I really appreciate your ongoing advice and suggestions - all information is welcome and I'm sure that I will be well outfitted by next spring. I've accumulated a great deal of horse related equipment and tack over the years but unfortunately none of it would be authentic to the time period; and many different kinds of riding boots but of course none that are square toed!
I'm convinced that you two are trying to tease me with your tales of an all black Morgan Cavalry Unit in your midst - I may have to dye Jesse after all! Shane, I totally relate to the pain you experienced after being stepped on as there is nothing worse.
I've had my share of concussions and other horse related injuries during my horse career, but nothing is quite as painful as having a 1000 lb.+ animal put it's full weight on your foot. I've had all five toes on my left foot broken at different times, but I severely lacked your self control in uttering a few profanities...I'm sure even the crows blushed. But Father Hamilton would be proud of you and this would no doubt absolve you from your recent visit to a house of ill-repute!
Dawna... how about discovering the hard way that a horse (the most docile one on the ranch)was violently adverse to gunfire when fired from her back. THe rider blew the rattlesnake head clean off and then discovered himself <font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font> over teakettle on his way to the ground. He safely landed tail first on a bed of cactus. Compatriots (about a 1/2 mile away) could hear the... creative language. If he could have laid hands on that .30-30 there would have been one less horse and said cowhand would have ended up walking quite a way.
When the cook was told what had happened... he laughed so hard he had to change his britches and you can guess what nickname was reserved for the hapless cowhand the rest of that summer.
Actually... I was sent to that house of ill repute along w/ the surgeon and a detail. He was checking the permits of the ladies inside... and I think he might have been contemplating a sampling of wares as well. As to myself, once you've been in one of those houses in North Africa... American houses are a bit tame. I'm not what one would call partial to diseases that involve... shudder. Soldiers keep secrets almost as effectively as school children... Mrs Steele can hit a sparrow at thirty yards with that skillet of hers.
I was just wondering what Father Blue was doing lurking outside the door. Taking confession and saving souls... yeah, that was it.
(Message edited by johan steele on October 18, 2004)
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
Of COURSE that's why I was there! Those poor 'soiled doves' deserve a chance at salvation just as much as you sinful, looting, soldiers do, don't you agree?
Amen,
Fatherblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
I may need to re-think my stategies and personna as the possibilities now seem endless. I was considering a "spy" impression or providing a "pony express" type messenger service with battlefield tendencies! But...I may have to give up my leather, flannel and hardware for a more leisurely life of boas and silk. This would be quite a departure for me and I confess to being intrigued by the very idea.
My Christmas Wish list usually consists of more practical items from the local hardware store - warm socks, long underwear, work gloves - all those yearly replacements that allow me to brave yet another Canadian winter. This year may find me requesting items that are more befitting to a lady of leisure, and no wardrobe would be complete without a "talking parasol or fan!" Boas, fans, petticoats - it's never too late to become a Diva!
A woman hired by the army to act as a spy/messenger who is capable of fearlessly galloping into enemy territory and shooting whoever/whatever gets in the way, performing on the battlefield as needed...all while under the guise of a 'lady of the evening.' Not a stretch in my imagination - I'm a woman and we excel at multi-tasking.
Father Hamilton, I feel myself slipping away from your warm and loving embrace to take an unexpected walk on the wild side...
Fear not, child, as I feel the Lord is with thee always. Walking on the Wild side is one thing, running and leaping into its arms quite another. Moderation in all things, is the key to a happy and sin-free experience.
Pass the bottle, please.
Fatherblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
" Moderation in all things, is the key to a happy and sin-free
experience." Hmm, Father, us happy Episcopalians certainly follow the moderation in all things advice (and have produced more Presidents of these United States too). But as to being sin free, as a Catholic, can you condone any of the activities that Sister Rosita is contemplating?
Keeping in mind that you are in charge of her eternal soul, shouldn't you be giving more prudent council?
YMOS,
(Message edited by thea_447 on October 22, 2004)
__________________ Thea
No one has permission to use any material from any of my posts on any CWT forum, the archives, or any other forum without my express written permission.
Thea... remember Richard the Lionheart was a Catholic and come to think of it so was Luther before he left the fold w/ his wife (a former nun) and on to the more modern Catholic... JFK and his lovely mistress Marilyn. Of coarse I was raised Catholic and you can see how I turned out!
Father Blue is just continuing on w/ the most... prestigious tradition of leadership and counsel.
