November: writing, art, history, and geocaching

Well, the good news is that I did it. I actually wrote 50,000 words in a month, and it was a crazy month full of a whole lot of chauffeuring and field trips and a whole week on vacation. I wasn't even going to do it before my daughter talked me into it and I'm not sure my book is even anything worth sharing with anyone, but I'm glad I did it. It's one of those things I always thought I could probably do but never really knew for sure. Now I know I can. If you feel you have a book in you somewhere or have a writing bug, join us next year. It's a steep hill to climb, but if I can do it working an hour or so a night or in fifteen minute increments during the day, I bet you could too. Heck, I didn't even have a plan! I just started writing and made it all up as I went.
National Novel Writing Month

Anyway, while I and my daughter were madly writing in our "free" moments, a lot of other stuff happened.


We took a tour at the North Carolina Museum of Art with our art teacher. They have a still-life exhibit that is very good right now, and given someone to show you the differences and interesting contrasts with the different pieces, it was more enjoyable that one might think.

The exhibit is called Still-Life Masterpieces: A Visual Feast From the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It will be open here in Raleigh until January 13. Here is a great link to the museum website, where you can see some photos and purchase tickets if you live in the area and care to go.

We also took a tour with one of our co-ops to see the Historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh. This cemetery has a significant number of Civil War graves. Many of the men were moved from northern sites, such as Gettysburg, after the war, when the government decided that Confederate soldiers should be moved to the south. There is a lone Union soldier in the cemetery, mistakenly moved and not identified until later. This was a spot with a great deal of real history. The kids had been learning about the Civil War, and this was a very poignant way to see the cost of that war. Many of these men could clearly be seen to have just been barely men when they died. Birth and death dates are on the many of the graves. Of course, there are several that are unknown. After a tour the kids did a rubbing of a grave of their choice. My son found a soldier with the same first name as him and a birthday in the same month. It was a very meaningful visit and well placed just before Veterans Day. It didn't hurt that that it was also beautiful and sunny out. 

Another historical site we visited was Bennett Place, which is the site of a major surrender to end the Civil War. It was a farmhouse located in Durham along a major roadway to Raleigh. Generals Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman met here to negotiate the peaceful surrender of Johnston's confederate army. It was the largest surrender of the war. There is a museum and you can get a tour of the house, which is filled with humble 1865 furnishings like the family would have had. Our tour concerned how the family would have lived, pumping water from the well across the road each morning, and all of the other chores the children would have done. I have visited this site before and heard about the solider's life during the Civil War. A re-enactor in period dress showed us how food was cooked over a fire. He also shot a musket for us. This site is a must for anyone learning about the Civil War in North Carolina.

In our 4H group, my son has been learning about orienteering and geocaching, while my daughter has been having fun with photography. If you don't know, geocaching is where you use a GPS to locate various things hidden around. They could be in a tree in the forest or behind a sign. Let me tell you, there are little things hidden ALL OVER. If you are curious, check out geocaching.com. You can get coordinates there and see a map. It has been a lot of fun and I hope we can do more of this in the future. Apparently, if you have a smart phone there is a free app you can download for coordinates and GPS directions. I don't have one of those cool phones, but if you do, I think the app would be a great resource. 

 

There was soccer and horseback riding, and then we left town for Thanksgiving. Those are just the high points of our month. There is so much to catch up on and share. Now that (I think) I have things fixed here on my blog, I hope to post a bit more regularly. We're on to the next set of holidays already... more soon!