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The Cavalry Has Arrived
Sep. 15th, 2013 12:12 amThe cavalry has arrived in the shape of my mom. She got in last night. Yesterday, I held it together at work (with a little help from No Doz), but by the time I got to Springfield, I was reeling with exhaustion. I managed to go to the grocery store because I was out of garlic rolls and went home and ate dinner. When I was done, my mom still wasn't there. I wondered what she would do if I was asleep when she got here. She arrived at about 10:30. She said, "I assume that we're going out to get something to eat?" I started pleading with her, saying that she could eat anything that's in my freezer, but I really needed to go to sleep. That was okay with her, and I was in bed by 11:30, and out like the proverbial light.
Today, we went over to the Lincoln Museum in downtown Springfield. It is excellent. They said they were trying to document "Lincoln the man" rather than "Lincoln the icon," and they did an excellent job, especially documenting how controversial he was at the time. My mom and I are planning to go back because we didn't finish going through the entire museum. We wound up discussing what we saw for a long time. (The exhibit "To Wound and to Heal," which is about medical care during the Civil War, and was briefly at the college at which I work, was fascinating. I didn't know that two-thirds of the soldiers who died during the Civil War died of disease and not from wounds.) Very highly recommended if you are ever in Springfield, IL.
Amazing what sticks in your memory. We started talking about Carl Sandburg. My mom was wondering where he was from, and without skipping a beat I said that he was from Galesburg, and that I thought that he was buried in his back yard. I looked it up when we got home, and sure enough, I was right. How long has that been sitting in the back of my mind? Probably the better part of 40 years?
Downtown Springfield is a little creepy in that there are never crowds of people there, even during the week. It's a little like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (And the stores in Springfield are empty by 10:00 at night too. Maybe people in Springfield don't go anywhere? Where do they go for fun? St. Louis?)
I had planned to work on some cover letters tonight, but I'm really tired again, so I need to get up early. These are important ones: University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Michigan. And my mom and I are going to work on the stuff in the garage tomorrow. (Thank goodness that it's cooler because it's like an oven in there.) We also need to get supplies so that my mom can pack some stuff while I'm at work.
Today, we went over to the Lincoln Museum in downtown Springfield. It is excellent. They said they were trying to document "Lincoln the man" rather than "Lincoln the icon," and they did an excellent job, especially documenting how controversial he was at the time. My mom and I are planning to go back because we didn't finish going through the entire museum. We wound up discussing what we saw for a long time. (The exhibit "To Wound and to Heal," which is about medical care during the Civil War, and was briefly at the college at which I work, was fascinating. I didn't know that two-thirds of the soldiers who died during the Civil War died of disease and not from wounds.) Very highly recommended if you are ever in Springfield, IL.
Amazing what sticks in your memory. We started talking about Carl Sandburg. My mom was wondering where he was from, and without skipping a beat I said that he was from Galesburg, and that I thought that he was buried in his back yard. I looked it up when we got home, and sure enough, I was right. How long has that been sitting in the back of my mind? Probably the better part of 40 years?
Downtown Springfield is a little creepy in that there are never crowds of people there, even during the week. It's a little like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (And the stores in Springfield are empty by 10:00 at night too. Maybe people in Springfield don't go anywhere? Where do they go for fun? St. Louis?)
I had planned to work on some cover letters tonight, but I'm really tired again, so I need to get up early. These are important ones: University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Michigan. And my mom and I are going to work on the stuff in the garage tomorrow. (Thank goodness that it's cooler because it's like an oven in there.) We also need to get supplies so that my mom can pack some stuff while I'm at work.