Say Mrs. Thea, thanks for the tea... ummm do I smell a hint of yellow jasmine? Maybe I'd better stick w/ my Earl Grey w/ a hint of rum.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
This last week has been an interesting time, once again we are assigned to Provost duty. It has been an easy time as the cutthroats and thieves have been noticeably absent and the Secesh have kept their mouths shut. However, we have had the distasteful task of verifying the papers of brothels throughout the city. As these are thought to be the places spies hide it is a necessary evil. Though, it is my own belief that officers just like to visit such places with official sanction.
Corporal Steele says these women are just trying to earn a living. They make far more than the fifty cents a week an honest woman can expect and they rarely have to look for food or a roof to sleep under. Though, he is quick to say that I should stay far away from such dens of inequity. I agree, though when the surgeon came and got a detail of the Provost Guard as escort we have little choice of what kind of sinful place we will visit. The women at this house required the attentions of a surgeon as he said that several men who had visited had been given a “gift” that they could not be loosed of.
The surgeon wanted us along to enforce quarantine if he felt it necessary. It was not a detail I thought I might enjoy.
The surgeon says that they are women who live in sin and as such have no hope of redemption. Their souls are lost and they should be treated as such. I wonder what our parson might say of such, I know that the bible says that Jesus forgave Mary Magdalene her sins, how can we do less?
The mistress of the house accused the surgeon of being a hypocrite, visiting on Friday and returning to harass the house on Sunday. We all looked to the surgeon and saw his face color; we knew then that she spoke the God honest truth. Steele spoke to the woman in French and soon learned the truth. It would appear that the surgeon believed that he might blackmail the house into waiving his fee in exchange for being exempted from any quarantine. The mistress of the house had refused and here was the surgeon with a Provost detail in tow. We were not amused to be used in such a manner.
The Corporal informed the surgeon that he would make a full report to the Captain if the surgeon attempted such a thing again. I think we need fear no such action as the surgeon knows the Captain to be an honest and efficient officer who takes his duty seriously.
The ladies insisted upon inviting us into their parlor for a pleasant meal. It was disconcerting to share a room with women who live their lives in carnal sin. I cannot lie and must admit that I was sorely tempted by their loveliness. I kept myself free from such sin.
On the march back to camp Corporal Steele explained that many a soldier knew only the gentleness of a soiled doves embrace. To many soldiers, women such as those in the house were their only comfort. The surgeon scoffed and made the comment that the Corporal only spoke such to assuage his own guilt for having visited such houses before. I do not believe the surgeon realizes how close he came to death this afternoon as all of us know well how the Corporal idolizes his wife and would do nothing to dishonor her.
I was sorely troubled by our visit to that house; the actions of the surgeon were a disgrace to the Union and dishonored the men who wear the same uniform as he. When we had service that eve I entered the chapel to see the surgeon sitting near Mrs. Steele. I was so angered that I left the chapel afraid that I might accuse the surgeon of ungodly conduct in front of the entire congregation.
The Corporal lurked outside the church smoking his pipe as he normally does when a service is conducted. I told him that I was not certain God existed any longer. That the surgeon was not struck down on the spot struck me as proof that there was no God. And that Religion was a useless tool anymore in such a world. Steele laughed and called me a fool if I believed so. His words were so apt that I thought I must take up pen and tell you of them. “There is nothing wrong with religion, it gives hope to those who have none. Without faith in God the hopeless are denied even hope. Hope and prayer gives a man a reason to keep going when all else is lost.” His words touched my soul and I eagerly took them to heart. When I questioned him as to why he only rarely partook in church services he smiled and told me that he didn’t wish to be present in church if God should change his mind and turn him into a pillar of fire for his sins, he was content to pray in his own way and listen to the joyful noises made unto the lord in the chapel. He then pitched me into the church with such force that I stumbled and made quite the racket. The parson was kind enough to make me the focal point of his sermon.
After the service at supper one of the new recruits made some boasts that were generally ignored by the veterans of the company. He is young and full of <font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font> and wind. He will soon see that there is far more to being a soldier than bravado and boasts. I am scarcely three years older than he and can remember when I was such, it seems so long ago. I have held my place in line upon countless fields of battle and twice been wounded. Never have I fled from danger though fear has gripped my heart many a time. Those that say they have never experienced fear in battle are either fools or liars. I have thought to run several times but the presence of men I knew and friends from home sharing the same danger and fear kept me in line by their presence alone. They faced the same fears as I without fleeing the danger, I could do nothing less. I tell you little sister that when a soldier goes to battle he is challenged as much by his own fear as by the enemy. I believe that these fears are as dangerous as the enemy, if not at times more so.
