What's New:

I've recently made the transition from Geocities to Apple. While it seems that most of the pages and images survived the transition, it will be a few days before everything is back up to speed.

If you're in the neighborhood, drop us a line at fjordaniv@mac.com.

Imagine an early morning scene. A heavy mist fills the air, mingling with the smoke from dozens of cooking fires. As the sunlight breaks over the horizon, white tents and the dark forms of those sleeping unprotected on the ground emerge from the obscurity of darkness and dew. The air fills with the scent of wood smoke and bacon, and the silence of night is replaced by the sounds of fifes and drums, and the stirrings of hundreds of compatriots. Perhaps, for an instant, you feel a sense of being far from home, not merely in terms of physical distance, but rather of being in, possibly even belonging to, a different era.

This feeling of anachronism might be heightened further as others emerge from their tents, or rise from the earth. Men wearing wool uniforms mingle by the campfire, while women in day dresses drift off in the distance. Sometimes you can hear the sounds of a distant music . . .

Reenacting is a burgeoning activity. At a time when we seem to have cast aside the past in favor of modern conveniences and development, this is an encouraging trend, as tens of thousands of women, men and children make an effort to step into the past, for a brief taste of an era far different from our own. Each of us approaches the hobby with differing motives and backgrounds; reenactors are factory workers, doctors and teachers. We don the garments of the past to further understand a subject that may have fascinated us from our youths, to preserve the past literally and figuratively as development and cultural amnesia increasingly threatens our shared heritage, and to enjoy the company of others who, despite their many differences, share a common love of our nation's history.

There are a number of reenacting pages on the web, and we have a few links to those sites. I decided to create this site as a means of recording and sharing some of the experiences, opinions and attitudes Traci and I have either developed or encountered over the past two years. What we intend to do with this site is to offer the perspective of two reenactors on the rationale behind participating in Civil War reenacting, to provide personal accounts and reactions to the events we attend, and hopefully, to encourage others to join us in celebrating our shared cultural and historical heritage.

The Civil War is the defining event in the history of the United States, but through lax educational standards and sociopolitical distortion, ever expanding subdivisions, commercial development and an often apathetic view of the past, the battlefields, experiences and memories of the men and women of that era are in jeopardy. As such, I have added a page to discuss the pressing need for action to preserve and protect our historic treasures.

We try to keep open minds about the views of others. If you have any comments, concerns or advice, we would appreciate hearing from you.

Created and maintained by Fred Jordan