kevin and i went up to sterling to visit his mom, who had pneumonia and was in the hospital.  by the time we got there she was doing much better, and it was really nice to see her, and i’m happy to report that she’s now back at home.  it’s been too long since i saw her last.

while we were there, we stopped by the river there in sterling and walked across a new bridge. here’s kevin at the tunnel leading to the bridge.

see all those giant branches there under the bridge?  i think they were actually trees, huge huge logs that we stuck under the bridge.

we then went to a little museum, the Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society Museum, where they had some interesting things on display.  i loved this, a cart with ether.  they had lots of scary-looking old medical equipment.  don’t you think that in 50 years people will think that our technology is scary and outdated?  maybe everything will be laser and there will be no incisions at all.

and then there was this zouave jacket.

kevin’s mom was interested in this jacket, because she’d made a replica of one, to be used as a model for a mural of sterling, then i think some woman used it when she was a site interpreter somewhere…kevin told me about it in detail again but he told me when we went running and so the details are a little fuzzy.

here’s the origin of the zouaves:

The original Zouaves were native North African troops serving in the French Army in the 1830s.  They wore distinctive uniforms.  The uniforms usually consisted of a fez and turban, very baggy pants, a vest, a short jacket that was cut away from the top with only one button or clasp at the throat and a sash.  They also wore leggings.  The uniforms were usually brightly colored and had much trim and/or braid and many brass buttons on them.

but this jacket was worn by a woman, and they had a group of female zouaves in sterling.  no, they weren’t north africans – i guess that people got all excited about the zouave troops and during the civil war, some of the civil war troops formed into zouave units.

after the war, there were women zouave regiments who did all kinds of acrobatics and stuff, and then there were competitions, but the women kept beating the mens’ troops.

i know it’s all a little vague, but maybe kevin will comment on this and explain it better.  another issue with the writing coherently this morning is that it’s not even 7 a.m yet and i got up too early and my brain hasn’t fully started functioning yet.

thursday thursday thursday.

ok then,

mrs. not awake hughes.

The original Zouaves were native North African troops serving in the French Army in the 1830s.  They wore distinctive uniforms.  The uniforms usually consisted of a fez and turban, very baggy pants, a vest, a short jacket that was cut away from the top with only one button or clasp at the throat and a sash.  They also wore leggings.  The uniforms were usually brightly colored and had much trim and/or braid and many brass buttons on them.