Happy Thanksgiving…

…from my favorite spot on the battlefield!

A New Year, a Stamp, and a Milestone

First, Happy New Year to all my readers and Facebook fans.  Here’s hoping 2011 will be as good as or better than its predecessors.

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Second, the U. S, Postal Service has announced it will be releasing Civil War themed stamps in each year of the sesquicentennial (see here).  The first two stamps will commemorate 1861 events, the bombing of Ft. Sumter and the Battle of First Bull Run.  I could only find this small image of the Bull Run stamp, but it is a copy of the painting that hangs on the wall of the Manassas Visitor Center, The Capture of Ricketts’ Battery, painted for the NPS in 1964 by Sydney E. King.  Here’s a nice big image of the painting (click for a larger version):

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Third and last, this is the 1,000th post on Bull Runnings – thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas 2010

Christmas Jesus

Merry Christmas to all my readers, even if you don’t celebrate it.  I don’t dole out the good wishes attendant to this day based on the beliefs of the recipient.  Enjoy your dinner with those you love, even if you’re not lucky enough to partake of the fruits of Domino’s, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell.

Back

John Wesley Powell

I’m back from an extended break from work and blogging.  Saw the Grand Canyon, and if you’ve never been, it’s something that can’t be described, photographed, or filmed adequately.  John Wesley Powell, a Union vet who lost an arm at Shiloh, explored and mapped the Canyon extensively; that was about the only Civil War connection I made the whole trip, and I think the family was pretty happy about that.  Anyway, I have some catching up to do work-wise, and will be back to posting soon.  I finished up Larry Tagg’s The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln, an important book, and will share my thoughts good and bad later.

Let it Snow

Don’t attempt to adjust your computer screen.  We control the vertical.  We control the horizontal.  For all you Californians, that’s snow falling on Bull Runnings, courtesy of WordPress’s extras.  You guys out there get great big giant fake breasts, we here in Pittsburgh get snow.  I for one am glad for it, ’cause if it was the other way around shoveling my driveway would be a real bear.

Happy Holidays!