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.
I found a few Cockle shells on the bay beaches of Cape Cod. I have no idea about how plentiful they are, but they are not a commercial shellfish despite tasting the same as clams.
... researchers agree, MT is particularly worth promoting among the young, a stance that seems at least somewhat at odds with today’s self-care narrative. Says Chawla, “I would define mental toughness as grit. Tenacity. And a fairly big chunk of that is having some discipline over your own impulses—doing things even when your mind is objecting. This idea is now reviled in mainstream culture in favor of approaches such as, ‘be gentle with yourself.’ [But] if you’re always gentle with yourself you will stagnate and grow weak and fragile.” If our goal is to uphold and not erode mental toughness, it is surely unhelpful to applaud iconic role models for extolling fragility.
I am in a life phase when I prefer steamers to oysters or littlenecks. Who knows why tastes change? Mrs. BD and I used to love digging them up in the salt marshes. You can get happily covered with good marsh mud.
I think maybe I have had enough lobsters and oysters for one life. God knows, I have tried to. Photo at Pearl, on Wellfleet Harbor. Fun place. Great live music, excellent seafood, good people-watching.
We do not know what "college" or "higher ed" mean anymore. I used to think of "college" as referring to Liberal Arts, but I am way out of date. Wasn't a liberal arts education always an elite thing except for the very curious and self-educated?
Lots of Higher Ed is work- or career-related these days.
Mussels were not commonly considered food in the US until after the war. It's a shame they were overlooked for so long. The Indians ate them, as do crabs and diving ducks.
Mussels have a remarkable capacity for holding on to things. Photo shows mussel farming, on ropes, in deep New Hampshire waters.
Our Atlantic Blue Mussel is the edible variety - not the deeply-striated Horse Mussel. I can eat pounds of them, steamed in white wine and shallots, but Mussel Soup is good too. In my experience, kids love mussels.
Try cookin' up some mussels this weekend, with some good bread fried in olive oil to sponge up the juices.
A salt farm refers to a farm adjacent to salt water. This old place's meadow overlooks Nauset Marsh, a large salt marsh which is full of life and also fun to kayak in. There is a famous book,The House on Nauset Marsh,written by Dr. Richardson.
When I was little, we had a candy shop three blocks away. It had newspapers, magazines, cigars and cigarettes, coffee, a soda jerk behind the counter, and two well-used benches outside.
The Lively & Liveable Neighbourhoods that are Illegal in Most of North America:
I am fortunate to know many people with more life competencies that I have. I envy them. I am not talking about talent and talent stacks, but just competencies. Building a stone wall takes competency: Michelangelo had talent.
Here's a beginning ist of life competencies that I see in people, and admire.Trigger Warning: These might be white male competencies:
- Gracious and graceful social amiability - Ability to follow the math and statistics - Ability to handle one's finances reasonably - Ability to handle boats - Ability to handle firearms on the range and in the field - Knowing how to manage gardens of all sorts - How to cook decent meals - How to handle a cranky horse - How to camp in the wilderness - How to keep playing some sport into adulthood - How to handle a chain saw - How to do simple carpentry, and how to paint a house - How to start a fire with wet wood - How to write an essay - How to put out a kitchen fire - How to do CPR - How to use a GPS in the woods - and a compass to navigate - How to drive a stick shift vehicle - sports car or tractor - How to catch fish - How to ride a bike and motorbike - How to play some instrument, even if poorly
Add your own life competencies, or desired competencies, below.
Not really. Sex toys for ladies have been around forever. The newer ones might be more exciting though. Women, of course, have sexual needs and wants which cannot always be realized for many reasons.
Males can easily take care of themselves but it can just be a chore.
How McDonald's
Mussels were not commonly considered food in the US until after the war. It's a shame they were overlooked for so long. The Indians ate them, as do crabs and diving ducks.
From last week on Cape Cod. Merlin made it much more fun. Mrs. BD is now hooked on it.