1775

April 19… Lexington and Concord. April 20… Boston. Gage sat in Boston with a sympathetic, but iron fist. He ruled the city, but the countryside was held by angry colonists. Raised to handle a musket, but aside from groups like Artemas Ward’s 3rd Regiment who’d resigned en masse from the army to fight it, were all effectively militia. Nothing to scoff at considering they elected their own officers and had cut their teeth training for and repulsing Indian raids, but were green as grass when it came to actually going muzzle to muzzle with much more than that. Nevertheless, the colonists had been stirred up like angry hornets. Gage was sympathetic to the cause of liberty and while loyal to the crown, didn’t wish a repeat of the Boston Massacre. As the hornets in the Massachusetts hills buzzed in anger while royal order collapsed, he was given orders had to disarm the rebels and arrest their leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

Gage sent his redcoats out to Lexington on the 19th to remove the rebels’ stores of muskets, powders and shells, and as they neared, about 80 militiamen emerged, alerted by colonials of the British plans. The militia’s supplies had all been removed and hidden, and Adams and Hancock had left the area. Captain John Parker came out of Buckman Tavern with about 80 assembled militiamen and came to a parade ground formation.

Here we are. Here we stand. Armed. Defiant. No wish for violence, but no tolerance for tyranny… and outnumbered nearly six-to-one. Parker didn’t care. He literally paused his personal battle with tuberculosis to command these men, and thus, his voice was somewhat difficult to hear. But this was only a show of resolve, nothing more. Redcoats had marched out many times before to seize supplies, found nothing, and went back to Boston. This time, though, the order was given to the militia to lay down their arms. Parker ordered his men to disperse, but thanks to his mangled voice the order wasn’t properly heard. Someone, somewhere fired a shot, and the world changed.

Well, before it changed…the militiamen ran as the Regulars opened fire. Word spread like wildfire that blood had been spilled, and the British found nothing but empty caches instead of militia arms and powder. They continued on to Concord, but with as just as much luck. And then the world changed.

Scattered musket fire from all over the area began to echo forth as word spread and ordinary men grabbed their weapons, kissed their wives, and set out to defend their homes and liberty. Throughout the day, the retreating Redcoats were harassed by Minutemen coming out of the woodwork, knowing the terrain and ambushing and chasing them all the way back to the safety of Boston. The same Boston which was surrounded the next day by no less than 15,000 angry hornets who had had enough of the domineering Redcoats.

Massholes a thousand miles north beat y’all in the Holy City by literally one fucking day. And y’all’s idea was better, lolz…

Been about week you’ve been sitting on this one. No particular reason besides the little “X years ago today” thing doesn’t exactly jive with current moods, events, etc. Lots of things going on in your world, and virtually all of them involve…waiting on things you hate waiting on. Bill seems to be okay. In limbo until they can do internal stuff Monday. Your IRS check will be mailed May 1. Yay. That will help cover the $1266 cost for the ER vet to tell you his intestinal tract was thick but more evaluation is needed. DEW is holding things up because you tried being honest with them about your situation regarding employment and benefits. Mayo got the referral you’d asked Doc to send, but they didn’t send medical history, so hold on that until Monday too. Bright side it – you’ll have a busy day for once in a long time, lol.

Church service on YouTube this morning again. Very thankful you can make it and have even invited Flame to join you in watching live…though it helps when you wake up before 10:45 for the 10:30 service. You talk with her a lot, though true to form she’s far more fun than cerebral. Her words. Shared Locke and Key with her and she loved it; you knew she would. Mom & Dad had lunch with you at the picnic table in the park across the street, so you could be on opposite ends and not risk anyone getting the boogieman plague. Shrimp and Grits. Seems to be a slowly budding new tradition.

Celt is still away with her daughter being driven out of her mind. Finds a way to get bit by tragedy; her boyfriend’s daughter has been spending time with hers, but the former’s dog was killed by a car and she blames herself because she supposedly didn’t fix the fence right and the dog got out. Bad luck just seems to follow her; not good for a DIY enthusiast.

Things are slowly beginning to open back up here; with business owners trying to follow procedure to ensure shoppers can be as safe as possible. Masks, limitation of numbers allowed in at once, having people stay away from each other, etc., as makes sense for them to do because they’re going to get more customers if they make it safe for them to shop. Free market wins again. There is still an obvious hole in your life, but you can’t do anything about it but pray, and you constantly pray. You miss her too. Spent money you didn’t have on a Macanudo, as always in honor of Keith. Tonight will be a good night to talk to Management, walking around New Market Street, and maybe a firepit if it gets cool enough. The weather is pricelessly beautiful. Sky so blue…the dark blue kind of blue that makes it so magical. 

Thank God you live here. People help people here. Happiness and goodwill are the order of the day, not exceptions to the rule. Can get the wet kind of hot in June, July, and August but now that at least helps keep the virus at bay. People are responsible, and yet free. There’s always bad stuff out there, but the only ones miserable here seem to be the ones who are always miserable. But this isn’t the place for you to babble about politics. Cleanse your soul. You’ve let anger and anxiety fester from many sources, and you are no good to pay anything forward until you get the spiritual version of Vitamin D from the vibrance of the worlds He created like your body would collect from the sun.

Exercising is already discouraging, but the discouragement is on schedule. Best way to handle it is to dip into college fight song mode and treat it like it’s one of those bastards that wants to take your muskets or score a touchdown in your end zone; whichever spiritually pisses you off more, lolz…

Maybe that’s part of the key of finding the peace you strive for – acknowledging that side of you and channeling it to more constructive purposes. Dunno. Still figuring out the new heart. Thankful for it though. You still degenerated into a sniffling tear-filled Bro when Bill was in the vet ER for four hours, but didn’t ball like a 12 year old. Progress. Hopefully a little bit better officer material at least.

Put your faith in Him. In More. He knows what He’s doing. He loves you and everyone you love. And He wants you to succeed. So… thanks for every blessing. And double thanks for the cat.  🙂

1775 was a year of new beginnings being forged in what were well known to be the beginning of very hard times. Yours are nothing like theirs were in anything but spirit. You’re pretty sure they wouldn’t mind inspiring you though. 🙂