My wife and I arrived at Antietam Battlefield National Park in Washington County, MD, with a few hours of sun left in the day.  The astronomers from the Tri-State Astronomers www.tristateastronomers.org were holding their semi-annual Star Party for the public.

My wife, Susane Stahley (see “Beter Writing with Susanne”  http://tinyurl.com/4w47mn ), is producing a documentary for Maryland Public Television www.mpt.org to complement Ken Burns’ upcoming series on America’s National Parks.

Susanne’s research brought her in touch with the astronomers who are kindly lending assistance with some of her filming at the battlefield.

So we went to the sky-watching event, and as Susanne went off to do her production scouting, I wandered around the grounds.  As in other major Civil War battlefields, there are numerous markers and monuments to those who fought.  You may recall from your history studies that Antietam, with a total of nearly 23,000 casualties, was the Civil War battle with the most casualties in any one day of the war.  http://tinyurl.com/dzhajg

Those who know me are aware of my passion for history and the fun I particularly have in researching family history.  I had two great-grandfathers who fought in the Civil War on the Union side, and Susanne had one as well.  One of mine, a German immigrant, was with the 15th NY Engineers from June, 1861 to June 1863.

Several years ago, while viewing his military pension records at the National Archives in DC, I actually came across original letters written by my relative from various battlefields , including the Peninsula Campaign of the summer of 1862 and at Fredericksburg in December, 1863.

But I did not know how involved his unit was in that battle of Antietam of September, 1862.  From my research to date, it had seemed that the official regimental history for the 15th glossed over that battle.

Well, as I wandered around Antietam Battlefield that evening, I saw the imposing New York state monument, and then upon closer scrutiny I saw the name of the commanding officer of the 15th listed among the leaders of the units that were at Antietam.

Now, it is possible that the 15th Engineers were held in reserve in nearby Sharpsburg and did not see action in this battle.  Union Gen. George McClellan was severely criticized for not engaging his full force — an unfortunate trait of his throughout his command of the Union forces.  But it was good to add another piece to the puzzle that the 15th were at least actually there amidst the campaign.

As the skies got darker, and people arrived to look through the telescopes, I couldn’t help but think about the odd juxtaposition of watching the heavens (viewing Saturn and the Orion Nebula http://tinyurl.com/dzgszx were particular treats) on ground where such carnage had occurred.

The event for me was one of those times when many thoughts run through one’s mind and at the same time a lot of things fall into perspective.

Between the one-day horror that took place at the battle of Antietam and the seeming timelessness of space, I realized once again that I am just grateful to be alive.

So I arrived to work that Monday with a new relaxed sense of purpose.  While I will continue to keep my clients’ interest foremost, I have a renewed resolve to not take myself toooooo seriously.  And a corollary of that . . . I recall what Robert Middleton www.actionplan.com says: Marketing has to be fun for a salesperson if it is to be effective.

As always, your comments are welcome below.

I can be reached directly at dryan@videolabs.net or 301-217-0000 x104.

I also invite you to follow me on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/DRMediaSolution

If you enjoyed reading this blog, you might perahps like to read my thoughts inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday: http://tinyurl.com/c564ek