We felt the earthquake last night which hit 400 km south of us in the State of Michoacan. It shook our bed and the blinds were hitting the window. No damage done other than some cracked plaster. Hope all are safe.
Our first week here was punctuated by cool weather. One day the high was only 23C and we had a few showers. Had to wear a windbreaker last night for the first time here when we went out to Ernestos Good Grub.
The sandbar has reappeared now and it has warmed up again. You can walk for kms in your bare feet.
Managed to snag a small delicious Roca de Reis. Hoping to find a baby Jesus inside.
One of the highlights of our week is attending the local Catholic Church Mass on Sundays. It is held in a large modern hall. Parts of the service are in English. This year they have a fantastic soloist named Pedro. Enjoy.
We have settled in now for a great stay. More friends are arriving each week. We have a bunch of birthdays coming up to celebrate. Stay warm. Hasta pronto (see you soon).
We find ourselves in Mexico again. It’s safe here and safe to say that we find many blessings and much peace here.
We flew via Newark and all went well. Except we had to retrieve our heavy bags and pay again to check them because there was too much time between the connecting flights.
As well, Marie lost a shoe in security and we had to wait a few minutes.
It was an early morning flight to PV. We were in our condo about 75 minutes after landing. Best timing yet!
Our property agent met us and then took us to the grocery store. The next morning she returned and fixed up all the deficiencies in the condo we had asked for.
We have now been here a few days. We just returned from church and there was a great soloist. We have not picked up any bugs…The sun is shining.
Off to a great start so far thanks be to God. Hope things are going well for you so far in 2025 too.
We attended this annual outdoor Mass again thanks to our awareness of it through the Galilee Centre in Arnprior and the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It was jointly sponsored by St. Basil’s RC Parish and the Kateri Native Ministry in Ottawa. It was truly a wonderful and moving Eucharistic celebration.
The location is at Naatagama Camp, a rustic undeveloped property owned by Kateri beside the Ottawa River right near the Quyon ferry terminal. As a boy I remember attending one or more events here when it was a Cubs camp property in the early 60s. It hasn’t changed much since then. Quiet, simple, relaxed and beautiful.
The Mass was co-celebrated by Fr. Eric Sorensen, SJ (on right below) and Fr. Daryold Winkler (on left) of St. Basil’s who himself is Indigenous from Manitoulin Island, Ontario.
The Season of Creation is a proclaimed annual time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation, that was initiated in 1981 by Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I. It is now celebrated around the world by many Christian communities and resonates well with Indigenous respect for the Creator and nature. It is something that we do not hear much about in our local parish.
On a beautiful sunny day about 100 people celebrated Mass, initiated with a purification smudging and included singing, a dance followed by a picnic lunch. The readings were particularly poignant and resonated with me in a many ways:
Job 12:7-10
But ask the animals and they will teach you. Or the birds of the air and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth and it will teach you. Or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord had done this? In God’s hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all humankind.
Romans 8: 19-25, 28
All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his sons. Yes there was hope that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know up to the present time, all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth. But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God’s gifts also groan within ourselves as we wait for God to make us his sons and daughters and set our whole being free. For it was by hope that we were saved; but if we see what we hope for, then it is not really hope. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. We know in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.
Matthew 6: 25-29
And this is what I tell you: do not be worried by the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn’t life worth more than food? And isn’t the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren’t you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it? And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers.
I thought the event was very well organized and that it was a privilege to be there. A moving spiritual journey.
This book written by moral philosopher and professor Arianne Shavisi in 2023 deserves to be widely read. She provides fresh insight and understanding into many of today’s most controversial social and cultural issues like gender identity, racism, the cancel culture, Black Lives Matter, political correctness and structural injustice. She provides some concrete examples of how we can use philosophy in our personal decision making to make ethical and lifestyle choices that lead to a better outcome for all. She is an optimist believing that we can make the world a better place if we pull together. I learned so much from this book, I think I will read it again!
Arianne is a feminist who does not scream. Instead she quotes endless facts and numbers to illustrate what is going on in each area and the impact this has on those being disadvantaged by the status quo (and yes sometimes it’s men). Her education includes degrees in natural science and astrophysics. I learned so much about todays societal issues such as racism, gender issues and something called mansplaining (which is when a man (like me) jumps in unsolicited to explain a topic to a woman assuming she needs help understanding it simply because she is a woman). I had never heard of this term before but now that I have, I will try to refrain from doing it.
