Weekly Photo Challenge: Change

Venturing forth with my new camera, I’ve confronted this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge with vim and vigor – well, at least I think I have.

The challenge is to present photos that somehow exhibit, personally or universally, some form of change. Let’s see what I came up with.

1. This first photo is of my son’s scooters. Walking our of my garage, the scooter’s were arranged just as they are pictured. I thought the arrangement made for a fine photo. Why change? My boy is growing up. He doesn’t use these scooters much anymore.

photo by S. Thomas Summers

2. My second photo is of a tree in my backyard. The photo was captured a day or so before Hurricane Sandy visited the Northeast. After Sandy struck, the trees leaves, all that gold, was gone.

photo by S. Thomas Summers

3. My third offering represents a more universal change. I write about the American Civil War. My first book, Private Hercules McGraw: Poems of the American Civil War, was released in 2012. My second, The Journals of Lt. Kendall Everly, should be released soon. The photo presented here is of a Union Cavalry Guidon. Flags of this type flew 150 years ago. The flag pictured here, flies in my yard.

photo by S. Thomas Summers

4. Finally, I present a photo of the English department’s book storage room at Wayne Hills High School where I teach literature and writing. Education has changed quite a bit in my 20 years as a teacher. Unfortunately, many recent changes are hurting education. This photo reminds me days gone by and why I became a teacher. I love books. I love a good story.

photo by S. Thomas Summers

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SAVE HISTORY: THE NATIONAL GUARD MILITIA MUSEUM OF NEW JERSEY NEEDS OUR HELP

The following is a portion of a press release I received today from the New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association.

SEA GIRT, N.J. (November 23, 2012) – The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey in Sea Girt was quite literally swamped by Hurricane Sandy. Because of the destruction incurred, the museum has been closed until further notice.

The museum professional staff is proactive, however, and with the help of dedicated volunteers and professional conservation and restoration experts from the New Jersey National Guard and New Jersey State Archives, the US Army’s Center for Military History, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and the Louisiana and Illinois National Guard museums, among others, is working hard on a “Jersey comeback.”

A new museum, bigger and better than the old quarters, is planned, and the museum will continue to expand its mission to narrate to New Jerseyans the stirring story of the state’s military history. The museum is in the process of requesting assistance in attaining those goals from both state and federal governments and private foundations. Initial response has been very encouraging.

In the short run, however, much still has to be accomplished in the stabilization and conservation of museum artifacts, and establishing an immediate cash flow to meet unexpected needs is paramount. Private donations to bridge this situation are needed and welcomed by the museum’s 501-3 (C) support organization. These tax-deductible contributions may be mailed to The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey, 151 Eggerts Crossing Road, Lawrenceville, NJ, 07648. Checks should be made out to the NGMMNJ and be marked for “disaster relief.”

History plays such a vital role in all of our lives. To appreciate it is to appreciate both the present and the future. If you can help out, please do.

Thank you.

When Hurricanes Strike…Write

Hurricane Sandy unleashed her might and fury on the Northeast last night. My family and I spent hours in the dark, listening to winds rage and trees fall. Thanks be to God, our home wasn’t damaged and our power was restored this afternoon. Neighbors and friends were not as lucky.

As Sandy swallowed us and all, I picked up a pen and wrote a poem. A night of nature’s ferocity compelled me to think of man’s ferocity. I wrote of the the First Battle of Bull Run. In this poem, my developing manuscript’s title character, Lt. Kendal Everly, enters the battle. A teacher, Everly inadvertently leads some of his students into the fray.

Thunk and Thud

Like a spear’s tip,
I pierced the fray.
My students, my boys,

chained their resolve to mine:
together, our voices twisted
into one horrid cacophony,

a chorus greater than hell’s
demon song. My sword, drawn
and splitting the air before me,

caught the sun, blazed
like a blade aflame.
And that heart, that thunk

and thud, beat against my brain.
Louder now: so maddening loud.