I’m not a big one for the idea of time travel. Don’t get me wrong, I love history and the future intrigues me. But one step wrong in the past and I might not be around for the future. Am I right? And going into the future, I might learn a few things I wish I hadn’t found out. It would be very hard to live in the moment if you knew what the next moment was going to bring. Nope. Not in favor of time travel.
But…
If I could travel, I’d set the Time Machine for 1781, Yorktown, Virginia. Yes, all the glory for the American strike for freedom is given to Philadelphia and the writers/signers of the Declaration of Independence, but the final battle of the war and the surrender, took place in Yorktown.
Mind you, I’d stay in the Time Machine because that area of Virginia, run
through with rivers and near the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, was rife with malaria. In fact, malaria did as good a job fighting for the new country of America as the soldiers. Half of the British army had been struck down with the disease, whereas the American army, having mostly grown up in the region, had immunity. I would love to see the surrender of General Cornwallis to General Washington, and to feel the enormity of our accomplishment. A small, upstart country with a generally ragtag army of farmers, had beaten the premier nation in the world. We had beaten the King.
In current time, I’ve walked the battlements of Yorktown. I saw where the cannon were placed, where our forces and the French bombarded the British, and where the Brits fought back gallantly but without success. I could imagine the cannon fire being heard in nearby Williamsburg, and I’ve walked those streets, too. That part of Virginia is filled with history, and you can’t help but feel it as you stroll the cobblestones of Duke of Gloucester Street or stand on the battlements facing the York River.
For better or worse, that’s as close as I will get to the actual battle and surrender. I’m glad it happened, glad we won our freedom, and glad that so much of the history is preserved for current and future generations to experience, if only a little bit.
I’m looking a little sheepish here, because I have to be true to myself. Battles, schmattles, let’s not forget that happiest of places in our tour of history, the gift shop! And that’s all I’m gonna say.
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
Mystic Desire: A collection of supernatural tales sure to keep you up at night, peering into the shadows! Or just wide awake, reading!
Only a Good Man Will Do
Naval Maneuvers
I don’t think there is anything more debilitating than fear. It’s a major factor in what holds people back and keeps success just out of reach. And the sad thing is, fear of whatever, is hardly ever real. That is, the reality of what we fear often never comes to pass.
only car. “What?” I practically screeched. “Do without a car???” I hadn’t been without my own transportation since I was sixteen except during my first three years of college. A car was independence, not just a vehicle. I was afraid to be without. What if I wanted to go somewhere?? Jack convinced me, however. The day we gave up the car, a weight fell off my shoulders. If there was a car alarm sounding, I knew it wasn’t my car. Pay the meters? Not us. And guess what. There was a cheapy car rental place about four blocks up the street. I think in a year and a half we used it twice. Fear would have added a burden to our time in the city if we had kept the car for those “what if?” times.
I think it would be very hard to write and never put yourself in the story. I mean, who knows us better than us? And even if we don’t want to, little bits of ourselves find their way into what we write, almost whether we want them to or not.
because that’s more fun, and strangely, enough, looking back, I write heroines most often who look like what I’ve always thought I’d like to look: taller, slimmer, red hair and green or bright blue eyes. Sometimes real life is not so magical but we all have dreams and I like to add mine to my books.