Here are a couple of examples of how to use philosophy to make the right decision that made real sense to me. A doctor in Africa faced with limited medical resources has to decide will she spend the last of those resources trying to save her patients or will she spend them on an inoculation program to potentially save numerous others who are not currently sick. Applying the principles of Utilitarianism which says to choose the action which brings about the greater good for society, she opts for the inoculation program.
Another powerful but everyday example quoting Kant’s categorical imperative which says choose the action which is the most universable that brings about the maximum good. A man had to decide if he would break a promise, an everyday event. One little promise no big deal right? But if everyone broke promises everyday what kind of society would we have? The correct ethical choice according to Kant – don’t break promises.
This book has very polarized reviews on Amazon. Some like myself (a slight majority) think it is one of the best books ever written on these subjects. Others say it is Marxist propaganda and were so disgusted and they threw it away.
Another example this time about how to combat racism. You are in conversation with someone when they say something like “Well you know what those people are like.” You sense where the conversation is going, are uncomfortable and do not wish to be complicit. So rather than saying nothing you say “No, I don’t know what those people are like, please explain.” And keep repeating this which forces the other person to go out on a limb displaying their racist views which they are less likely to do now that you have called them out about it. If everyone did this… Brilliant I thought.
We tend to live in silos where everyone looks like us, thinks like us, and believes like us. It’s a comfortable existence. Perhaps there is little self awareness of this and consequently, the chance we’ll continue to grow spiritually or intellectually is somewhat diminished. The feelings of differentness yet connectedness we experienced on a recent trip came not only from the travel but from interacting with people who were from 65 different countries!
We met and interacted with people from: Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, India, Albania, United States, Russia, Italy, Mexico, France, U.K., Greece, Hawaii, French Polynesia, Scotland, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Germany, Thailand, Kenya and from other places we were not aware of. We manouvered around dozens of people on scooters or in a wheel chair due to mobility issues. There were people older than us, younger than us, LGBTQ couples, big people, small people, fit people, unfit people, couples, singles. We saw indigenous street people. It was a sea of diversity. Yet we all are family.
Adrianne is a different type of author for me. She is saying we can make it a better world with greater respect for differences and an open mind. I thoroughly enjoyed her book. I give it 9.5 out of 10. Should be available at your local library.
Cruise Director Giuseppii doing his classic kick start of the nightly shows (not my photo)
We were now about to now cross the Pacific on the beautiful Celebrity Edge. It was to be an 18 day cruise with 13 sea days; the longest cruise we had ever been on. We would cross the Equator and International Dateline, visit New Zealand and Tahiti before pushing on to Hawaii.
The Edge was launched in 2018 as the first of a new class. It carries 2900 pax with a crew of 1300. At 130,000 tons it is slightly bigger than the Solstice with about the same number of pax. Everything on board is different. It represents Celebrity’s attempt to move up from a “premium” cruise line to a “luxurious” one. In our view they greatly succeed. This was to be the best cruise we have ever gone on!
Take a look at the Edge
We decided not to opt for the drink package due its high cost. Instead, we brought on many bottles of wine that were duly detected by scanning but never objected to by the security staff. We were going to celebrate our 40th anniversary again and also Dave’s birthday. This excuse seemed to work with them.
The shows on the edge were fantastic. We would alternate between the 7 and 9 pm shows depending on our dining arrangements. We saw large cast stage shows, comedians, singers, instrumentalists, acrobats and even a hypnotist. Many of the entertainers were from Australia and were very talented.
The port stops were Bay of Islands and Auckland in New Zealand and Raiatea, Moorea and Papeete in Tahiti. In New Zealand we wandered around, enjoyed the local sights and bought some great wine. In Tahiti we took an outrigger boat excursion, Dave went snorkelling and we went to several little beaches that were absolutely beautiful and later picked up some souvenirs. We did not particularly like Papeete the capital as it was jammed with traffic, noisy and too darn busy. Moorea and Raiatea were simple, calm and stunning. Sadly, our ship was too big to put into Bora Bora, the jewel of Tahiti. Hightlight was probably the quiet little beach stop in Raiatea – calm, uncrowded, pristine.
