Antietam National Battlefield: a world class attraction

I once upon a time worked at a Museum which fancied itself a "world-class" attraction...it wasn't. I gotta tell ya, Grand Rapids Michigan is a wonderful "hometown" but certainly not a world-class town. Now, however, I do find myself working at a place of such renown that people from all over the world come to visit.



Here's a picture taken two weekends ago on Burnside Bridge with me and the Mayor of Lauren the Netherlands. A really nice guy.

Man, this is such a cool place.

Come visit Antietam, from your part of the world.

Ranger Mannie

Prescribed burn at Antietam: So Hot it's Cool!

Every day is remarkable at Antietam National Battlefield.

In a recent entry I showed our Natural Resources folks clearing brush above Burnside's Bridge. The natural question is...what happens to all of that brush? Thanks for asking.

Today ocurred a "prescribed burn" at the park. As I crested the "Final Attack" trail ridge toward the Otto Farm lane the smoke was already billowing into the 14 degrees above zero sky.
As if being a park ranger isn't cool enough, Our Law Enforcement and Natural Resources rangers are also fire fighters! And this burn was their show, to which they graciously invited me to take these pictures.

Zeke, Ed. and Joe are calling the shots as three brush piles are to be burned. Brush piles include: a large brush pile, a huge brush pile, and the mother of all brush piles. I'm glad I brought an extra battery.

This is the huge brush pile being torched. Law Enforcement ranger Eric with the drip torch coaxes the fire in the right direction. This fire was across about a 300 foot front.
A very cool flaming arrowhead on Zeke's ballcap.


One of our redoubtable college interns fueling the fire with brush.


Here, the drip torch applies it's flame to a three year accumulation of brush and...


viola! instant and intense oxidation.


Lindsey and Ed feed brush into the fire, and as it dwindles they change position to...

...the mother of all brush piles. This pile towered ten feet over my head. There was an enormous accumulation of fuel here. This pile was about fifteen feet tall and and hundred feet wide.


Two fuzees and a gallon of fuel oil turn it into a thundering conflagration towering 40 feet over our heads.

As Eric adds fuel...

...the heat grows in intensity. Suddenly this very cold morning becomes particularly warm.

Rangers look on as the flames jet into the frigid morning sky. These are, by the way, the same rangers you read about who fight the great fires in the western states. Whether they are fighting big fires or small fires, they approach all of them with a cool professionalism in which training and safety are the key components.

Eric, with his morning's work behind him.

Michelle briefly turns away from a blast of hot wind and ash, on this otherwise very chilly day.

These are the men and women of the U.S.National Park Service. I am very proud to call these professionals my colleagues.

By springtime this scorched patch where a brushpile once stood will be green with new, native growth.

This is the kind of work that occurs every day to restore Antietam National Battlefield to its 1862 appearance.

All of us work very hard, every day, to provide our visitors with the very best National Park experience of their lives.

Come visit, just north of Sharpsburg.

Ranger Mannie

My new helmet blog (click here)

In addition to my new cartooning blog, I've also started a new one regarding helmet collecting (the first post you'll recognize). Do let me know what you think.

Stay warm,

Mannie

A study in contrasts

Low Contrast: the New York monument as I left work on Friday evening.

Robert E. Lee. Maryland Objectives:
a. Persuade Maryland to secede (not achieved)
b. Meet and defeat General George B. McClellan (not achieved)
c. Secure European recognition for the Confederacy (not achieved)

High Contrast: the Pry house as I drove to work on Saturday morning.

George B. McClellan. Maryland Objectives:
a. Drive the Confederates from Maryland (achieved)
b. Protect Washington D.C. (achieved)

...and McClellan is the one who was fired.

Time for a change(click here)

Is it February already? Note my archives and you see it's been a year since I started this blog.

I know that many blogs fall by the wayside within that critical first year. As events and happenings at Antietam are on such cyclical calendar, the danger exists that my postings could get repetitive.

"Hey! Did he just recycle Artillery weekend '06 instead of making a new one for '09?"

I won't do that. Instead I'll limit my entries to one per week and have them be as interesting as possible.

At the same time, I've launched a new blog at:

http://manniesartimitateslife.blogspot.com/

This blog showcases the cartooning that I've been doing over the last 40 years, specifically the work that I did in the 1980s for a monthly cultural arts publication in Grand Rapids Michigan entitled "On-the-Town" (originally "Downtown").

Although its not related to the Civil War, I did manage to sneak an occasional reference to the ACW between its covers.
This cartoon, like many that I'll be posting still has the photo-safe blue sketch lines as well as some original "cutting and pasting"

I invite you to check in from time to time. Let me know what you think.

And do scroll down for an update on the Burnside Bridge vista (part two).

Mannie