I eagerly wait your letters as they are a welcome medicine for my heart and soul. To know that the family is safe and free from the attentions of an Armies occupation is a godsend. If we were not here the Rebels would be and then your larder would be empty, stripped empty by foragers. The woodpile next to the barn would be gone and the fences for miles around taken to provide fuel for the voracious cook fires of the army. The horses and mules would be appropriated to pull wagons or guns or to provide remounts for the cavalry. All other stock would furnish cooking pots with food for hungry soldiers, the apple tree in front of the house would be plucked bare and the garden and fields stripped and trampled barren. You would have to beg for a guard to be placed at the door; of coarse this would be denied as our family is known to support the Union. You would fear from abuse from not only soldiers of the rebel army but from deserters from the army that had failed you. God has smiled upon us that no army will ever approach our home. I see an Army as a scourge of God punishing indiscriminately those who are in its path.
Keep me in your prayers as I need them.
God Bless and keep you Little Sister
Your Brother
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
By providence I have discovered where your unit is situated, and it is my heart's desire that you will receive this letter before your surgeon visits our establishment again. The regard I have for this doctor is riddled with disdain, and I and my other frail sisters have been visited by him under the cloak of darkness on more than one occasion. It is a strange brew that a Man of God, practiced in the art of medicine, can never seem to avail his professional services in the kinder light of day. This irony is not lost on me and indeed we often laugh ourselves to tears regarding your doctor's inability to provide medical treatment to an afflicted lady, without expecting another service in return.
I feel no remorse that you will find me even bolder than my profession dictates of me, but I felt a silent communication between you and I last evening and although I risk all if this letter is intercepted, or reported, I felt compelled to write and explain what your eyes told me you questioned.
I have no wish to offer a lengthy explanation or grandiose story as to why at the tender age of 20, I am peddling my own flesh in such a sinful way. But I can tell you that not so long ago, I washed my hair by the warmth and light of a fire, and filled a home with love and laughter. I have prayed that my Heavenly Father would bestow the blessings of a little son or daughter into what I thought was a joyful union. I can offer no earthly reason why my husband saw fit to desert me and the home that I had grown to love. To discover that there was no savings, protection or alternative plan for my well being was more than my youthful heart could bear. My husband did not join the army, which also makes him a coward of the worst kind, and this much I discovered after relentless searching, and many painful and embarrassing queries. With no family left to offer temporary shelter and protection from the wretchedness of this cruel and fast world, I believe, Sir, that you might in good Christian conscience, understand my circumstances. My lack of means led me to consider sins of the flesh in order to keep flesh on my bones. I lost my romantic school girl notions long ago and have replaced this innocence with a brittle reality that even the most devote confession would not break.
Alone in my thoughts, I sometimes believe that my profession serves more purpose to the army than those of a more legitimate nature. I dare not speak of the intimate details of my employment as a ceiling expert, but I can assure you that just as many men come here for comfort, or simply to pass the evening with a fine meal, and quiet conversation with the lady of their choice. I had a gentlemen procure my services recently who wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep in a bed with the warmth of a woman by his side. It is not always drunken, lewd and provocative behaviour in our establishment. I like to think that we nourish lost souls as well.
On those evenings when a gentlemen requests conversation only, I am reminded that I am a thinking, feeling, living female, walking a fine line between Madonna and Magdelene. I can almost feel respectable again, if only for an evening. A regular client of mine fancies himself half in love with me and would gladly marry me, he insists, if not for the fact that he already has a wife at home and six lively children. But even so, I fear that at my tender age, I am now jaded by the empty promises of men and trust no one but myself to ensure my future happiness. My hope is to retire from this profession when this cursed war is over, move to a more fair and less judgmental climate, and open a small but profitable book store. A healthier profession I think you would agree.
I will gladly tell you that I see myself as a soldier in my own right and I think you might agree with me, though you might find my musings somewhat adle-brained in the eyes of a soldier. But consider the risk to health that my sisters and I endure and the injuries and often death at the hands of an abusive drunkard. We do have shelter and a bountiful meal every day, but we are often at the mercy of our clients. Although your surgeon may save lives on the battlefield, he has come close to taking lives in this place that I call home.
In closing, I would be pleased to send you a copy of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's "Jenny" which perhaps would awaken you with respect to the tender feelings of the author towards a girl such as I, yet the shackles of his own hypocricy remain unshaken. When next you find your unit on official business to our house, I hope that you will find favour in sitting next to me in the parlour, where perhaps we could discuss this further.
Prayers are appreciated, no matter what your perspective.
dawna! Getting the hang of it. If I ever got around to somehow publishing all of these letters you wouldn't mind if I used your letter would you.
Nice addition to the thread. hehehe Now we just need Father Blue to add his reprimand to the Surgeon! LOL
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
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