Make a Wish and Follow the Road Wherever it May Lead - Babs First, a Bit of History: During the American Revolution the legal separation from Great Britain actually occured on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a committee with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4th. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.
Adams' prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence n July 4th the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2nd, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress. One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on July 4th. Most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776. In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, picnics, concerts and baseball games, along with political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ TRAVELING MY PATHS ~ THE BACK ROADS OF SAN ANTONIO TO HOME Having never been much of a fireworks girl AND having burned a kitchen (accidently) back in my cooking days that was limited to 1978, coupled with not being a cook (so I guess that's why no invites to picnics), I decided to have my own picnic of photos on this July 4, 2008. I put on my most patriotic shoes, sweater (it has 2 stars), shorts and made sure my camera was in the seat beside me, grabbed the keys to "Sil" (my favoritest get-around) and took advantage of the sunshine and least travelled back roads of San Antonio, Tx with a six-pack of water.
I decided to scout out roads I've traveled every day since I moved here in 1996 and put together a few thoughts and stories to celebrate this great day .
PLEASE, REMEMBER: It is July 4, 2008, it's 98 degrees here in San Antonio, TX (252 sunshiny days a year) with only scattered showers that must have been scattered somewhere else. No...I don't have goats in my backyard or deer but they, obviously, are not far and are on my beaten path. Goats, well I best back up a bit. I did own 1/2 interest in a billy goat back in my child rearing days and his name was "Rupert" and I didn't bring him home. He was quite the finicky goat. Rupert would only let my 2 year old feed him (who happens to be 33 now) and probably thinks that is some story I just happen to have made up but, of course, I have photos!
Oakland Drive and it's paths to who-knows-where has always been a favorite of mine, with its dips and curves which I've seen in 17 degree weather, flooded with two feet of water and today I stopped for a bottle of water out of my cooler and look what I saw! Goats...enjoying the sunshine and romping with their kids!
And further down the road I go. You know, folks have such a way of displaying their patrioism and this was quite the patriotic couple, though I know for a fact that they dress up for every holiday!
In the Merry Month of May they were all geared up for graduation. Wonder what they will dress for in August?
Today this road was so serene and calm and I pulled over to just enjoy the quiet when I saw movement to my left...thought it was a dog and I mean a really big dog. It wasn't a dog, wasn't a goat, it was a deer. I mean a really big deer and he stood there like he knew he better pose and that he did. I had to think for a moment about what time of year it was. Yep, it was July, not December but there he (I guess it was a he) was, lollygagging around like he was out for his daily walk. Guess he was just trying to keep cool like the rest of us. I pulled over, put on my flip flops so as not to mess up my flag shoes, and walked up to the fence to peer through and try for a closer look. No need to worry there. You would have thought I was there to feed him. He just stood there and struck a pose like he was about to go on stage. What a beautiful animal.
I read somewhere about animals sharing our planet with us but how they experience it differently. They having their own abilities and gifts that allowed them to interact successfully with the natural world. I didn't think a lot of the read until today as I wandered around the neighborhood. Perhaps I should look to animals for more guidance to show me different ways to go about my detailed, "rigidly-flexible" life. (Phrase coined describing me by my good friends, James and Carol). Even with the heat, the gawkers critiquing him, and probably a little hungry and thirsy, he still deals with his own challenges with what seems like grace, humility and calm. I've never been much of an animal lover and I've never kept it a secret. I don't think you can - keep it a secret, that one really doesn't like animals. They can smell it. I have my reasons...they know. Well, big animals, yes, I absolutely love. Anything smaller than a quarter horse (except for my son's beloved Boxer, Tag), I haven't always gotten along well with animals. Throughout my pre-teens and teens I had horses and they all knew they could count on me and they were my best friends - they are so beautiful and to just sit atop one makes you feel like a princess. A fellow once said: "God's most beautiful creatures are thoroughbreds and women." I still believe that - about the thoroughbreds, that is. Animals know all the secrets and I bet they have answers we've never been told. I just need to pay more attention to the animal life around me, I suppose. I know I could use a lot more nature in my life but "getting out in nature" to me is driving to and from work in South Texas and stopping to take photos along the way.
