Antietam

On Saturday I had the privilege of driving out with about 1,000 other volunteers to Antietam battle field for the annual Illumination. For those who do not know the significance of this place, it is where the Civil War Battle of Antietam was held; during that battle, more Americans were killed in 24 hours than has ever happened in one day before, then or now. Over 23,500 Men fell that day. That's a big number. Picture your average high school graduation class: probably about 200 your less. Now imagine about a dOzen of those groups together, and there still wouldn't be enough people to account for all of the lives lost at Antietam. If you work as a volunteer, You spend most of the day putting out illuminaries, which consist of a paper bag with about 2 cups of sand and a candle in it. After every single candle is perfectly aligned on a 15'15' grid, they are lit. When the sky starts to darken, you attend a service to remember those who fought there. When it's over and dark (and it's definitely dark...your out in the middle of nowhere,) you drive along a road through the battlefield, all in all about a 20-30 min. drive. Every hilltop that you come to, you will not be able to speak. It's just that breathtaking. No more words are needed than those the candles say for themselves. Seeing row upon endless row of candles, and then, after you've taken all of that in, trying to imagine a body lying in it's place. There is simply no way to describe it without experianceing it for yourself. On a lighter note, afterward my group took about a 30 min drive to a border town just in between PA and MD, to eat at a restaurant called Tony's pizza. Awesome place. Great pizza, and many different kinds. A kid I know named Adam set the group record with 17 mother fu*king slices of pizza Holy Shit! So...yea. Watched The Matrix in the car on the way home. Good movie. -Michael