Hey everyone, this is Rich.

If you're tuning in for episode 424 and the next installment in the Chattanooga story

arc, well, sorry, you'll have to wait for that.

Some of Tracy's family is in town visiting, and I may be a bit slow, but I've learned

a few things in 20 plus years of marriage, and so I know it wouldn't be a good idea to

try and have her sit down to record an episode this weekend.

And I don't really feel like doing the next episode myself.

It's surprisingly stressful to sit down and try to record an episode solo when hundreds

of shows have conditioned you to doing it with a co-host.

However, I do feel a strong desire to address something that has been in the news this past

week, and which is Civil War era related.

And so I'm going to do that.

Even though every time we take the opportunity to address current events, no matter how strong

the connection to the Civil War, we end up hearing from folks who tell us they listen

to the podcast for the history, and don't want to hear us talk about anything having

to do with what's going on here in the world real time.

And you know, I previously expressed my opinion about that viewpoint, but if that's you,

okay, then please feel free to consider this an editorial, and you can skip it.

Just stop listening right here, and you can tune back in next week when we'll return

to Chattanooga, and discuss what was going on there in October 1863.

Alright, for those of you who are still listening, I'd like to start off by sharing a quote

by Bruce Catton, who was an American journalist, who is best known today for the popular history

...