Landscape Turned Tiny: project update

Let's all  travel to Sharpsburg Maryland to visit  Antietam  National Battlefield, or at least a miniature version of that remarkable park.

As our bus arches over the historic Upper Bridge the transformation occurs (don't be alarmed)...

as we make it to the other side of Antietam Creek, no worse for wear, just a great deal smaller.

At four inches in length our basswood school bus doesn't provide much legroom, but we're very near our destination...

just up ahead...

a very small, and not particularly "in-scale" rendering of my favorite National Park.

As the bus pulls up to the Mumma Education Center in the background, I've continued on to Sharpsburg to get lunch (miniaturization always makes me hungry).

The Mumma house and barn were burned by the Confederates during the 13-hour battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862.  The Mummas were able, however, to rebuild within a year.

A happy ending for the Mummas.  This spring I set up shop in that very Mumma barn to create this enormous map.

The map and all the various components will be part of a new education program for elementary school kids on mapping and the history of the Antietam Creek Valley.

Perhaps afterwards their teacher will take them up into the observation tower.

Not this miniature one, but...

this one.

This program is the brainchild of Ranger Christie, who was my first boss way back when I started at the park as a volunteer.  Now, as a Ranger, I'm her number-one arts and crafts guy and all-around flying monkey.

I happily agreed to fabricate all of the components for this project and began in late spring.  Painting the map was really fun, but even more so was working with the basswood.

I still have about a half dozen elements to fabricate and by spring this program should be ready to trot out for the kids who travel here in those full-size school busses.

Come on out to Antietam sometime and experience the real thing, in 1:1 scale.

Ranger Mannie

You meet the nicest creatures at the battlefield

Today this foundling appeared at the Visitor Center in a cardboard box. I took him down to the pond at the Roulette Farm which he seemed to prefer to the box.

Come see the nature,

Just north of Sharpsburg

Ranger Mannie

"Nothing good...

ever came from the south".

That's a joke you hear around Sharpsburg when its noted that the wind is coming from the south and a storm is brewing. Its a wisecrack that alludes to the Rebel invasion and subsequent battle which was particularly hard on the people of the valley.

None more so than the Mumma family. They had their house and barn burned by the Confederates the morning of the battle, though you can hardly blame them, they were trying to prevent the buildings from becoming strongpoints for Union Sharpshooters

Here's the before and after versions of the Mumma farmstead that I made for an upcoming elementary school activity here at the battlefield (more here):

Even in miniature its pretty evident that the civilians of Sharpsburg suffered greatly and they remembered that September day with no fondness whatsoever, leaving the people of the valley with that dark humor about what sort of things come from the southland.

About 30 years after the battle something very nice did come to the valley, a letter addressed the the postmaster of Sharpsburg who just happened to be the son of Mr. Mumma. It was a letter from the formerly young Confederate officer responsible for torching the farm. The writer, now an old veteran, had written an apology to the Mumma family and an inquiry as to their welfare. The letter couldn't have fallen into better hands as postmaster Mumma was able to write back with assurances that the family survived and harbored no hard feelings...

though possibly one enduring joke.

Both letters, by the way are in the archive of Antietam National Battlefield.

What a remarkable place filled with remarkable stories of ordinary people...

like us.

Don't forget to write!

Ranger Mannie

Worth a Thousand Words

Currently being without a camera makes it clear to me that this blog has always taken a visual lead, that is, the prose supporting the photos rather that the more traditional photos supporting the prose.

I like taking pictures, and this digital revolution has made photography inexpensive, easy, and almost as essential as any of the five senses.  That my camera died of exhaustion is no surprise really when I consider that it has been on my belt and in daily use for nearly two years.  The Canon Powershot has also freed up my videography, making it easier to shoot video on the fly with very adequate sound and picture quality considering the compactness of the camera.  Lest this start sounding too much like a commercial I end by simply saying that Canon is a pretty swell little camera. 

Had I a functioning camera yesterday I could have taken some shots of two tour-hour Ranger-led tour.  In lieu of a photo merely visualize cold weather coupled with a light, saturating rain.  It was ragged and bone-chilling.  I ended up telling the whole battle story from the warmth and comfort of the observation room and then inviting those who wished to join me for a drive around the park with stops at the iconic areas of the battlefield for additional narrative and conversation.  I actually had about 25 true-believers go the distance with me for the following hour out on the field.  Considering the  rotten weather it turned out to be quite a delightful time.

Every season I find myself incorporating a new theme or element in my talks, and this year I've hit upon one that has really resonated with my audience.  After I greet everyone and lay out the goals for the two hour tour, I offer this observation;

"Now I know that a good percentage of this group is made up of true believers - life-time students of the Civil war, another percentage represents the real good sports who've come along for the ride, and I'm also fully aware that among you are the outright hostages who'd much rather be elsewhere.  My aim, for all of you, is to make this the best two hours of your day".

The good sports and the hostages really seem to enjoy the recognition; which they really do deserve.  Not everyone shares our passion, but thank goodness they can suffer ours with such good grace.

And that grace is something I wouldn't be able to do justice to with even with the best of cameras.

Maintaining focus, just north of Sharpsburg,

Ranger Mannie 

This time I mean it

Okay. Now my camera is actually, really, and finally dead.

I'll keep you posted.