Showers?

Our first meeting with the 15th Alabama was memorable just for that. We met one of them in Augusta, Maine and this kid rode with us while we followed his step-father. Dave looked back and asked, "So what do y'all do for showers?" To which the kid replied, "Showers?" I nearly ran off the road I was laughing so hard. He continued, "Well, if we're lucky we'll camp near a lake or a stream..." Dave looked at me and just said "Oh." If only we had known then what we know now.

Dave is not a New England person, he grew up swimming in the Gulf of Mexico or warmer waters, he's not used to the frigid Atlantic, I took him to Salisbury, MA last summer and he nearly collapsed of hypothermia (so he says). So him swimming in any body of water in New England is only going to be out of desperation or coercion, and let's just say, he's not that desperate for a shower.

So we met the group. We were not the only new ones, thankfully. There were two new recruits from the Farmington area. It was funny because the meeting was held at the Captain and President's house (Captain Mike Pratt & President Vicky Pratt, both elected positions) and apparently Dave had been communicating with the Captain who was not so good at communicating with his wife because she greeted us at the door and said "These are the people from the Massachusetts area?! I wish I would have known, I would have had better snacks!" all the while giving her husband a look of disapproval.

Well, after a mild, in company melodrama to which Dave, myself, Lyndsey and Alison were not privy to the specifics at the time, we got along quite famously. The rest of the meeting, after taking care of the political stuff, was spent trying to give the newcomers an idea of what happens at re-enactments. It was fun and they commented that it was probably one of the longest meetings they had had in a while. Dave and I ended up staying an extra hour or so after the meeting just to talk to Mike and Miss Vicky. It was great fun and we really liked them, and well, we're still with them.

How it all began...

So, I met this guy. He seemed harmless enough. We met at school, we started talking and the real ice breaker came when I saw the license plate on his truck and said "Oh, so you're the moron from Louisiana! Why the hell did you come up to New England?!" I thought I was going to have to perform CPR (scary prospect). Well, to make a long story short, we flirted in near zero temperatures for a while then went on a date. Over a year later and I'm still dating him, so there must be something good there, oh yeah, the truck.

Well, last October (2006) he asks me if I would be interested in Civil War re-enacting. I said, "Sure!" It makes sense, I already dress up for Anime conventions so it's right up my ally. I then asked him the ever so important question - "Which side are we going to be on?" Without even missing a beat he looked at me and said "I love you, but not enough to put on a blue uniform." I just shrugged and replied, "Okay, the Southern women had better dresses." Now, you may be wondering, what self-respecting Northern born woman would agree to that? Love? Stupidity? Racism? No, it was for the history (and the fashion), besides the Union troops need someone to shoot at when everyone gets together at the re-enactments. Oh, and it was for the truck, too.

Going off the whole, "what self-respecting northerner..." idea, I thought to myself, where are we going to find a Confederate group in New England? Well, the one we found and like happened to be in the Farmington, Maine area (figures)...about three hours from our residence...I was not going to be happy if we didn't like these people. A six hour round trip in a car that gets less than ideal gas milage and is WAAAY over it's alloted miles, they had BETTER be worth it! And they are. We met, and fell in love, with the 15th Alabama Company G. We enjoy these people more than some people we have known for much longer, and they are worth the six hour round trip. Thank goodness I have such wonderful people in my life.

I guess it all worked out in the end, and I still get the truck.