historical what ifs

History is so full of those little tiny, what ifs? What if this had happened, then how would that have affected the course of...say the Allied victory? And reading John Adams, his first trip to Europe could easily have ended at the bottom of the ocean because of the storms and the threat of the British Navy. And how would that have affected the course of American Independence.

I bring this up because of a book I'm currently reading: Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence by H. W. Brands. I had that "what if" moment when reading about Sam Houston and the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1813, where he was pretty much left for dead on the battlefield due to his wounds...only he didn't succumb and he woke up the next morning (and was then given the proper medical treatment of the day).

And I thought..."wow...what would have happened had Sam Houston not woken up?" How would that have changed the historical landscape of the border area? It's been several years since my Texas history class (a big reason why I'm reading this book), but I know he was pretty important. Definitely know he was a President and that he was also pretty important in the fight for Texas' independence.

But the Raven survived and helped history become the way it is. If he hadn't, would others have stepped up to take his place? It's just interesting...all those what ifs. History's interesting.

I know, a very profound statement, no? But if you do want to learn a little about this state that, I think, has been so romanticized, then I suggest Brands' book. And of course there are Michener's book. We read The Eagle and the Raven (the Eagle is Santa Anna and the Raven is Sam Houston) in that Texas history class, and my Mom read Texas shortly before moving to the state and she's recommended it to me. I just haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but I will. And then I'll let you know what I think.

I used to the play the flute

I used to play the flute, and now I couldn't remember fingering positions if my life depended on it. If I think about it long enough, F seems to start coming back but then I forget it in an instant (if it ever came back at all). I can still position my lips correctly, so I suppose I could at least make a sound on the instrument.

Random thought, no? But this morning I had the classical music station on and there was a piece that was pretty much all flute. And as I sat with my cup of coffee, listening to it and slowly starting my morning (I'm definitely not a morning person. If it's early, I hate getting up and rushing around to get ready and out the door), I felt...nostalgic for an instrument I used to play, albeit not very well. And maybe that's because I'm sure it's one I won't go back to.

I still have my flute, somewhere. My Mom told me she didn't get rid of it after the move, even though I think I might have told her to go ahead and toss it. If I remember correctly, there's a piece that's loose and needs to be repaired. But of course now there doesn't seem to be the time to go back to it. I barely have enough time for work, writing, piano and Italian. Oh, and now French since I want to go to Paris and try to force myself to speak French (maybe I'll finally bump up to the advanced). And of course there are a couple exhibitions at the museums now i want to see.

When I listen to Josh Bell, I wish I'd taken up the violin and then wonder if that would have gone the way of the piano and flute. I played piano for several years (along with ballet...what little girl hasn't done one or the other?) and stopped, only to finally take it up again in high school with lessons after school. Now I have a keyboard that I play when I have time and study my lessons as though I still had to. But weeks will go by where I don't touch the keys. Would I have gone back to the violin after falling in love with Puccini's O Mio Bambino?

Hmmm...not sure. Maybe I'll have to create a character who plays the flute. Definitely a good reason to try to play that again. Of course, that's assuming I can find the instrument. And fix it.

Anyone else have any instruments in their past they miss or have gone back to?

city of brotherly love

Over the holiday weekend, Carrie and I decided to head out of the city and visit Philadelphia. Having lived nearly all of my life in very, very large states, the fact that I can hop on a train and travel through four states in two hours is...incredible.

The hotel was also neatly situated several blocks from the historical part of Philly, which was nice Saturday even when we dragged ourselves back to the hotel. At least, it didn't quite feel like we were dragging ourselves back there.

It was really cool to visit Philadelphia so soon after finishing John Adams (which is a book I highly, highly recommend), because of course he was in the city so much during the Independence era and of course as president. And it was also kind of nice to have my own agenda of what to see (everything) instead of following one that was set out by parents...even if I did want to see it.

So...let's see, what did we do? Well, we toured Indepedence Hall and the Congress Hall next to it, saw the Liberty Bell, the Declaration House, Todd house, Betsy Ross' house, Christ Church, some other houses, Ben Franklin's grave and other signers' graves, saw the Franklin Mint (closed on weekends so no tour) and umm...quite a few other things. I guess maybe I should go back and look at what we didn't see.

