Hazel Grove, Chancellorsville

Over the past few years, in the time since I met my spouse, the two of us have been spending increasing amounts of time in the Greater Washington DC area. Now, personal events are going to find us increasingly commuting between the suburbs of Virginia and our home in New York City. This change poses numerous challenges, but includes a number of exciting possibilities as well. The region means a lot to us. For starters, my mother was born in Washington DC and every time I visit I cannot help but feel I am “coming home” in some way. It is also the city where I proposed to my wife, which obviously makes it more meaningful. Some of fondest memories involve the people and places we know there. One of my personal favorites was one that, oddly, I did not attend: the 150th commemoration of First Bull Run. I had taken the bus to Union Station early that morning, where I was met by the Hayfoot. You may remember that it was an incredibly hot weekend, with the heat index in the 120s. We ourselves went to the Library of Congress that day for the exhibition of the then just recently acquired Liljenquist collection. That night we watched much of the Bull Run coverage online. Knowing the commemoration was taking place just thirty miles or so down the road was enough for us.

We are still in the transition, but one thing we are eager to do is visit the Civil War battlefields in Virginia, among other, non-Civil War related things. I have been to a good many battlefields but the only one in the Old Dominion that I have visited as of yet is Fredericksburg, and that was only for an hour or so when I pulled off the highway on my way to live in New York in 1997. We are hoping to change that in the next 12-15 months with visits to Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Manassas, and so forth. There is no substitute for walking the fields. Needless to say we are nervous during this period of change, but also excited and looking forward to spring and what it brings.

(image/Alana Iesu)

1958 Richard Neutra sketch of Gettysburg cyclorama building

It was a slow news week here at the Strawfoot. I took Friday off to rest up a bit before the spring semester begins tomorrow. The Hayfoot and I went to the Met Museum. You have until March 17 to check out Matisse: In Search of True Painting. The concise exhibit–it logs in with just 49 art works–manages to explain the evolution of Matisse’s work across the span of his career up through his death in 1954. I first grasped his penchant for painting in series after a visiting the Pompidou years ago and seeing different versions of long familiar paintings, but this show captures this tendency of Matisse’s and shows it to you in full. The Met is one of the few places in the world that could have pulled this off. Last night we watched the first episode of Mad Men. We tend to watch one series from beginning to end on Netflix before moving on to something else. A short list includes The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, The Office, Ugly Betty, and The Rockford Files. Now we’re going to sped our winter with Don Draper.

Research for the Hawley biography is slowly but surely continuing. I will undoubtedly learn a great deal along the way–otherwise why write it?–but I feel I now know what the book will say, who its audience will be, how it will “read,” and that type of thing. In some ways these hurdles seem to be the most difficult part of the project. I am finding the process scary and exhilarating in equal measure. Work continues on Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and his friend William E. Dodge Jr. as well. Civil War New York is an under-explored and misunderstood subject. I couldn’t help but mention Roosevelt to the wife when we were walking up the stairs of the Met the other day, Theodore Sr. being one of the founders of the Met Museum and all.

The last thing the world needs is more news about the old cyclorama building but here is a link to a link to what Architectural Digest has to say about  it. The piece is not long. I hope they videotape the demolition of the building when it comes down this winter.

Enjoy your Sunday.

(image/National Park Service)

The Hayfoot and I took advantage of the weather to take a walk on the penultimate day of the year.

Mausoleum

Snowy stump

Theodore Roosevelt Sr., his wife, and Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt Jr’s first wife Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. Teddy is buried in Oyster Bay with his second spouse. Oddly, Teddy’s first wife and mother died on the same day, February 14, 1884. Note the roses.

The headstones are quite faded, but can be discerned if you know what you are looking for.

That the family circle is incomplete is quite moving. The Roosevelts are scattered as far away as Hyde Park, Long Island, Washington, DC, Alaska, and elsewhere.

The gate is a nice touch.

It was cold and windy, just the right feel for a December walk in a cemetery.

Old gate

The holly tree added a touch of color.

Enjoying our holidays.

High Line

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. This popped up on the Hayfoot’s email from the Friends of the High Line blog and she passed along:

 As legend has it, in 1980, after years of declining use, the final train chugged down the elevated railway, carrying three carloads of frozen turkeys.

This last shipment of turkeys marked the end of an era in which the High Line played an integral role in bringing raw materials and food into New York City. Since its construction in 1934, the High Line had transported meat, raw goods, and finished products to and from the area’s factories, including the Nabisco bakery within the building that is now home to Chelsea Market.

If you ever visit New York I strongly recommend a visit to the High Line. Enjoy your day.

(image/Jim Shaughnessy)

I have not been out of the house yet, but I cannot express how fortunate we were personally through Hurricane Sandy. We, our friends, and loved ones are fine.

As with Irene last year we are as ready as we will be for Hurricane Sandy. I worked in the morning and the Hayfoot left with me to load up on supplies. When I returned I went to Green-Wood Cemetery to stretch my legs before the deluge. I got back about a half hour ago and the wind had picked up significantly. To say that the cemetery had a unique vibe in the hours before the storm would be putting it mildly. I found this Civil War veteran’s headstone, with the old bench next to the tree, quite moving. Note the Grand Army of the Republic medallion at the lower left.

A quick internet search reveals that Captain John in de Betou Thompson, born in Sweden, lived at 308 President Street and died in Brooklyn in February 1882.

It is somewhat difficult to make out but Camille M. Horan–a granddaughter?–died in 1987, just twenty-five years ago. I couldn’t help but wonder who put the bench under the tree.

Waiting to ride the storm out here in the County of Kings. Wherever you are, I hope you are safe.

With the season at Governors Island over and a few projects now behind me, I have set aside October to catch up on a few things, explore the city a bit, and do some reading for myself. Last week I downloaded Walter Stahr’s new biography, Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man, to my kindle. I am increasingly interested in the decades just before and just after the war itself. You cannot understand the war without doing so. It is fascinating to see how the war changed our society. There is a significant difference between 1855 America and 1870 America. It’s the Civil War Era. I am also reading Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World. The Ike bio has been my subway read during my morning and evening commute. Two months ago I backordered David S. Hartwig’s To Antietam Creek: The Maryland Campaign of September 1862. When I got home this evening the package was there on the dining room table, the Hayfoot having brought it in from the mailbox. Campaign is the key word. This is the first of a projected two-volume set about the events of September 1862. After watching all the Antietam coverage a few weeks back and reading Brian Matthew Jordan’s Unholy Sabbath: The Battle of South Mountain in History and Memory, I have been eager to read the Hartwig book for some time.

Speaking of getting out, a friend and I are going to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx this weekend.  This fall and winter I intend to visit several cemeteries in New York and New Jersey. October and November are the best time of the year here in Gotham.