The food of course is the best part of a cruise. The Edge has 4 separate dining rooms, 4 or 5 specialty restaurants and of course the Oceanview Cafe buffet. We frequented almost all of the restaurants. The service, food selection and quality were truly amazing. Best meal was filet mignon and lobster tail in the Finecut Steakhouse on Dave’s birthday. Our anniversary dinner in Eden was very memorable too.
The best part of this cruise were the 13 sea days. With nothing to do but relax and enjoy the ship’s amenities, we got quite into a calm state that lasted for weeks after the cruise. Never bored, we found somewhere on deck to relax before we went for our next meal. The walking track was a long one and well laid out. The hot tub was never crowded. The pool was large and inviting. The last night there was an all white party on deck with live music. The 7 piece orchestra on board was consistently 5 star. Our only complaint was the wifi would often drop out as we moved around the ship forcing us to log in again.
The cruise ended in fantastic controversy. Approaching the sacred and pristine Na Pali coast off Kauai, our ship’s captain Matt decided to do a 360 Deg turn. We were very close to shore to start with. In our view, as the 1000 ft long ship spun around, we went well within the 1000 foot minimum distance that ships are supposed to keep from shore.There was nothing unsafe about it but it did stir up the sea bed and visually disrupt the sacred nature of the area. Captain Matt said after that he was not aware of the 1000 foot limit. After an investigation, the State of Hawaii recently decided not to pursue charges and I speculate that Celebrity promised not to do it again. It was surreal and stunning how close we were. It gave us something to talk about and boast that we were there lol.
We disembarked in Honolulu, rented a car and drove to the north shore of Oahu for some fresh shrimp and a swim. We stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation and then headed back to the airport. Had a very smooth flight home via Vancouver. What a vacation! Thanks for travelling it with us!
Trip By The Numbers
Solstice cruise to Sydney 4525 nm = 8,380 km
13 nights, 4 ports, 9 sea days
Edge cruise to Honolulu 6319 nm = 11,702 km
18 nights, 5 ports, 13 sea days
Total distance travelled by air from Ottawa to Mexico to Singapore to Honolulu to Ottawa 29,000 km
Perhaps not the liveliest of versions, however non-Aussies like us need to see the lyrics to better understand this great folk song. e.g. a billabong is an isolated stagnant pond, a jumbuck is a male sheep. There was a proposal to make Waltzing Matilda Australia’s national anthem. No wonder. When we saw it performed live on board Edge and it brought tears to our eyes.
The view from our aft balcony as we pulled into Sydney, Australia. Were we were in for a nice surprise. Sydney, we were about to discover, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We are no longer city people and so have fairly low expectations about cities. Hence our surprise. The beauty of Sydney is focused on its magnificent harbour, its many surrounding beaches and an active outdoor lifestyle that its over 6 million inhabitants enjoy.
Leaving Solstice, we got an Uber to our 54 floor hotel, Meriton Suites in the heart of the commercial district. We could not figure out how to operate the elevator to get to the 39th floor. Duh. It turns out you must place your room card on the scanner and then an elevator is assigned and pre-programmed to take you to your floor and not to any other ones. Welcome to new hotel security technology! Our room was spacious and well equipped with a kitchenette. If we ran out of anything, we called down and it was delivered in minutes. We highly recommend this superb chain!
We were overlooking George Street which is like Toronto’s Yonge and Bloor Streets combined, jampacked with restaurants, high end shops, food stores and coffee bars etc.. The first day we walked around the magnificent St. Mary’s Cathedral, the iconic Opera House, visited the Aquarium and then did some shopping. We found everything we needed including delicious Australian wine very cheaply priced, just footsteps away. There were dozens and dozens of of Asian style restaurants filled with patrons. The streets were teaming with people, many of them young and Asian. It felt exciting to be there.
Next day Marie’s colleague from nursing school, Maureen and her husband Joe visited us. They took us on a delightful harbour cruise and a walkthrough the historical Rocks district near the harbour. Then we went for a lovely seafood lunch in a pub, thoroughly enjoying the company and the conversation. They live in a suburb of Sydney and took the transit system train back and forth easily. Sydney has a an extensive tap on, tap off transit system and an LRT right down the middle of George Street that works!
