Many folks on Zoom calls have asked be about the virtual background I use. The image is of the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. It’s one of my favorite places. From there, it’s either a short drive, or a bit longer bicycle trek to many of the significant battlefields of the Civil War, including Manassas, Antietam and Gettysburg.

A few days after the second anniversary of the January 6th insurrection, my brother and I biked up to Sharpsburg Maryland from Harper’s Ferry. We were at Antietam, where the deadliest one-day battle in American history resulted in 23,000 soldiers injured or killed. Bicycles are the best way to experience battle sites, because you have a 360 degree view, and move at the right pace to make the trip a more intimate experience than you get from a car.