After portraying Thomas since 1987 I have a confession to make; it is fun to do.

Mixing fun and history can be threatening to some. I hope that those who wield historical symbols as blunt instruments do not read this little post, as such a notion would cause them to go into paroxysms of anger. And I am grateful that academics, who are swamped with volumes of words they regularly have to digest, will not see that someone dabbling in their field gets to have an occasional blast doing so. I do not wish to be the object of their jealousy.

History, as any state department of education can tell you, is serious stuff. Even Mr. Orwell said in his prescient 1984, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past,” therefore anyone who can manipulate history to present a perspective of enjoyment, particularly from a “Founding Father” as serious as Jefferson, must have questionable motives.

This notion of fun linked to history is for children, ranging from 6 to 96 years old, who cannot grasp the heavy seriousness and future consequences that result from past actions. Not a problem for me. I’ll count myself among the children when it comes to American history.

 What would Hamilton make of this?

[courtesy of Omni-Homestead]

This past September (2017), Mr. Jefferson had a new experience that he never had in the eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. Thanks to the Omni Homestead in Hot Springs, VA, he sampled the practice of falconry. Both Mr. Jefferson and I almost lost it, it was so much fun. (The only thing he was a bit concerned about was the Federalist press getting wind that he had participated in the “sport of kings,” which might wound his image, but I assured him that they would never find out.)

Kids – listen to your teachers, read what past folks wrote, write up your conclusions, and keep in mind, those old timers wanted to have as much fun as you do.