Next day we hit the beach. We hopped on a tap on, tap off ferry for a 20 min. ride to Manly beach. We walked around the shops and beach area marvelling at the surfers everywhere. We continued exploring the ocean path and found a tranquil little beach protected by large rocks. It was absolutely gorgeous there! We had a dip followed by snacks and beer in a sunny surf-side restaurant. Truly a great place to live and play we were thinking as we headed back by boat to our hotel.
The next day we went to Bondi Beach which you have probably heard of. It is very long with even bigger surf. Lots of surfers again, people exercising, walking dogs, sunning on the beach, happy. On the way home our bus stopped at the mall just before a tragic mass stabbing was to take place inside. We were shocked next morning when we head the sad news of this.
Perhaps the highlight of our whole visit was attending a standing room only, solemn Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral. There were 2 Archbishops, a huge men’s choir, and dozens of priests and lay in the processing party. We chatted with a parishioner who had come to Sydney from Malta and noticed a lot of young families there. It was a great send-off before embarking on our next cruise later that day.
We explained in an earlier blog why we like cruising so much. Click here to read this post. We waited a long time to go on this trip and were very excited to be boarding a ship again. It was our 40th wedding anniversary year so we were going to celebrate it. After 5 wonderful days in Singapore we were now ready to cruise!
We boarded the 2850 passenger Solstice, our 19th cruise and 3rd on Celebrity. Built in 2008 it is the first of its class, still very elegant but showing its age. It has a traditional look and feel which many guests prefer versus the newer ultramodern Edge class ships Celebrity has now deployed. It holds 2850 passengers, has a crew of 1250 and is thus a mid sized ship by today’s standards.
Celebrity Solstice our temporary home for 13 nights
We had an aft balcony which is at at the end of the ship overlooking the wake. This is a premium cabin however, we did not use the balcony as much as we thought we would for reasons I will explain. Typical in Asia, boarding was very slow and took about 90 minutes. There were 3 or 4 holding areas each with their separate line up. The difficulty is immigration controls. In order to board the ship, it was mandatory to have an electronic visa for Bali and a travel authorization for Australia. Some people didn’t have these in advance and this caused delays.
We were very happy with our cabin steward whom we met immediately – I Gede (pronounced I g’day). He was very attentive to our needs and constantly greeting us. I took to saying g’day g’day to him. He laughed. I regret we did not take his photo. People from Bali, Indoneisa we found to be the happiest. smiliest people we have ever met. Bali was to be our first stop.
After 2 sea days of enjoying the food and drink (we had a drink package) we were ready for some exploring on shore.
Bali is one of many Indonesian (pop. 150 million) islands but is unique because its religious heritage is Hindu while the rest of the country is Muslim. We took an excursion into town (Kuta), walked to a beach and then did some shopping. We marveled at the hundreds of offerings on the street to please the Hindu gods, the beauty of their temples and the low prices in the stores! The other thing we noticed was the heat. Very hot, impossible to be out in during early afternoon. We were happy to return to the ship and cool down! Would love to go back.
The next day was Easter Sunday. While there was no religious service on board, Celebrity provided live large screen viewing of the Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square celebrated by Pope Francis. After that we retired to the Oceanview Cafe and enjoyed seeing all the colourful cakes the chefs had baked.
Two more sea days and we would be in Australia. One of the best meals we had on the whole trip was in the Tuscan Grille. This is a specialty restaurant for which an upcharge applies. We celebrated our 40th anniversary in style there. I think I had lobster tail and filet mignon, yum. Marie enjoyed the calmari and a delicious white fish. Later, G’day even made us two towel swans! We felt caudled by the excellent service. Did we mention the wine?
Out and about on the ship, we found it a little crowded at times. The walking track weaved its way thru lounge chairs and the main dining room food and menu got boring after a couple of nights there. What we really did like was the range and high quality of food in the Oceanview Grill (buffet). We liked the complimentary continental breakfast room service, the specialty coffees, tea and cookies in the El Baccio cafe and the peaceful atmosphere and simple food at the spa cafe. Wherever we went, the service was impeccable. Staff really try hard on Solstice to please you and they succeed immensely! We did not use the casino at all but enjoyed the shops and some of the nightly shows. We were never bored.
