As mentioned previously, we lived down in the Northern Virginia area for a little less than three quarters of a year back in the 90′s. Although the whole enterprise was one of those colossal mistakes that (I assume) we all make, there were a few bright spots here and there. One of those was a trip we took down to Baltimore with the kids and a family friend who had driven down to spend the weekend with us.

I stumbled upon this poem the other day, and just loved it. Partially because of the way it reads, but mostly because of the subject. I have relatives who do – or at least did – the whole “dress up in medieval clothing” thing. I also hear about how great the past was from co-workers and acquaintances (never friends – they’re way too smart for that) about how much better things were in the “good old days”.

In addition to the literature class I mentioned last week, my appreciation of poetry couldn’t help but be shaped by the fictional John Keating in Dead Poets Society, which came out in my junior year of high school. I think that Sean and I saw that movie at least a half-dozen times during our last two years of high school, and we normally managed to drag a few of our friends along with us to see it.

More than anyone, I probably have my high school literature teacher to thank for my fascination with and confusion by poetry. It was in his class that I first starting viewing poems as being something to enjoy rather than just endure. I remember thinking that at some indeterminate point in the future I would “get” poetry. Looking back now with nearly a quarter century of perspective, I have to laugh at my naivete because as I near forty I’m no closer to “getting it”.

On our way back from Philadelphia, we stopped at National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg. This has been something that I’ve been wanting to do for at least fifteen years, ever since I started travelling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and passing the museum’s billboards. The long wait did not disappoint; although not large, the museum had one of the best collections of Civil War artifacts that I have personally seen.