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.
Our new housekeeping ladies only seem to speak Russian. They work hard and quickly, strong too as if they grew up on farms. Their English seems limited to "Good morning" and "OK".
I do not care where they are from as long as they are legal. Large portions of Ukraine are Russian-speaking, but I just wondered whether they would say "Ukraini" because there seems to be antipathy towards Russians these days, and sympathy towards Ukrainians.
Anyway, who cares? Clean and orderly household is all I care about.
Canoeing With the Cree. Almost 100 years ago, two 18-year-olds paddled 2,250 miles across America. This is their story.
“There is a cleanliness, a breadth and sweep and strength in the North, a purifying realization that one is living close to the fundamental elements of life. Yes, the North has a spell.”—Eric Sevareid
It was during the spring of 1930 when 19-year-old Walter “Walt” Port thought of the idea. He was scheduled to graduate from high school in a few months, so why not celebrate that accomplishment with an extended canoe trip, and do it with his closest high-school buddy, 17-year-old Eric Sevareid?
“We’ll leave right after graduation in June,” Walt explained to Eric. “From here in Minneapolis, we’ll paddle up the Minnesota River to Big Stone Lake on the South Dakota line, then into the Red River of the North, down that river into Canada and Lake Winnipeg, up the east shore of the lake to Norway House and, at that point, attempt a wilderness jump of 500 miles to Hudson Bay. So, what do you think?”
What the young men were considering was a 2,250-mile canoe trip that, as far as they knew, had never before been attempted—or if it had, such a trip had never been documented. And though they would be leaving near the beginning of summer, they would be fortunate to complete such a trip by the time winter arrived in the North.
Lots of hikers here, and plenty of interesting opinions about footwear and foot care.
It depends on whether you are climbing steeps, rock-scrambling as a big part of it, or strolling on a comfy trail. The terrain matters, but most hill-hiking has varied terrain. Still, lots of people prefer various sorts of light-weight, quick-drying sneakers even when taking on the AT to Maine.
I like my heavy-duty (and heavy) Meindls for rocks and rocky steeps, Adidas for mild varied terrain, and running sneakers for ordinary trail hiking. The weight matters - less is better.
Mountaineering boots are a different topic. I am not climbing Ben Nevis, although we did as kids. The easy route, and in summer - not winter.
I tend to think the view that one of the ways that Judaism is distinguished from Christianity is the primacy of justice in the former, compared to the primacy of mercy in the latter. To the Christian, everyone is a sinner, and so the differences between me and the death row prisoner are ontologically trivial. (A view like this I think motivates someone like the Atlantic's Liz Bruenig, whom I credit as one of the few honest death penalty opponents, even as I disagree with her.) Judaism, by contrast, is fundamentally a religion of law
Mrs. BD has planned a 9-day hiking trip in Scotland (and in the Eng. Lake District). Fine with me. Probably 10-12 miles/day over hill and dale, but no moutains.
However, I tend to have two hiking issues. One is that I have destroyed one shoulder from skiing and body-surfing accidents, so I can't handle a backpack for much over an hour. Pain whick removes all pleasure. Luckily, she doesn't mind carrying it. But I am also prone to foot blisters. It is not about the right hiking shoes. I have the best for different purposes. Yes, liner socks etc.
A few years ago, I found some amazing analgesic bandaid-like things in a farmacia in Spain. I should have bought 50 packs of them, because they saved our trip for me. My feet were a bloody mess, but painless. Can't find those same things on Amazon.
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.
Love that sign. The poison ivy is the credible deterrent.
I react to Poison Ivy, but manageably. Mrs. BD reacts with hives if she gets near it. (Poison Oak is a southeastern US thing and I don't think I have seen it.)
Cape Cod is full of Poison Ivy the second you get off a trail. We found a solution for her. After a hike, wash her legs with Dawn or some other dish detergent. Then use this magic stuff.
Villages in Yankeeland - and surely everywhere in America - know how to have a parade on Memorial Day. All you need are some Boy Scouts and Brownies, some firemen and an antique fire truck, the Volunteer Fire Department Marching Band, and anybody else who feels like joining in.
Including people with their dogs, adorned with flags.
(And yes, in Yankeeland, we are big on Volunteer Fire Departments, and volunteer everything including volunteer Town Meetings as a form of local government.)
What a great country. How fortunate, optimistic, well-intentioned, and patriotic we are!
My IT guy was here this morning. He helped me out with some nagging problems with my machines, but since he also does sound systems for houses I asked him for a solution to my music needs, mainly upstairs.
I have posted about this in the past. He told me that it's simple: A Sonos amp system can do it all. It can feed to my existing speakers (wires), can stream WQXR (Wifi), can handle my CDs (which are important to me), and has portable wifi speakers to move around if I want. He says the rich folk love the sound quality.
I think my ideal is unobtainable. No - my ideal is live music.
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