Have you ever enthusiastically embarked on something, only to realize later it wasn’t such a good idea? I know I have, which is why I’m thinking about Napoleon Bonaparte. This March marks the two-hundred-year anniversary of Napoleon’s ill-fated attempt to reclaim his empire after being exiled to Elba. He escaped Elba and sailed to France, landing on the French coast on March 20, 2015. His next move was to head for the capital city, gathering troops still loyal to him on his way. Napoleon Returned from Elba, by Charles Auguste Guillaume Steuben Though initially it looked like Napoleon might succeed (they loved him in Paris), it didn’t work out so well for him. About 100 days after his triumphant return he literally met his Waterloo and was defeated in the battle of the same name in Belgium. As a punishment for his presumption (and breaking the terms of his first exile) he was once again sent into exile - this time to St. Helena, a barren rock off the coast of Afri
. . . where the past is mirrored in the present