July 18th, 2008
By Arthur

Normally I don’t post anyting on the weekend. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I did a weekend post. With traffic tending to be lower on the weekends, and with everyone, including myself, wanting to do more than read blogs, I tend to avoid posting on the weekend, but I thought this one was good enough to post about. Sure, it is for selfish reasons, but hey, it’s my blog right?

I have been working over the last few days to give the site a little different look. I have been thinking that it needed something, but I just wasn’t sure what it was. Well, I finally came across a few little photo editing tips that I liked and lo-and-behold, I actually like how the results turned out.

90% of the pictures on the site were taken by some member of my family, and we take great pride in that. I always try to have the pictures, and the way the site looks, to reflect who we are, and not just succumb to some “look”. I think that we’ve done a good job accomplishing that.

You may also have noticed that the font changed on the site. I was really bored with the other one, and just really felt like it needed something, so I recruited my font expert (my wife) and picked a nice looking and much more eye appealing font. It’s called Georgia and we like it. It is kind of like Times New Roman on steroids.

I also added some Googe Adsense ads back to the site. I had some on it for awhile, but at that time they just weren’t generating any revenue to even make it worth it. I’m going to give it another shot, now that we generate a little more traffic, but if they don’t do any good they will be coming back down again.

So, hopefully the site is a little more pleasing to the eye, and hopefully Blessed isn’t too hard on it, with her graphic design knowledege. I’m an amateur, so hopefully she goes easy on me.

I promise much more exciting posts come Monday. By then we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming–so to speak.

Popularity: 14% [?]

July 18th, 2008
By Arthur

We tend to take the term lightly-field hospital. It is a commonly used term in this day in age, and a phrase that everyone has heard often and can associate with. We all know what a field hospital is, and what purpose it has. But the field hospital at Shiloh was different, because it was the first of its type.

The field hospital at Shiloh was the brainchild of Dr. Bernard John Dowling Irwin. Dr. Irwin was assigned to the staff of William “Bull” Nelson, who was commanding the fourth division of the Army of the Ohio. His revolutionary thinking saved many lives at the battle of Shiloh and allowed him and his staff to provide a level of care that was unmatched for that time period.

Although the term “field hospital” had been used in the past, the field hospital at Shiloh was unique because Dr. Irwin used resources that were readily available to him from an abandoned army camp. These resources included tents, and such the term field hospital was coined. “Field hospitals” of the past usually only consisted of straw, for bedding, along with a tarp or two that would cover the wounded soldier. Dr. Irwin’s hospital also differentiated itself from previous “field hospitals” because location was taken into account. He picked the location of the field hospital at Shiloh because there was a spring creek, with fresh potable water nearby, as well as a building that was in close proximity. The field hospital was also closer to the line of attack, and also was more mobile. This was a major advantage, and prevented wounded soldiers from having to be transferred to the nearest “hospital”. The transporting of the solider could cause more damage to a wounded soldier, then being wounded, and Dr. Irwin recognized this.

When I was standing at the field hospital I tried to imagine the carnage that would have had to gone on there. I realize, that at this point in time, the care these men were receiving was second to none, but to imagine surgeries taking place here in the midst of this huge battle just baffles me. The primitive tools that were used is also incredible, and I just have a hard time grasping, and even coming close to imagining, what it must’ve been like.

The park service is trying to grow trees inside the area where the field hospital once was, and I honestly have no idea why that is the case. The area, as you can tell from the pictures, is still fenced off to give you a general idea of where the hospital once was, but I’m not sure the reason behind the tree planting.

To imagine so many wounded men coming and going from this place is unbelievable to me. The amount of bloodshed that occurred here, along with the ingenuity that was used, is awesome and humbling at the same time. Dr. Irwin saved many a man’s life that day with his ingenuity and creativity, and his way of handling the wounded on the battlefield continued for many years to come.

The field hospital at Shiloh. A truly great piece of invention, and at the same time, a truly dark place.

Note: Another little interesting tidbit about the field hospital at Shiloh. Clara Barton also manned the hospital here, and helped many wounded men to get back on their feet again. You all might know her as the woman who eventually went on to organize the American Red Cross.

Popularity: 15% [?]

July 17th, 2008
By Arthur

There have been a lot of newsworthy happenings in Michigan lately, and I figured that doing a post to cover a few of the hot issues would be a good idea. I think that covering these posts will make people that live in Michigan more aware of these particular events, and also will let those people, who are from other states, to be aware of the things that Michigan has happening.

The first thing is a new partnership that has been formed in our state. The MUCC will be joining with NASCAR’s Racing for Wildlife to establish what will be known as the Outdoor Education Initiative. Racing for Wildlife is a partnership between the Ryan Newman Foundation and The Conservation Fund. The partnership will also include MUCC, Michigan Internation Speedway, Racing for Wildlife, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The main goal of the Outdoor Education Initiative is to restore the Mill Lake Youth Camp which is in close proximity to Camp for Kids. Camp for Kids is also run by the MUCC as well.