But I have decided I am in love with Philadelphia. It's up there with Boston and San Francisco on my list of favorite cities. Now I'm trying to plan when I can go back to Boston. It's been a long time since I've walked the Freedom Trail and I think, now that I've been reading a lot of US history books, that it's time to do so again. And of course throw some more tea into the harbor!

I'll post a link soon when I get pictures up online. There are some technical issues with my site I normally post pictures, so I'm thinking of just putting them up on Flickr. And when I do, I'll also (finally) post those pictures from Virginia last month.

some good news

Not necessarily some good news, but some news I saw this morning and was very pleased with. But maybe first I should set up why?

When I was a little girl, I, like many little girls, wanted to be nearly everything under the sun: a teacher, an actress, a veterinarian, etc. The one career that I wanted strongly to follow, besides being a writer, of course, was a marine biologist. I often went to the library and bypassed the Nancy Drew books for anything I could find on whales (though I would, on occasion, read Nancy Drew too).

I learned a lot during that time period.

I'm not quite sure what happened to that career goal though. It may have been my aversion to the frog dissection in high school biology. But even during college, and even now, I've often wished I'd continued that. I've even tried to think of a story idea centered around a marine biologist to delve back into all that research.

But anyway, the article I saw this morning that made me happy was this: Humpback Whales Make Huge Comeback.

It was definitely good to see that these animals that so captivated my attention (along with Orcas) are making a comeback. And it makes me want to cruise on over to Amazon and see what books I can get to read back up on whales. Who knows? Maybe that story will come back to the forefront of my mind.

Anyone else have any long-gone career objectives that still retain your attention?

rite of passage

This weekend I went up to Pittsburgh, and after shopping around for a mode of transportation, I rented a car to drive up and back. I've been talking about renting a car after turning 25, and now I've finally done it. And, true to any rite of passage, this weekend definitely had its challenges.

First off, it was strange to drive an automatic, but even more so to drive one of those hybrid part-standard part-automatic things. Because when you have to stop suddenly, your right hand drops to the gear shift trying to shift to neutral and your left foot presses down on the floor looking for a non-existent clutch. And "I've got to get in neutral" races through your mind even while you can't do it.

But that's beside the point.

It rained this weekend, especially on my driving days of Friday and Sunday. It rained a lot. And there was roadwork somewhere in Maryland and I went five miles in one hour. I'm not kidding either. So while my initial ETA was a little before 5, I arrived a little after 6.

On the way home there wasn't much traffic, but as I neared DC and had about thirty minutes or so of time left before returning my car, the skies opened up and poured, making it a little difficult to see. And of course, I don't drive in DC so I'm attempting to check my directions and watch the signs and attempt to watch the traffic around me through a veil of raindrops.

But...I passed. I got my car, and myself, to and from in one piece and managed to do so in a strange car on a strange drive without getting lost.

And the trip was more than worth it and worth the annoyances and the slight stresses. And it will also be no big thing to rent another car in the future.

stories

When visiting family, old stories inevitably come up. And I've always known my grandmother had a wealth of stories to tell, an ability I'd like to think came my great-grandmother, an Irish immigrant to the US who used to scare my grandmother with stories of the Bean Sidhe (banshee in Gaelic). Maybe she was a descendant from some great Irish bard. It was from my grandmother that I first heard the myths of the old Nordic and Greek gods.

In high school when studying World War II, we had to interview someone from that time for stories. And though I heard a few, the one I remember the most was my grandmother traveling back to the States from Panama (my grandfather was in the Navy), alone with a newborn (my aunt), on a blacked-out ship that cruised through the waters in a zig-zag pattern.

Anyway, while in Virginia, I learned more about my great-grandmother that weekend than I had in the last twenty-five years. I knew, for instance, that she had a brother who went away and fought in Europe during WWI, but I didn't know she had more than one brother. And to be honest, I really didn't know anything about my great-grandfather.

So after coming back to DC and thinking about it, I'm sending my grandmother a note to ask her to write down what she can of my great-grandmother, and also more stories about herself. Not only is it valuable information to know about yourself and where you came from, but as a writer, it could also provide the idea for the next great story. I already have one idea in mind after hearing more about a story I sort of knew a few details about. Of course, after thinking more about it, I wondered if it would be "realistic" enough for a novel. Sometimes life can be much stranger than fiction, you know?