LIVING History

Jen was been gone for ten days, off partying in Idaho, which in itself gave a different flavor to home life- a bedroom all to myself! Josh loaned me a fantasy novel which I read while Jen was gone, alone, in the dark upstairs- no wonder people are afraid of the dark. I got a little freaked out as I was reading(upstairs, alone, in the dark, at 10:30pm, which is past my bedtime) about these big black nasty spiders, and then a real spider crawled across my neck. I decided that was a providential sign that it was time to stop reading for the night.

Since our van is gone, we are now forced to use two cars whenever we travel as a family- except while Jen was gone we squished seven people into a five person car, to save on gas. What does that tell you about our frugality? As Dad would say, we're Scottish! When we had the van it was a better ratio- eight people in a seven person vehicle.

Last Saturday Caleb, Andrew and I traveled to Ft. Atkinson to take part in the living history demonstrations there. I was a bit concerned about the qualifications for being admitted, since I get the feeling most historic forts/parks/houses have some pretty high standards on what you have to know and what you have to wear to be able to participate. Caleb and Andrew had no knowledge whatsoever because I sort of forced them to go(I'm not used to going places alone, but that's another issue). However, upon arrival we signed some papers and were allowed to dress in borrowed historic clothes to immediately take part in the living history demonstrations. The boys were enlisted in the infantry, because they are sadly short on soldiers. I started out at the laundry station, but moved over to the quilting room. Andrew loved it because he got fed lunch. My desire is to eventually do Revolutionary War reenacting on the east coast, but Ft. Atkinson is the closest thing to it in my neighborhood. It seems to be a really good place to start as a reenactor, since it's such a relaxed atmosphere. I didn't take any pictures, but maybe next time I can sneak a few after visiting hours- can't let visitors see you with a camera, you know!

The next living history event is July 3rd and 4th, and I am definitely planning on attending- and bringing Caleb and Andrew along too. Come visit me in 1820! It's a lot of fun.