I think this is honestly the best news that has hit our state in quite some time. I think it is great that this partnership has come to be a reality, and that their main goal is to get a camp restored that will allow for kids to actively participate in the outdoors. All of thee above listed organizations definitely got this one right. I was also glad to see the Michigan International Speedway jump on board as well. To see these organizations give back to our home state is great. That it directly benefits Michigan’s youth is even better.

The next thing that has been in the news is a very controversial topic in the state. I wrote about this particular topic already, so I won’t go into my views on the subject again, but I will tell you that House Bill 5741 passed the house which will allow for anyone to use a crossbow during the archery season. This bill originally started to ease restrictions on handicapped individuals who wanted to use a crossbow, but once it went through the House Committee on Tourism, Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resources, the bill changed to include crossbow use for anyone in any general license season.

This bill has not passed the Senate yet, but from everything I’m hearing, it is going to pass there as well. So, regardless of what side of the issue you are on, you better be getting ready to share the woods with crossbow hunters next year.

The last news item I wanted to cover involves only the U.P., but I can see this particular item trickling down into the Lower Peninsula over time. At its June meeting the Natural Resources Commission adopted a hunting license regulation that will allow for what is called Hunter’s Choice.

The choices are as follows:

• One unrestricted buck tag good for any buck with at least one 3-inch antler
• Two restricted buck tags, one good for a buck with at least three antler points on one side and one good for a buck with at least four antler points on one side

I think this last topic is a good one, and one that I wouldn’t mind seeing become law in the Lower Peninsula. I definitely think that something has to be done in order to help our buck quality, as well as our buck-to-doe ratios. I think that this particular license change is a good step in the right direction for the state, and will hopefully allow those persons who hunt in the U.P. to have a better chance at seeing a few more quality bucks.

There is a lot happening in the Michigan outdoors lately, and hopefully my post helped everyone to stay informed.

Popularity: 15% [?]

July 16th, 2008
By Arthur

Well, I first saw this post topic on Blessed’s blog, and then I came across it again on Jody’s blog. The different part about Jody’s post was that this time I got tagged. The theme behind the post goes like this:

Think back on the last 15 years of your life. What would you tell someone that you hadn’t seen or talked to for 15 years? How would you sum up your life? You get 10 bullet points. A list of 10 things to summarize about you. At the end of your list, tag 5 more people and send on the love…

The last 15 years? That would only make me 15, so I guess for the purpose of this post I have to talk to someone like I haven’t seen them since I was 15. I guess I can do that. So, without further ado here it goes:

• Yes I graduated high school. I was a slacker for my freshmen year, but I finally realized that an education was pretty important and buckled down and got my diploma.
• No, I’m not still with the same girl from high school. We did get married, but it was short lived, and then a few years later I met my current wife, and she is perfect.
• Remember how much I hated high school, and all things related to it? Well now I work in a school system. Now there is some irony.
• Hunting and fishing are still a HUGE part of my life and will probably always be. To be honest they are a bigger part of my life now then they have ever been.
• I still live in the same town I grew up in and I am pretty happy with that. Hopefully my wife and I’s four year plan works out and we get to move into the country, but for now the small town life works just fine.
• We bought our first house two years ago and we take tremendous pride in it. Sure it isn’t the fanciest one, but it’s ours, and we’ve made some fun improvements to it.
• I finally broke down and got a dog. I know I always said I wouldn’t have one of my own, but I do. I should say we do, because I think the wife likes him more than I do. Did I mention that he is completely crazy?
• I run two of my own websites. One is a personal notebook type, and the other is an outdoor blog. They take up a lot of my time and I absolutely love it. Never did I think I would like to write, but with my outdoor site/blog, it sure has taken a hold on me.
• Family is a big part of our life, and I’m glad that most of them are close by. Even the cousins who moved to South Carolina are on their way back and we couldn’t be happier. It is going to be like when we were 15, except now it will be hunting, and our kids playing together, rather then bb guns and G.I. Joe’s.
• My wife and I are expecting our first child in October, and we couldn’t be happier. It has made life come full circle for us at this point, and we can’t wait for our little girl to get here.

So there ya have it. The last 15 years of my life in a nutshell. This was actually a pretty fun post to do. I really had to put a lot of thought into it. I mean you only get 10 bullet points, and I could have kept going, so picking the important ones was a little bit of a task.

In the spirit of this post, I now have to tag 5 people to write a similar post of their own. I’m going with:

Jeff at Lowcountryhunting

Rick at Tails and Trails

Phillip at The Hog Blog

Mike at Hunting with Mike

Kris at Jake’s Outdoors

Hopefully everyone takes me up on the offer. I love getting different insights into my fellow blogger’s lives.

Popularity: 16% [?]