Tuesday, May 7
A "rainy day in Georgia" can easily be a "rainy day in Tennessee." The Park is an official NOAA weather station so we keep track of rainfall. Since April 25 we have recorded over 8.25 inches of rain. We continue to watch the new waterfowl inhabiting "Lake Garesche," the recently formed body of water just east of the Visitor Center. Named for the Union General Rosecrans' assistant adjutant general who quite literally lost his head in one of the confrontations here at Stones River (thanks to a cannon ball intended for the general himself), the lake may well be around for quite a few weeks, especially if the weekly precipitation of 1-3 inches continues. The resident mallard pair love it; they were merrily swimming along this afternoon when I left to post this. In addition I spotted a heron in flight, several other too-far-away to recognize ducks, and a couple sandpipers earlier in the week. Given the fact that the particular area of the battlesite is known as "Cotton Field," this really isn't intended for pond life.
The booming roar of cannons firing brings visitors to the Park! Last Sunday as part of the planned weekend activities we had cannon firing demonstrations at 1:00 and at 3:00. Attendance hadn't been all that spectacular on Sunday, but about 2:45 fourteen men in town for a church volunteer project rolled in to visit the Battlefield. They were really interested, so Hillary took them out on the plaza to introduce them to the site as well as the museum in time for the 3:00 firings.
About 2:55 a tour bus rolled up, much to everyone's surprise. Usually those things are scheduled in advance. But not so with this one. Some 26 folks dispersed off the bus and when they spotted the preparations for the cannon firing they made a beeline for the back door. As they flew past, their tour director informed them they needed to be back on the bus by 3:25. Right!! About 3:20 they made their way back into the museum and promptly took their places in the theater at the back of the museum for the nine minute video. Ten minutes later most of them headed to the gift shop, some of them having noticed the "sale items" table and the 2 for 1 tee shirt sale. A good time was had by all, save the tour director who finally rounded up her charges shortly before 4:00.
Funny piece of this whole story came when I found out where the bus was from - R and J Tours out of Willmar, Minnesota! How funny was that. (Some of you may not know that's my home town; no relatives nor recognizable faces were on board.)
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