I've been happily married to my wife for sixteen wonderful years. We're blessed with two great kids, a daughter (12) and a son (9). This summer was one of huge changes; all for the better! My wife's a Northern California native and I'd lived there for the past 24 years. My parents retired from there to Lynchburg, VA in 2002. I helped with the move and in the two weeks I was there, I fell in love with the area.
After many long talks, my wife agreed that although a great state overall, California was not where we wanted to "raise our children and grow old together." She agreed to a several week trip to visit the folks and see if she, and the kids, thought they'd like Virginia. They did! Never having lived anywhere else, and with a large family and many friends, my wife still knew that this is where we were meant to be. The Lynchburg area is beautiful and clean, the people friendly, and the cost of living much less. To add this, we were drawn to the conservative values that are such a part of the culture there. My children had to be "retaught" to address adults as "Ma'am" and "Sir" (something that was only taken as sarcasm in California). We've lived here for three months now and have not regretted a single day. We thank the Lord for the opportunity to live in such a wonderful place. It is truly "God's Country!" (See link below!)
My occupation has been mainly in education. I taught elementary school for five years and left to start a Scottish import store, with some partners, in Old Sacramento. I also continued with a business I had making/selling replica arms and armor at various west coast Renaissance fairs. This was a great opportunity to mix business with pleasure, as I've been a serious student of arms and armor all my life. In 1996, I had the privilege to do internships at both the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, and the Wallace Collection in London.
After a number of years, I am very happy to be back teaching in the classroom. I'm teaching 6th grade social studies at Bedford Elementary School. I couldn't have asked a better group of kids!!! They're smart, polite, well-behaved, and just fun to be with. Teaching in VA (a non-union state) is by far more demanding than CA; the pay is poor, but the school staff is fantastic and the joy I get from spending my day's with my kids (ALL several classes of them) makes it worthwhile!!! I'm still planning to finish my MA in History/Humanities, but don't know if I'll ever be able to leave the elementary level (I love it that much!)
As I've mentioned, although now in Bedford County, Virginia, I spent the last twenty four years in Northern California. Before that, I was a military brat and lived everywhere from Heilbronn, Germany to various states all over the U.S. I especially enjoyed living in upstate New York (Camp Drum), Massachusetts (Chicopee) and in Indiana (Ft. Benjamin Harrison).
I first read about "historical trekking" nearly ten years ago, in the articles by Mark Baker in Muzzleloader magazine. I remember Mr. Baker writing about how the TV show "Daniel Boone" was one of his favorites as a kid; could I relate! Running the woods in Indiana, wearing my coonskin cap, and armed with my BB gun, my buddy, Ed Lesko and I played out almost every episode! As any big fan of the show will tell you, actor Fess Parker played "Boone," and Ed Ames played his Indian sidekick "Mingo." Of course, to our third grade minds, the fact that my last name was Parker, and "Ed" was my buddy's name, meant that we were about as real as real could get! Though not too proficient at trapping/hunting, Ed and I did make good money selling crawdads to fishermen at a nickel each (we sure amused them too, always showing up in our frontiersmen kit). Good memories!
I've been doing historical reenactment for over twenty years, but only been seriously reenacting this time period for the past eight years. As a young man, I was an Eagle Scout and really enjoyed my experiences in Scouting and the Order of the Arrow. These experiences solidified a life-long love of the woods. Combined with my love of the colonial era, historical trekking has provided an excellent outlet for "dynamic" reenactment. Lastly, and most important, it is a hobby that's for me alone! I've learned in life that I have nothing to prove to anyone, but myself AND my Creator. It's a self-paced hobby where one decides "when" and "what" to attend. Every member works according to his/her interest and ability.
Interested in learning more about trekking? Visit the national website for the Coalition of Historical Trekkers at www.CoHT.org, and make sure to visit my page on the subject. (Historical Trekking Page)
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