Civil War Letters...

After a lazy start yesterday followed by some brunch, a good portion of the day was spent taking cover from the rain. From midday to mid-afternoon I spent my time reading through online archives of American Civil War soldiers' letters for my next essay. To some people that must seem like a hellish way to spend a day, but I really like reading them. The best part is that because these people intended their writing to be private, there are a lot of details and gossip in them that probably wouldn't have been said in public. 

I read about a young man telling his brother how he hooked up in secret with the eldest daughter of a man in a Southern town his regiment were staying in. With whole collections of letters between one soldier and all his siblings and parents you get to see what everyone secretly thought of each other as they confided in the one family member that wasn't around to spread the gossip. In one letter a mother had caught wind of the fact that when her son had been home, he had secretly had a girlfriend, and she was probing for answers on the young girl's identity that he was refusing to give to her. There was news of Christmas parties, people getting too drunk, weddings that people didn't approve of, and mothers wanting to wish their sons sweet dreams with a goodnight kiss. So, despite the different world in which we live, people haven't changed much over the past hundred and fifty years. 

Anyway, enough of my nerdiness. With an hour before dinner, I relaxed with a 'House of Cards' and then headed to the dining hall. After food we trekked over to KC to have some drinks and celebrate Katri's last evening with us before she flies out this morning.