250th Birthday

[Murfreesboro]

My husband knows his military history, and yesterday we had what I thought was an interesting discussion. We were watching a documentary about the WW2 battle of Kursk, the biggest tank battle ever, when the Soviets defeated the Germans on the eastern front. So I asked my husband what moment in WW2 was comparable to the Battle of Gettysburg for the Germans.

My husband said that Gettysburg wasn't really the key battle in the American Civil War, that Lee actually lost that war at Sharpsburg in late 1862. It was his first foray into the North, and his loss enabled Lincoln to make the Emancipation Proclamation, which put off any European allies the South might have had. That proclamation transformed the optics of the war, making it about slavery in the eyes of the world, very politically savvy, because the war originally had been about a constitutional issue, whether or not the states had the right to secede (in fact, they did, which is why Southern leaders were never prosecuted for treason after the war. The North didn't want those arguments going to the Supreme Court.)

Anyway, as a military guy, my husband distinguishes between strategy and tactics. Strategy is the overall vision, tactics the nitty gritty of getting the battles won. He said that Lee lost the war strategically at Sharpsburg, but tactically at Gettysburg. Similarly, he said the Germans lost WW2 strategically at Stalingrad, but tactically at Kursk.

I asked him if Lee knew he had lost the war at Sharpsburg. He said he thought Lee knew from the outset that winning was a very long shot and that the only hope the South had was to win it fast. He said if Lee had taken Longstreet's advice, retreated from Gettysburg and fought on ground of his own choosing between there and Washington, there's a chance he might have won and that the North might have sued for peace. Lee was such a brilliant general otherwise, one of the greats in world military history, that his behavior at Gettysburg is mystifying. Some people actually think he was ill and suffering from a fever that clouded hus judgment at that crucial moment.

[Murfreesboro]

Have y'all been following the journeys of the European soccer fans in the US this summer? Freddy the German et al? Their enthusiasm for our country is both amusing and touching. They are reminding us of what makes us special. If you've missed any of these folks, look them up on line. It will make you feel good.

[Andybev01]

I love the Scots putting orange traffic cones everywhere!

[Murfreesboro]

Isn't that absurdly funny! All these people are amazing me. They LOVE what they are experiencing here, and most of them seem surprised by how much they are loving America. We have become blind to the things they find extraordinary. We take our nation so much for granted. I think these European tourists have made my 4th of July already.

[Murfreesboro]

Happy birthday, America! 250 years young! Woohoo!

[Andybev01]

Yes indeed happy birthday u s a

I spent the evening on my porch and there were fireworks to the left of me and fireworks to the right of me etc.Etc.

It literally went on all over town from about sunset 'til probably midnight.

Icould taste the air.It was awful , but boy , was it pretty.

Here is a link to a sample of what was going on just two blocks in front of me.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rkgzad89 ... itp8n&dl=0

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, very nice! My daughter and I walked a couple of blocks down the street and watched the Murfreesboro city fireworks. They were a few miles away from us, but in an elevated location, so we saw it all pretty well.

I had bought a sack of 30 red, white, and blue glow sticks at Walmart, and after the fireworks I hung them all in our trees and bushes. They were pretty last night.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

I'm glad that everybody had a good time. Murf, your idea to decorate the bushes like that sounds great, I'll have to try that some time.

[Murfreesboro]

Well, it was a last-minute inspiration. I always buy glow necklaces for the family, but Walmart had run short and had only these 30-packs left. I know from experience that they don't last from year to year, so I asked myself what I was going to do with so many, and that seemed the logical thing. Our neighbor's little girl loved it. I might do it again next year.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

I was thinking that you could do it on Halloween as well, with orange, green, and purple sticks to enhance the atmosphere in the yard.