Good afternoon, it’s time for tea!

I realize I missed a tea two weeks ago. My apologies. I’ve been working a real job and finishing a manuscript and that weekend I also needed to attend a history event. Writing time has not been as regular as usual, but it’s good to be “here” today.

Now that we’re in the middle of September, summer is definitely coming to an end. (The first day of autumn is actual on the 22nd of this month.) So we’ll be talking about our favorite summer memories and goals for the coming season.

If this was a real tea party, I think we’d have iced spice tea and apples with caramel sauce…

How did you do on your summer goal list?

At the beginning of summer, I’d shared a few of my summer goal. Here’s what I accomplished (and didn’t).

1. Have lunch at Farmers Market at the local history museum

Nope. This one didn’t happen. But I did buy peaches at a local farm stand in Sperryville, Virginia. Does that count?

2. Go to the beach

Ugh – I haven’t done this one either. Hopefully in the next week or two!

3. Read the new novel “Varina” and re-read “Red Badge of Courage”

I am currently reading Varina, but am not quite far enough into the story to decide if I like the book or not.

4. Go to a museum or exhibit I’ve never visited before

Attended a theater performance on the life of Elizabeth Keckley and visited some obscure locations on New Market battlefield.

5. Go to a summer concert or movie night

I did attend a patriotic concert on July 3 and later in the summer went to a baseball game.

What fun summer goals did you accomplish? Did you plans change (like mine) as new opportunities opened?

What autumn goals do you want to share?

I love autumn and it’s always a season where I have lots of dreams and energy – usually. Here are some of my goals:

1. Get Gazette665’s Social Media back on track!
2. Finalize plans for Gazette665’s 2019
3. Visit a farm or nice country location
4. Read a novel about the Shenandoah Valley’s Civil War
5. Go to a history conference
6. Knit something!

What’s on your autumn bucket list?

Do you have a favorite autumn history event to discuss?

Hmm…that’s a big question. A lot of important events happened in September, October, and November. The firing on Fort McHenry, the Battle of Antietam, the end of World War I, the Battle of Hastings.

This year I’m particularly looking forward to sharing about the final campaigns and battles of World War I through primary source letters. That will be on our blog in October.

Overall, I usually think about The Burning of the Shenandoah Valley. It was such a decisive moment in local, military, and individual history. The stories of courage that came out of that fiery autumn are startlingly inspirational and I’m trying to find the right way to write about it. Some year the perfect words and story will come.

Is there an autumn historical event that really stands out to you?

That’s all for this afternoon. Be sure to add to the conversation in the comments and don’t forget that you can add questions to be answered in two weeks at the next tea.

For now, I’m going to focus on taking notes at a history conference…

Your Historian,

Miss Sarah