Looking at birds soaring in the sky and giving me a perspective on a problem from long distance. Maybe I won't receive an answer right away but I can remind myself that the universe has its own perfect timing and it doesn't tie itself to the ticking clock the way that I do. What if I don't have the answer immediately? This I know I need to work on...Release. There is NOT always an answer. Release my question into the care of nature and the universe and trust that an animal messenger will carry inspiration my way. All the while, maybe just get myself aligned with the universe's rhythm--opening, humbling myself, and shifting my perceptions so that at just the right time, I will be ready for the answer. That way, later on, I can enjoy the message from the small bird who is hopping from tree to tree and take it as a signal to use a talent other than what I perceive as a strength and take SMALL LEAPS rather than FLY OVER DETAILS. Maybe animals are some representatives of messages; no matter where we see them, their meaning is the same. Just like the deer and the goats, we are reminded of how spectacular this nature of ours is and that all answers are available to us when we reconnect with our source and with those who know how to be nurtured by it. I felt my soul being replenished today as I watched the deer, watch me. The little kid just following his mother around - - not letting go --all the while the Mama goat was trying to get away, just for a spell. But, never too far.
So, I left him posing turning back toward home having considered myself quite blessed to see goats, geese (okay so they were make-believe) and a beautiful deer. The sun was about to set and I decided I was getting a bit hungry when I saw this lovely catcus with a bougenvilla growing through it. I had passed this house thousands of times and never, ever noticed the cactus until today. So...on go the flip flops, grab my camera, out of "Sil"and up to the fence I go. Busted...the fellow who lives there came on over to the fence and invited me in for a better shot with the sun behind me. Beautiful flowers, but really big dogs. I certainly appreciated his Texas hospitality.
This road led me to so much and all this time I've traveled it without a lot of thought except to watch the house be renovated into a beautiful setting or a few other houses being built among the lush trees. I was intrigued to learn that this kindly gentleman that welcomed me so openly into his yard, owns a small Texas History Shop that sits close to the Alamo in San Antonio. So he leads me down the road to his house and shows me this beautiful Eagle that sits on his front porch. 
And he gives me my history lesson for the day:
The Battle of Glorieta Pass The Battle of Glorieta Pass was dubbed the "Gettysburg of the West" by historians, it was the decisive blow by Union forces to stop the Confederate invasion of the West along the base of the Rocky Mountains. The commanders of the New Mexico Campaign were the Confederate Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley and the Union Col. Edward Canby. Sibley had outmaneuvered Canby at the Battle of Valverde in February, driving Canby back to his fort, then advancing up along the Rio Grande Valley to seize Santa Fe on March 10. Sibley set up his division headquarters at the abandoned Union storehouse garrison at Albuquerque.
At the southern tip of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 20 miles southwest of Sante Fe in northern New Mexico, is La Glorieta Pass, through which runs the old Sante Fe Trail. Sometimes called Apache Canyon, the pass is several miles long, about a 1/4 mile wide at the middle, and tapers to narrow defiles at both ends. Ordered on March 25 to move against the Confederates force at Santa Fe, Maj. John M. Chivington and a raiding party of 418 Union soldiers arrived at Kozlowski's ranch, about 5 miles southeast of La Glorieta. From Confederate pickets captured that night, Chivington learned of the presence of 250-300 Texans under Maj. Charles L. Pyron bivoucked at Johnson's ranch at the far end of the pass.
Early in the morning of March 26, Chivington moved toward the Confederates. About 2:00 P.M., his men captured a 30-man Confederate advance, then fell on Pyron's main force 1.5 miles west of Pigeon's ranch, which lay 6 miles northeast of Johnson's ranch. With his advance guard taken by the Federals, Pyron was caught by surprise, but he quickly threw out a skirmish line, and his 2 6-lb. howitzers began firing shells at the Federals. The artillery fire sent the Federals into confusion until Chivington divided his troops, sending 3 companies to find cover in the rocks and deploying 2 companies in the cottonwood and pines along the mountain slopes on each side of the canyon; this placed the Confederates in a crossfire. The Texans held their ground briefly before Pyron withdrew about 1.5 miles to where the pass narrows. There, he was able to establish a stronger defense. As they pulled back, the Texans destroyed the bridge they had used to cross a 15-foot arroyo. Again, Chivington sent his men to the slopes, but in increased numbers, to counter the Confederate skirmishers Pyron had ordered to the brush. The Federals flanked the Texans and poured another severe enfilading fire on them for an hour before Pyron's men broke. As the Confederates retreated with their guns, the Union cavalry charged, jumping their horses across the arroyo and landing in the midst of the Confederate rear guard. Gathering 60 or 70 prisoners, Chivington withdrew to Kozlowski's ranch, having lost 19 killed, 5 wounded, and 3 missing. The Confederates claimed casualties of 16 dead and 30-40 wounded in the day's fighting.
