June is kinda my favorite month. It used to be because that was when school ended, and contrary to what you might believe about me, I was not a very good student (until college and grad school), but don’t tell any of my kids that. Lately I like June because I take off a lot of days to deal with my accumulated mental health problems. Being an exceedingly boring person, I seldom go anywhere and hence end up in June with a pile of “use ’em or lose ’em” days off.  I’ve never come even close to maxing my vacation time.

I was going to make a mental health trip to the Shenandoah yesterday, but the weather was rather sketchy looking, so I did it today instead… a glorious weather day. I particularly wanted to see some Civil War sites, which I did and which you can read about in my Civil War blog over the next 10 days or so … at http://www.enfiladinglines.com

But here are some pictures of things that caught my eye today … one Civil War thing, and then several more items.

This first set of two pictures needs explaining. I was at an elevated site on the Port Republic Battlefield when a tour bus pulls up. So I walked down the hill and struck up a conversation with a passenger, who told me it was a group of CW enthusiasts on a Stonewall Jackson tour of the Valley Campaign directed by Ed Bearrs – who is like 90 years old and perhaps the most famous CW historian and communicator ever. He is on lots of TV documentaries and is truly the rock star of CW tour guides and educators. He is an amazing man.

This next picture I took for both New York Giants fans and all the haters of the same!  To the fans I would say, “Rejoice while you can, because there is an apparent change coming.”  To everyone else I’d say, “No worries, the Giants are dead!”

This next picture is for my family – who often tell me that they don’t know what to get me for Christmas.  Here is an idea:

Part of the reason I need mental health escapes is because of dealing with people in crises – like marriages, for one example. This Mennonite mailbox sign caught my eye… but I know some folks who would say to this that bonds are not paying very high dividends right now, and that is why they need to play the broader market for higher profits.

I probably don’t need to prove the point that most Civil War geeks like me are more than a bit nuts. I walked a long distance to see this
marker that was supposed to be overlooking a panoramic view from a highly elevated hillside – oh well… just need some imagination.