We stopped in 3 ports in Australia: Darwin in the North, Cairns and Airlie Beach in Queensland before docking in Sydney. Each place was beautiful and unique in its own way. Darwin is a relatively new city having been rebuilt after Cyclone Tracy completely destroyed it in 1974. A nice little lagoon for swimming followed by some great shopping was in order. The small town of Palm Cove near Cairns had a great little beach, was very quiet and relaxing. Finally Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday Islands was fabulous for shopping, swimming in the lagoon and people watching. The Whitsunday Islands are truly an amazing place to go sailing in their calm waters. In Queensland during the season we were there, there is a high risk of being stung by highly poisonous jelly fish. Hence, each of these beach towns had an ocean lagoon for safe swimming which was protected by a mesh screen to prevent the “stingers” from getting in. No problems.
So why did we not use the aft balcony as often as we thought we would? The first reason was it was too darn hot! We were sailing in a south easterly direction most of the cruise so the sun was on our west facing balcony from 10 am onwards. At a few degrees from the equator it was scorching out there with no shade! The second reason was soot that landed on our balcony each day after being blown out the ship’s exhaust stacks. It was a black particulate matter that fouled our balcony each day and night. I think because of the SE trade winds we were constantly deluged with the problem. G’day took to washing it off twice a day. Many others around us experienced the same issue. Towards the end of the cruise, the problem went away and it got cooler. Celebrity gave us a small future cruise credit (discount) for the inconvenience.
After 13 nights on the Solstice we were now ready to get off in Sydney for a 5 day stay before our next cruise.
So how big is the Pacific Ocean? Bigger than the planet Mars. The world’s total land mass would fit in the Pacific with 17,000,000 sq. kilometers to spare. It covers 32% of the planet’s surface area and 46% of the Earth’s water surface. That is pretty darn big!
We crossed it twice. Once by air west to Singapore and then by cruise ship east to Hawaii via Australia. Google says it was more than 46,000 km of travel from our home near Ottawa! The circumference of the world is only 40,000 km. Hard to believe!
We loved it. After spending the winter in Nuevo Vallarta MX, we flew to Singapore. The flight from Los Angeles was 17.5 hours but on one of the best rated airlines in the world. We took some melatonin, slept for 4 to 5 hours and arrived relatively refreshed – 2 days later. Dave had lots of leg room, Marie not so much. The attendants on Singapore Airlines actually run, they are so intent on providing good service.
Our first impression of Singapore was the hundreds of freighters at anchor in the bay. Next the quick processing through immigration and customs. Singapore like many other countries now requires an Electronic Travel Authorization where they vet your passport details in advance. We were through and on our way by taxi within 30 min. of landing.
Our apartment hotel was just a few blocks from Orchard Road, the upscale shopping street of Asia and right next to a Buddhist temple. Our room had a small balcony and kitchenette. It was adequate but noisy at times. We were treated well by the hosts there.
After picking up some groceries, we walked along the picturesque Singapore River and found our way to China Town. The shopping was great as well as the people watching, the colour and the beer.
Over the ensuing 5 days we discovered the extensive underground transit system and used it to explore the Gardens by the Bay, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Little India, the Botanical and Orchard Gardens, endless shopping concourses and numerous outdoor food hawkers selling every kind of (cheaply priced) Asian food. We particularly enjoyed satay (chicken skewers with peanut sauce). Yum!
Gardens by the Bay
Did we mention how hot it was there? At just a few degrees above the equator, it was impossible to go out between 1 and 3 pm. Everyone uses a sun umbrella – one lined with a thick lining. We bought one!
Near the end of our stay we went to Raffles Hotel for a Singapore sling iconic experience!
Raffles Hotel.
We moved on to see the Merlion monument- half fish half lion across from the Marina Bay Sands.
Finally we attended Mass at a local church. It was a beautiful experience.
Our impressions of Singapore: exotic, beautiful, rich, modern, hot and very Asian! We were now ready to catch our cruise ship to Australia.
This is the fascinating story of sailing round the world in a 20 foot long sail boat over a 4 year period in the early 1950s. John Guzzell from Victoria, BC, built the boat and sailed her solo from east to west right around the globe. This was in an era when there was no internet, GPS etc. making it all the more an amazing accomplishment.
His love of people and places comes thru clearly making it a great read. Imagine yourself out on a small sailboat for up to 60 days at a time without any sighting of land or contact with other people.