As his men reorganized at Johnson's ranch, Pyron sent for reinforcements from Lt. Col. William R, Scurry at Galisteo, 15 miles south of La Glorieta. Scurry arrived with the 4th Texas on the morning of March 27, bringing the Confedeate force to 1,100 men. They waited 24 hours at Johnson's ranch, expecting Chivington to renew the attack. When the Federals failed to act, Scurry decided to take the offensive. On the morning of March 28, he moved down the canyon toward Pigeon's ranch, leaving behind his 73-wagon supply train and, to guard the camp, a detachment of 200 men, most of them wounded, drivers, or cooks. About 2:00 A.M. the same morning, Col. John P. Slough had reached Kozlowski's ranch with reinforcements. Chivington briefed him on the Confederate position and Slough decided to launch an attack against Johnson's ranch, moving toward Pigeon's ranch about 8:30 A.M. He ordered Chivington to take his men and circle around La Glorieta Pass to attack the Texans from the west, intending to catch the Confederates between the 2 Union forces. Slough moved toward La Glorieta with about 900 men, arriving a mile west of Pigeon's ranch. By that time, Scurry had advanced down the canyon, and his scouts saw the Union column approaching. Immediately, he ordered his cavalry to the rear, where they dismounted and formed a battle line. Slough discovered the Confederate line at 800 yards, and the battle began between 10:30-11:00 A.M. Slough's 8 field guns battered the Texans artillery into uselessness, but the Confederates were able to keep a company of the 1st Colorado from moving around their flank. Slough yielded ground. Five times the Confederates charged, losing all of their field officers killed or wounded. They finally broke under 6 volleys from Slough's artillery, followed by a bayonet charge, but retook their lines when the Union troopers were repelled by a deadly barrage of gunfire from the Texan sharpshooters. The fighting ended about 5:00 P.M., when Slough retreated to Pigeon's ranch. Scurry also withdrew, leaving his wounded on the field. Initially, Scurry believed he had repeated the Confederate victory at Valverde, where a month earlier, Brig. Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley's troops had defeated a Union force under Col. E.R.S. Canby. Later, he learned that Chivington had reached Johnson's ranch, but burned the Confederate supply wagons, bayoneted 500-600 mules and horses, and captured 17 prisoners. Chivington had destroyed nearly all of the Confederates' supplies, forcing the Confederates to withdraw to Texas, thus giving the victory to the Union. So complete was their devastation that during a truce in the early evening, the Texans even had to borrow Union shovels to bury their dead. Scurry was forced to retreat to Santa Fe, the first step on the long road back to San Antonio, Texas. The fighting then ended as Slough retired first to Pigeon’s Ranch and then to Kozlowski’s Ranch. Scurry soon left the field also, thinking he had won the battle. Chivington’s men, however, had destroyed all Scurry's supplies and animals at Johnson's Ranch, forcing him to retreat to Santa Fe, the first step on the long road back to San Antonio, Texas. The Federals had won and, thereby, stopped Confederate incursions into the Southwest. Glorieta Pass was the turning point of the war in the New Mexico Territory. Canby was promoted to brigadier general 3 days after his victory.
Mr. New -Stranger- on- the- Road- I- Travel- to- Home was happy to palaver of his adventures and his historical knowledge to a complete stranger. No, wait - isn't there an old saying about: "A stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet?" I found that old saying to be quite true today.
Where did he find the beautiful Eagle - it reminded me of someone who loves Eagles, in all their splendor, and I wanted to be able to share the history. As the story goes, it was housed during this Battle of Glorieta Pass at a saloon where the soldiers would come in and often times it became a shooting target...not necessarily as a specific site...it just happened to be in the line of fire. Now it's safe and secure on the front porch never to be shot at again!
BACK ON THE ROAD HOME ~
With that lesson in nature, a little nurturing of the soul and history lesson to boot, I ventured down the road to my own road - - leading me to my safe haven of Jade Oaks
and the road that leads to my home.
I hope you all had a wonderful and safe 4th of July, enjoyed your freedom, took in a bit of nature and spent time with your family and took a road to somewhere you've never been before...for the memories.
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