This past Wednesday I had a wonderful time visiting with and speaking to the members of the Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable. Eric Wittenberg put up a very nice post on his blog about the meeting. There were lots of questions afterwards, and I don’t recall seeing anyone fall asleep! Eric and I even signed and sold several copies of our book. I want to thank friend Mike Peters for inviting me, and I hope that the members enjoyed the evening as much as I did. Next month, it’s off to Sylva NC to speak to the Western North Carolina CWRT.
My sister and her husband live in Columbus OH, so I stayed until Saturday. On Thursday I helped brother-in-law Bob pick up some patio furniture for their new home, and we had a great home-cooked meal. For Friday, they had set up a talk for me to a local church group. I spoke about reenacting, living history, and my writing and research. The 40 or so folks in attendance seemed to really enjoy the talk. I think it gave them the side of living history, and what goes into writing a book, that they’d never heard before. In addition, one woman came up to me after the lunch and told me that her mother’s maiden name was Gordon – turns out that the family tree showed her to be a descendant of Gen. John B. Gordon. This lady was in her 80’s, and told me that her grandparents had moved from the south to Ohio. Amazing what a small world it always turns out to be.
On Friday night, Eric and his wife Sue took me, sister Lisa and husband Bob out for dinner and the show at the Shadowbox in Easton. I’ve been to the Shadowbox three times so far, and it’s always a fantastic show. Whenever you get to Columbus, I urge you to check them out if you can. More talented folks I’ve never seen!
I left Ohio for my Pennsylvania home on Saturday morning, feeling refreshed, relaxed, and having made many new friends. I haven’t really been able to take much of a vacation for several months, so it was nice to get on the road for a few days and not have to worry about the office. Recharged my batteries until the next time!
