Americanism Redux December 19, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 The storm's not on the horizon/ The storm is not out there/ The storm that's now arising/ Is the storm I'm about to bear. * * * * * * * (as newlyweds) She lies in bed while he rides his horse. Deborah Franklin, wife of Benjamin, dies 250 years ago this week … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: December 19, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
December 19, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Americanism Redux: December 12, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
December 12, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Americanism Redux December 12, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Time has a way of warping things. You look back on two things in the past. Thing One happened before Thing Two. When you see it from now, Thing Two seems utterly natural, smooth, and free-flowing after Thing One. That's a warp, and usually not a reliable way of moving from … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: December 5, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
December 5, 2024 by
Americanism Redux December 5, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 If you'd told me last year at this time that you, me, and all of us would be where we are now... ...I never would have believed you... ...nope, never would have believed it. * * * * * * * (the logo they will adopt) It's never happened this way before in the colony … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: November 21, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
November 21, 2024 by
Americanism Redux November 21, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 You know it because you live it. Others know through living, too. And pretty much across the board you and they have the same feeling. Here it is: —the problem is so big right now that it's likely this turns out only one way: —war: —that's the reality for you and me if … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux-November 14, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
November 14, 2024 by
Americanism Redux November 14, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Both a boulder and a ball roll. The similarity ends there. It's 250 years ago—let the bouncing begin. * * * * * * * He was sky-high, up on a cloud in his excitement. It's his time of the year and it's a special year all by itself! Reverend Ebenezer Parkman dates his … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: November 7, Your Today, 250 Years Ago In 1774
November 7, 2024 by
Americanism Redux November 7, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 We've got to make sure about these elections. And check the clock on your phone about spring-forward and fall-back. * * * * * * * Today, 250 years ago, the people of Philadelphia in the colony of Pennsylvania learn of the strict process of election that will occur in the … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: Your Today, October 31, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
October 31, 2024 by
Americanism Redux October 31, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Standing in the place we could not have imagined, thinking the thought we vowed would never be known. Halloween, 250 years ago, today. * * * * * * * (where this Word was spoken) Eyes wide open, then blinking hard. Lump in the throat, then swallowing hard. Sitting … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: October 24, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
October 24, 2024 by
Americanism Redux October 24, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Such a big day. I know it is. Big, big day. Amazing. But I wonder: is this how I'll always think of this day? * * * * * * * (Carpenters' Hall) Today, 250 years ago, a month-and-a-half has gone by and the colonial delegates at the special Congress are wrapping up their … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: October 17, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
October 17, 2024 by
Americanism Redux October 17, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Things are clearer in October. Crispness where haze once was. Brightness where darkness once was. A sharp aroma where heavy air once was. Open yourself to the sights and sounds and smells of October. You might as well because they'll find you anyway. * * * * * * … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: October 3, Your Today, In 1774
October 3, 2024 by
Americanism Redux October 3, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Look around. You're seeing it sinking and seeping into everything. All around you. Think you can avoid it? That really doesn't seem likely. You'll need to figure out what it means in your life, for your life. * * * * * * * (Gurnet Lighthouse) Would you believe it? … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: September 26, Your Today, In 1774
September 26, 2024 by
Americanism Redux September 26, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 An American original. Living a life in a place, and a place that shapes the living of a life. But the life needs birthing and the place needs making. * * * * * * * (beginning) Elizabeth lays back in her bed. The sheets are soaked in sweat and linen cloth shows … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: September 19, Your Today, In 1774
September 19, 2024 by
Americanism Redux September 19, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (the green hints of first) A campfire brings a rare feeling in the early fall. Before frost and cold and icy breath, a fire of early fall is for warmth, not heat; for whispers and spoken words, not shouts and wild tirades; for support, not survival. Next to a fire of … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: September 12, Your Today, In 1774
September 12, 2024 by
Americanism Redux September 12, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 The land and the ground are so basic you're seldom aware of them. You assume them. They're always there. Always. But the unthinkable can happen. And when it does, the land sways like the surface of the ocean. The ground shakes and cracks and roars. Earth quakes. I feel an … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: September 5, Your Today, In 1774
September 5, 2024 by
Americanism Redux September 5, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (this is the Pepperell flag, perhaps for American Moment holiday) America, listen to me. Start a new celebration, commemoration, memorialization. Add it to the 4th of July. Do it across the first five days of every September. Beer and barbecue, wine and quiche, makes no … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: August 29, Your Today, 250 Years Ago
August 29, 2024 by
Americanism Redux August 29, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Are you feeling well? Fever or chills? Aches or soreness? Tell me a number that describes your pain. The baby, the child, the adult, each in a different condition and each in the care of someone who cares, or knows, or both. They have a number. Today, 250 years ago, … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: August 22, Your Today, In 1774
August 22, 2024 by
Americanism Redux August 22, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (the blues say "end") What if this really is the end? ...of... It. That. Them. Us. Your call as to the object of the question. It does happen, you know, an end, the end. And then there is a next, which can only start if... ...this really is ending. Today, 250 years … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux–August 15, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, in 1774
