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.
It's too bad that all of the peaches on a tree begin to ripen at once. I pick before ripe. Up here, it's September for peaches and pears, October for apples.
I have a pal coming over today to help me with the harvest, and we'll split the harvest. He cooks stuff too, another old farm boy. It's been an excellent year for fruit trees in general in the Northeast: frigid long winter, wet spring, hot summer.
Maybe Mrs. BD will make a few Peach Pies and tarts for friends and kids, and I'll can up some preserves and Peach Chutney. She is a crust-making expert And I will keep a bunch to ripen fully on the tree to eat. I am fond of fresh peach slices on vanilla ice cream. Aren't you?
2:1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?
2:2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in,
2:3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet,"
2:4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
2:6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?
2:7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
2:8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
2:9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
2:11 For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
2:12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.
2:13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?
2:15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,
2:16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?
2:17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Unless you need to carry lots of stuff, kayaks have mostly taken over from canoes for water recreation. I grew up with rowboats. Kayaks are much more fun. Some links:
And death shall have no dominion. Dead men naked they shall be one With the man in the wind and the west moon; When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone, They shall have stars at elbow and foot; Though they go mad they shall be sane, Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again; Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.
And death shall have no dominion. Under the windings of the sea They lying long shall not die windily; Twisting on racks when sinews give way, Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break; Faith in their hands shall snap in two, And the unicorn evils run them through; Split all ends up they shan't crack; And death shall have no dominion.
And death shall have no dominion. No more may gulls cry at their ears Or waves break loud on the seashores; Where blew a flower may a flower no more Lift its head to the blows of the rain; Though they be mad and dead as nails, Heads of the characters hammer through daisies; Break in the sun till the sun breaks down, And death shall have no dominion.
I recently learned that artist John Grillo had died in December, aged 97. He worked in his studio until the day before he died. I knew last year that he didn't have long to go.
I have a couple of his watercolors, aiming for one more for my HQ before the prices get out of hand. Met him a few times in his old age. Crusty, ornery old Cape Codder, eager to make money from his work. A stroke barely slowed him down.
Our friends at the Cove Gallery were nice enough to assemble a bunch of his Circus pictures for us to look at. A master colorist.
One of the many reasons people detest Boehner and McConnell is this very same thing: lack of energy. They must have done something to get to their present positions—something rather Machiavellian, I’d imagine. But it certainly doesn’t come across in anything that would give people the impression that they will fight for them. They don’t just fail to walk the walk, they fail to talk the talk.
It speaks of the helplessness of a man in the street, who feels he has no control over the policies made in Brussels, Frankfurt, and Strasbourg, not to speak of Washington, and whose political power, enshrined in his vote, has been devalued to the point of irrelevance. It speaks of the frustration of the blue-collar workers, whose jobs have been taken over by foreigners from other parts of Europe and whose unemployment insurance and social benefits must be shared with foreigners from outside Europe. The influx of immigrants makes it more difficult to find a job in times of crisis and keeps the wages low in times of growth. It is thus easy to blame the unemployment and stagnant wages on them, although the root causes may lie elsewhere.
Our hosts in Wellfleet last week provided abundant and elegant breakfasts. Fresh fruits first, of course. I am not a fruit fan, but with a good dollop of Trader Joe's Lemon Curd I can enjoy them.
They provided fruit forks and knives with the beautifully-presented fruit course. Civilized and quite effective tools for all fruits and berries. Yes, old-fashioned. We need some.
With decent cutlery and Lemon Curd, I may yet become fruit-tolerant. Is fruit "healthy"? Not at all. It's really just nature's dessert.
Just back from spiritually-necessary annual pilgrimage to the Cape and Wellfleet, MA. Pics and tips for Wellfleet-lovers when I organize a travelogue post or two.
Besides doing everything else outdoors (swimming in Bay, harbor, several ponds, body-surfing in ocean with seals and sharks, taking a 2 1/2 hour hike which few know about, etc.), we kayaked twice daily - at dawn and before or after supper - thanks to Jack's. Jack will deliver and pick-up, no matter where. Using Youtube instructions, and encountering some tough sledding in southern New England salt waters, and the Hudson River, and last week on Nauset, we have been forced to improve our kayaking technique for a couple of years. "Use your core, not your arms!" God gave us our transverse abdominis for a reason. Having owned lots of boats of many sorts during my life, my craft of choice right now is the body-powered kayak.
Portrait of my handsome feet on Higgin's Pond, 7:30 am this morning. Ospreys overhead, Great Blue Herons all about, trout jumpin'. Water lilies in late bloom. Nice. No person there except me and Mrs. BD.
I'll do an informal series on some interesting exercises for functional (as opposed to body-building) improvement. I think we basically covered serious cardio a week or two ago, and we covered The Planks too.
No need to cover the big, essential resistance ones: Dead lift, bench press, dumbell press, barbell squat, pull-ups, push-ups.
I categorize exercises in three rough categories: Resistance, Cardio, and Mixed Cardio/Resistance. My favorite group is the latter of those 3. Fitness Crossfit does lots of those too.
The Farmer's Walk is a full-body resistance exercise which is highly-functional. I do 2 sets maybe twice weekly. Head up, chest out, shoulders back, quick walk. Often grip and forearm strength is the weak link.
Anything that requires explosive power, athleticism, grip strength, overall limit strength and core strength will benefit from the farmer’s walk. So, basically, the farmer’s walk is the epitome of functional training for about anything.
Cabo is famous for the fishing, but we were out for meat as much as for sport and, as I mentioned, we are not really into hassling the big fish from the big boats anymore. Leave them fish alone!
We set out early with Carlos in his super-ponga to find "Sierra" - Sierra Mackeral (similar to the Atlantic Spanish Mackeral, but larger) - for dinner for ten invitees. We needed the meat but good sport is always the bonus.
I always say, "Huntin' and fishin' ain't shopping." It's a risk to invite people before catching the fish, but it's never failed for me. The Lord provideth the tortillas and the fishes. We caught 8 but really only needed 6, so had leftovers for breakfast. (We Yankees believe in fish for breakfast.)
Being lazy and on vacation, we brought our 8 cleaned and skinned mackeral over to Solomon's Landing on the marina to prepare it for us all for dinner six hours later. Since we supplied the fish, it wasn't a big expense except for the cocktails.
It was a good dinner party. Margueritas the size of bathtubs. Here was the result at 7 pm that evening -
First course: Sierra Ceviche - the best ceviche I have ever had in my life. Sierra is said to be the best fish in the world for ceviche, and I cannot dispute that. I could live on Sierra Ceviche and Margueritas:
After the dynamite ceviche, they brought platters of our Sierras cooked three ways - chef's choice: Fried with coconut, baked with capers, olives and peppers, and baked Rockefeller style (like Oysters Rockefeller) - all wonderful Mexican cooking:
Get Grillin’! Common Grilling Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
I recently learned that artist John Grillo 
Image to celebrate Labor Day weekend, which seems to begin today 
A recommended book: 
Our hosts in Wellfleet last week provided abundant and elegant breakfasts. Fresh fruits first, of course. I am not a fruit fan, but with a good dollop of Trader Joe's Lemon Curd I can enjoy them.
Image stolen from 
