarthy the GOP has deposed their most prolific fundraiser in recent memory and Johnson is going to have to pick-up the slack.

It would appear that election denialism looms large in the selection of a House speaker.  It is worth remembering that Johnson is a close ally of former president Trump and was one of the key architects of Donald Trump's failed, false efforts to overturn the 2020 election.  Johnson supported a Texas lawsuit seeking to to invalidate electoral college votes from Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Yes, a lawsuit allowing an individual state to invalidate the electoral votes of a different state President-elect Joe Biden won in the 2020 election.  Nuts, eh?

In a win for Federalism the Supreme Court called BS.  This is worth remembering.  Especially the steaming, heaping, Texas-sized longhorn pile of bullshit part of it. 

So, it's time for the House to put on their adult underpants and demonstrate a capacity to govern.  We're about a month away from a government shutdown, there are carrier battle groups steaming into position, hot wars in Ukraine and Israel and bad actors in Russia, Iran, China and North Korea who've been loving every moment of the recent self-inflicted lunacy.

It sure ain't my daddy's Republican Party anymore.  Lately it's been look'n more like the Hunger Games.....

Dog's Best Friend

In the instruction manual of The Art Of Raising A Puppy there is the lecture section. 

 

 

Note how my pup is hanging on my every word of unsolicited and generally useless guidance?

When everyone else dismisses you out of hand this is why a man needs a dog…..

Wassup In The October Night Sky

In our part of the northern hemisphere the full moon appearance following the Harvest Moon is  generally known as the Hunter’s Moon.  Its appearance is typically in October - although it can also reveal itself in early November.  

2019 Hunters Moon

Before European settlement Native Americans knew it as that time of year when people would hunt deer and other animals to lay-up stores of food for the winter. The Anishinaabe people knew it as the Falling Leaves Moon while the fall bird migration led the Cree to refer to it as the Migrating Moon  With the arrival of frosts it has also been called the Ice Moon or Freezing Moon.  

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear, viewing conditions.....

 

Friday Music

This live version of the classic hit song, "Sloop John B" is a music video excerpt from the PBS TV Pledge Special all-star concert, "The Kingston Trio Celebration," featuring surprise guest, Al Jardine of The Beach Boys. The full concert aired from 2016 through 2020 and is now available on ALL major video streaming platforms from MVD Distributors. 

Taped in LA at the Avalon Hollywood (formerly the iconic Hollywood Palace Theater), this song features the Trio's Bill Zorn, George Grove, and Rick Dougherty on vocals, guitars, and banjo, with their very special guest, Al Jardine, singing lead vocal on the smash hit he made famous with The Beach Boys. Longtime Trio bassist, Paul Gabrielson handles upright bass. This Trio line-up was the longest in the band's 61 years on the road, together from 2003 to 2018. The original Trio of Bob Shane, Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds, and later John Stewart - all combined were together ten years. 

This music video and the full PBS TV concert special was directed by award-winning filmmaker, Chip Miller, who also co-produced with Terrel Cass. Bryan Greenberg was DP, and Head Camera Operators included MTV pioneer film director, William Dear, and Cameron Cannon. Travis Miller Line Produced and co-edited with director Miller. 

Released in 1966, Sloop John B was the lead single for the album Pet Sounds - peaking at number 3 in the US and number 2 in the UK.  It resides at place number 276 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  Al Jardine and Brian Wilson took a simple folk song and composed a masterpiece...

Reunion

Several weekends ago I participated in a celebration of my 50th High School class reunion.  James Madison High School class of 73.  Yes, I am old.

Fast fact about that year:  With more than 1000 students in my graduating class ours was the largest three year high school class in the entire state.  As a consequence of record-breaking enrollments many 9th grade freshman classes were part of the junior high experience.

Anyway, we had a decent turn-out for the reunion and it was a terrific opportunity to socialize with old neighborhood friends. The festivities kicked-off with adult beverages and a fish fry on Friday, a tour of the school mid-Saturday, party Saturday evening and breakfast on Sunday.

The school graduated its first class in 1971 and continues in operation with a four year high school enrollment of about 600 students.

The physical condition of the building is remarkable; and with the exception of new technology appears basically unchanged.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves.....

Wisconsin High School Coaches Hall Of Fame

 

 

 

Courtyard Trees Have Grown To Adulthood