Life imitating Art

The death of David Bowie has continued to resonate with me this week. And an example of this came from an everyday incident that turned into a haunting encounter with his music in a Chicago cemetery. I was driving south on Western Avenue yesterday, on my way to pick up my older daughter from play

A Halloween creep-out

Today I dropped off my teenager at her Saturday class, and then took a detour through the local cemetery on the way home. It’s a gray, cold, and slightly rainy day here in Chicago, and it’s also Halloween, so I figured why not. I parked the car in a random spot, got out and walked

Remembering the fallen

Yesterday was the 150th anniversary of the heaviest fighting at the battle of Spotsylvania in the Civil War. A century and a half ago, the Civil War was grinding on and on, with no end in sight. A presidential election was coming up in the fall, and the staggering losses were dimming Lincoln’s reelection chances.

A Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address

Today I had some time on my hands, and a clear mission in mind. I wanted to film myself reciting the Gettysburg Address and upload it to Learntheaddress.org, a once-in-a-lifetime project to record and upload Lincoln’s speech for posterity. There’s still some time to do this, as I type this out three days before the

A quiet place to reflect

On Memorial Day, my younger daughter and I went to a nearby cemetery to remember those who have served our country. We found this spot, which appears to have been set aside for all veterans. It was exactly what it was intended to be: a quiet, beautiful, and reflective place. It’s my honor to share

Giving a general some love

I read once that something can’t truly be called an “annual” event until it happens a second time. With that disclaimer in mind, today I made my second annual Memorial Day outing to Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. Last year’s outing is described here, and the post that inspired that visit is here. As with last

Honoring Soldiers, Schuylers, and the the guy who made our piano

On Memorial Day, I made good on a promise that I made in an earlier post in this space. In the early morning, while most of the people in the house were still asleep, I took my little one with me and we went to Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. It was a beautiful day, and

Going to Rosehill

A year ago, I was immersed in a project pertaining to the Civil War. As a history major, and a Lincoln buff, the project was a dream come true for me, and I threw myself into it like nothing I had ever worked on before. The project came to a successful completion, and since then