We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Western Civ is mainly founded on a late-Roman/Judeo-Christian socio-cultural foundation. It's a foundational structure which has been slowly spreading around the world because it sorta works ok for people.
I have Holland's viewpoint, but still stick with the the idea of the divine. The "Y" axis of existence. I can't live entirely on the X axis.
I did not know how much Merlot grapes they use. Still, I can't afford really good Bordeaux, like an '86 St. Emilion. Well, I guess I could but I won't.
I have never had a Petrus but I am sure I'd like it.
"If you count the number of seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder, and then divide by 5, you'll get the distance in miles to the lightning: 5 seconds = 1 mile, 15 seconds = 3 miles, 0 seconds = very close."
We were up in Hudson, NY, and environs this weekend for a party. Not on our boat, alas, but we did take a ride on the river. Beautiful. Frederick Church country.
Interestingly, the Hudson remains an estuary for over 100 miles north. Still kind of tidal, but with a 5 knot current.
Kinda odd that a port 120 miles north of NYC would have been a major whaling port, but it was. It's a big fashionable summer town now, and an easy Amtrak from NYC. Warren St. is shop after shop, and cafe after cafe. Not my style, but I get its appeal. Architecturally, very fun and interesting.
51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.
51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
51:4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
51:5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
51:6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
51:8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
51:9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
51:11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Abigail Shrier: Republicans, You’re Going After Kamala All Wrong. The GOP can complain about a ‘coup’ and call Harris a ‘DEI hire.’ But it won’t win them votes
I call it the Costco Walk. Even though it is not a body-weight exertion, I put it into my calisthenic days. Nothing is simpler or more basic.
It is a functional total body stressor, especially as your kettlebells or dumbells get heavier. If you get to a weight where your grip fails due to grip strength or sweat, you can use a towel around the weight. Maintain posture. It's sort of fun to walk until failure.
Here is the lighthouse-keeper's house today (the Coast Guard moved the light itself to California):
This little brick structure in the back contained the kerosene, delivered by boat as needed, to keep Mayo Light burning to mark Wellfleet Harbor:
Just past Mayo Beach, through the 1920s, was the grand Chequessett Inn, built on pilings (the stumps of which still poke through the mud) and finally destroyed by an attack of sea ice in the 1930s. Rumor is that rum-runner boats would stop by at night, contributing to the Inn's popularity during Prohibition.
It was built by Mr. Lorenzo Dow Baker, the pioneer of the banana trade from the Caribbean and Central America. On a whim, he loaded his schooner's empty hold with tropical fruit for the return trip to Boston, and made millions. Mainly bananas, hitherto unknown in Boston. Ended up owning plantations all over Central America, and a big hotel in Jamaica. His employees were Jamaicans: They worked Wellfleet in the summer and the Jamaica hotel in the winter.
Baker's business became the Boston Fruit Company, the foundation of the United Fruit Company. A clever Yankee.
Coffee for the Brain - 
Bordeaux Wines
Can You Really Get the World’s Best Scotc
