R E F L E C T I O N S

The Pilum was a javelin w ith a hard steel head attached to a soft neck. It was designed to bend once it landed if it did not hit an enemy soldier. If the pilum missed the target it would bend over making it useless. This way it could not be thrown back at the Roman soldier. If the  pilum would penetrate the enemy shield the soft neck would bend over.  Removing the head of the pilum from the shield would take too much time, so both pilum and shield were then thrown away leaving the man defenseless.  http://www.jaysromanhistory.com/romeweb/romarmy/equip.htm When Roman Soldiers confronted their nemesis in battle, they would typically throw the Javelins first trying to take out their enemy before they had to face them head on. When they did have to face their enemy head on, this is when they would draw their Ancient Gladius Sword. The Roman Warrior usually led with their Scutum (shield) and used their sword as a weapon for...

I'm not sure why ancient Roman warriors fascinate me.  Maybe it's just that they were the best military force for over a thousand years! I'm against violence but there must be a bit of violence in the human genetic makeup.  The evidence is the almost constant state of war we are in, the excitement of battle, movies, video games... All glorify murder! I took most of the information from various websites but mosly from: http://www.jaysromanhistory.com/romeweb/romarmy/equip.htm Gladius ( Short thrusting Sword) "Roman battle tactics called for close - ordered, disciplined troops fighting as a team as opposed to individual heroics as used by many of their enemies.  Trained soldiers, standing shoulder to shoulder for twenty minutes at a time, methodically killing their opponents.  When an occasional lucky stroke by a barbarian warrior brought down a Roman soldier, another of his brethren immediately stepped forward to fill his spot. ...

Taken from web and from  http://jaysromanhistory.com/index.htm My next post will cover weapons.

Below I focused in on a hole in the clouds. It looks like a flap or tongue opening in the cloud. Other clouds: From my car:

Each year I plant a small four foot by four foot vegetable garden.  This year I'm squeezing 4 tomato plants (hopefully 4 different varieties) and about 6 cucumber plants into this small area. I know it's less room than recommended but I always do it. In the past the deer used it for a "salad bar". I tried a mini electrified fence which worked but the orange extension cord  looked out of place. The chance that it would be run over by a lawn mower if I did not disconnect it in time was not worth the risk. I tried metal chicken wire strung out into a 4x4x4 cube. The cube turned into a dented box. It looked terrible. Now I'm trying a four sided design. Two sides are fixed and two sides are removable. If needed I'll put a soft plastic net over the top at night when the plants grow high. Here is the layout. I've weeded three out of the four quarters. The pile of weeds is to the right bottom of the photo.  While weeding the last quarter I notic...

These images were edited from photos I took earlier this week. Now I'm looking forward to Spring weather. 

I'm having a good time playing with my camera and various editing programs.