So how does he do it? He uses paper charts and navigation techniques learned from his dad to make his way thousands of miles from island to island. But it is not that simple. He has to know the best port to enter into, the tidal times and deal with ever changing wind conditions that could dash him into rocks.
He does make use of a small outboard motor at times when there is no wind. He also has to drop all sails and ride out cyclones on several occasions. At night, the boat can actually sail and steer itself when the sails are lashed to the tiller!
All in all a fascinating first hand account of an amazing experience by a Canadian. Trekka held the world record as the smallest boat to circumnavigate the globe for a number of years. I rate this as a 9 out of 10 story even if you are not into sailing which I am not.
After reading various accounts of exactly what led to the creation of the fateful gap in the Union lines on the 2nd day at the Battle of Chicamauga, I am somewhat of the opinion it was not Rosecrans fault.
First of all who is Rosecrans and what was Chicamauga?
Major General William Starke Rosecrans c 1863
Major General Rosecrans (Old Rosy) was commander of the Army of the Cumberland on that fateful day Sept 20, 1863. A West Point graduate, he had worked his way up from 2nd lieutenant starting in 1842 in the Army Corps of Engineers. He was a civil engineering professor and superintendent of a coal company before rejoining the Union Army in 1861. At the Battle of Chicamauga he was in charge of 60,000 troops facing Confederate Major General Braxton Bragg who outnumbered him with 65,000 troops that day. He was generally recorded as the best general the Union had in the west and had just skilfully maneuvered Bragg out of Chattanooga with minimal losses.
Portrait by Kurz and Allison courtesy Wikipedia
The Battle of Chicamauga was fought over 2 days in Sept 1863 around the Chicamauga Creek in northern Georgia just south of Chattanooga, TN. As such it was the second deadliest of all US Civil War battles with 34,600 total casualties behind only the Battle of Gettysburg which had occurred just 2 months prior. We toured the Chicamauga site in 2012 and that was when I first learned of General Longstreet’s breakthrough and the splitting of the Union lines in the late morning of day 2.
The Snodgrass House around which Major General Thomas rallied his troops in the afternoon to fend off the Confederates after their breakthrough
Union General Thomas (who was to become known as “The Rock of Chicamauga” for his heroic stand later that day) was heavily attacked on the morning of day 2 by a superior number of Confed forces under Gen Leonas Polk (see above courtesy Wikipedia). He sends an aid, nephew Sanford Cobb Kellogg down the lines to the right seeking reinforcements to come to his aid. Kellogg asks Brig Gen Brannon if he would help out and move his men north to help his uncle George out. Brannon naturally reluctant to move without Rosecrans approval, awaits confirmation.
When Kellogg reaches Rosecrans headquarters, there is a naturally quite a bedlam of activity. By some reports Kellogg makes it known that Brannon had already moved out which indeed was not the case. In a panic, Rosecrans dictates an order to fill the unauthorized (and unexisting) gap to Brig Gen Wood to “close-up and support Reynolds” divisions. “Close-up” in military jargon means to link up with while “support” means to get behind of. So in fact the order was slightly ambiguous in the actual context. The order was written down by a secondary aid verbatim as Rosecrans primary aid was busy documenting other orders and would have known that Brannon had not moved out and so would have stopped the order from being issued.
So the order reaches Wood who looks left and sees Brannan is still there so there is no way to link up with Reynolds. But because he had been scolded publically by Rosecrans just that day for not promptly obeying orders, he decides the order must mean to pull back and go behind Brannan and come up behind Reynolds in support. This he does creating an unintentional gap in the Union lines that the order was meant to prevent from happening in the first place. 20 minutes later Longstreet’s Corps by chance is ordered to charge the Union line at the exact spot where Wood had just pulled out of and hence the massive breakthrough.
Courtesy Wikipedia
After thinking about this, it seems to me Rosecrans was given false information by Kellogg and possibly others which led to the debacle. Rosecrans was dismissed as a result, rather unfairly in my view.
For a somewhat supportive view of this please read the following report about the irony of this whole affair here.
So why have I bored you with the details of this? Because I made a brief presentation on this subject at our most recent National Capital Civil War Roundtable study group. See their website info here.
mattersofthemoment 