Author: Justin Hill

  • The Christmas Truce

    The Christmas Truce

    100 years ago, in December 1914, World War I was about 5 months old. In August, the Germans had initially moved rapidly through Luxembourg and Belgium on their way to France. Allied defenses held them at a battle line called The Western Front. By December casualties were high and all both sides could do was…

  • Ashokan Farewell

    Here’s a song we like. Ashokan Farewell was composed by Jay Ungar in 1982 and was featured in Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary in 1990. Sheet music link.

  • Favorite Dog Things

    Favorite Dog Things

      We have an almost-2-year-old beagle named Ralphie. The photo above is at about 2 months. He’s a good dog, all in all. He gets me out every day to exercise — our favorite is mountain biking through a nearby canyon where he can run around and chase squirrels and sniff horse poop on the trails.…

  • Favorite Christmas Albums

    I have a bit of an obsession with Christmas music. I try to wait until at least Halloween to start listening to it each year. I spend an unholy amount of time gathering, organizing, and rating songs each year, hoping to eventually create the ultimate Christmas mix. I have 24 versions of Deck the Halls…

  • Visions of Johanna

    Sometimes a 50-year-old song gets stuck in your head for weeks.