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No idea why Dad owns a hat that makes him look like he belongs in the rice fields of Cambodia. We are pretty confident that the hat is a woman's hat to boot. |
The kids presented the material that Dad had asked them to prepare. I assumed my other role - when not driving: I was the videographer of this expedition. I captured plenty of footage to share with generations to come. In fact once, I had to race back to the hotel to recharge the battery.
The area really hadn’t changed much since our last visit. There was still the peach orchard, the Irish bridage, and the mandatory participants’ march across the same field where Picket’s last charge took place. As the videographer, I was sorry (not sorry) to skip out on the march. Instead, I drove around and positioned myself at the other side and videoed the kids and Pat crossing the field from the air conditioned comfort of the great white.
Dad bought tickets for all of us to see the movie after lunch on Saturday. Honestly, this was the thing I was most interested in. Because I travel with my own food (thanks in equal parts to celiac disease and my tight fisted existence), and lunch food for my offspring, my wheeled cooler bag was right there with us at the visitor center. We ate lunch at a picnic table, while the other family members with deeper pockets ate in the canteen. That went over like a led brick for Reg, who dared to sneer at the fact that everyone else was eating in a restraint while we dug around in our cooler for lunchmeat that was slightly past its prime. I chewed him up and spit him out, and he quickly saw the error of his ways.
All through lunch, while Pat had been helping his kids shop for souvenirs in the gift shop and people were using the bathrooms and refilling water bottles, I, the videographer, had scrounged around the place looking for an outlet where I could charge my overused video camera. I entered the auditorium with my tagged bag, my stern-talked-to-self, and my agonizing headache. I opted not to sit with the rest of the gang, because there were seats over to the side and I spotted an outlet. I hauled my cooler, and my camera to the side section of seats and plugged in. The movie began and I rested my throbbing head on the back of my chair. Then I fell asleep. I missed 85% of the movie. Damn it.
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