August 15, 2024 by
Americanism Redux August 15, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 You let it in, brought it in, welcomed it in. Doesn't matter, you chose and that's fine. Completely okay. The "it" is the current public political and governmental turmoil around you. You have a stance and a viewpoint and something to say about it. Part of your life, by … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: August 8, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
August 8, 2024 by
Americanism Redux August 8, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 I'm in this place I can't quite figure out. There's a way out, somehow. There's a way ahead, somewhere? How do I not go down? https://youtu.be/j6-9p9O-nYw?si=BJirlwajWXKajeNU * * * * * * * The last thing he remembers is the horse and the air and the blackening. And … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: August 1, Your Today, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
August 1, 2024 by
Americanism Redux August 1, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 No longer. I'm done. I've been driven to the breaking point, I'm breaking at the breaking point, I'm going past into whatever is next after breaking at the breaking point. Maybe you've been here, with addiction, the wrong crowd, a bad relationship, a hated job, a dead-end town. … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: Your Today, July 25, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
July 25, 2024 by
Americanism Redux July 25, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Two little words, "if" and "only". Put them together and you make a razor's edge, capable of slicing and cutting to the level of bone. If only. It's today, 250 years ago, and the shining blade of the two words gleams in the light. Welcome to Americanism Redux. * * * … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: July 18, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
July 18, 2024 by
Americanism Redux July 18, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 The only passage to the future is through the present. No other door opens up on tomorrow. Only today. * * * * * * * (the land of Nomini Hall) In the final scorching of a summer day, the sun sat for a moment on the distant trees. A lush green thickened the woods and meadows … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: July 11, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
July 11, 2024 by
Americanism Redux July 11, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Endcoming. Is this a new word? Could be. The definition: an end that you see coming. The now won't last. The way you're used to? It will be over. No doubt about it. A profound change will set in. It's only a question of when and where and maybe not much of a question at … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: Your Today, July 4, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
July 4, 2024 by
Americanism Redux July 4, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (a juncture from AI) In the future, there is a juncture. You believe this, and so do I. At the juncture, everything, or nearly everything, of today that is important, contested, and unresolved will meet. A, B, C, D, and a dozen others will come together. Plans, actions, events, … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: June 27, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
June 27, 2024 by
Americanism Redux June 27, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Boil it all down and one thing is left, stark and clear. You are the linchpin. Just think about it. You're right now, in this single and very real moment, the present. You're the thing between the past of how you've gotten here and the future of where you're likely going. You're … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: June 20, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
June 20, 2024 by
Americanism Redux June 20, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Your hands grip the wheel. Feels good. Going a bit faster than you're used to or than you like. That's okay. You're dealing with it. The faster pace, it turns out, is manageable. You can still enjoy the countryside out the window. Then, something slams the accelerator and the whole … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: June 13, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
June 13, 2024 by
Americanism Redux June 13, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (within) The deepest, inner-most workings of yourself are not where you spend every day. You can't, it's too exhausting. Those moments arise, however, when the depths, the core, the utter basics, are the only place for you to be to make sense of your existence. Down there you'll … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: June 6, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
June 6, 2024 by
Americanism Redux June 6, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Life has more than one level. (a levels view) Big and large, middle and medium, small and tiny. A hundred others, too. From level to level, things can change. An outlook, an action, a decision, each varies as the levels vary. It pays to know the level you're seeing. * * … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: May 30, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
May 30, 2024 by
Americanism Redux May 30, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Now is new. (yes, it is) You know and feel it. Not everything is new, of course, but a whole lot of important stuff seems on the verge of new. Turn your head and take a look. Focus your mind and apply your thoughts. Listen to the sounds around you. What was will be so no longer. … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: May 23, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
May 23, 2024 by
Americanism Redux May 23, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Displaced. (an example of calmer displacement) Displacement is what happens when a new thing shoves aside existing things. They either slide down your list of priorities, become something different through interaction with the new thing that does the displacing, or simply disappear … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: May 16, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
May 16, 2024 by
Americanism Redux May 16, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (it has landed) No more drift, or glide, or float, or motion in air. No more. Instead, on solid ground, the law has landed. * * * * * * * (where it landed) Slightly less than a week ago, Boston's residents read or heard read words of the Boston Port Act passed by … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: May 9, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
May 9, 2024 by
Americanism Redux May 9, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (September 10, 2001) It's the last day before...it happens. One more day and then...boom. Ahead of the moment, you're totally unaware. You don't know, you can't know. Only hindsight makes it clear—the arrival of the thing that changed everything. Life's not the same afterward. You … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: May 2, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
May 2, 2024 by
Americanism Redux May 2, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Outside, in the night, an owl hoots. Eyes watch the meadow below the tree. Talons grip the branch until the last second of flight, descent, and attack. Inside, in the night, they sleep. A thin pillow folded in half. A blanket pulled up against the chilly spring blackness. In … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: April 25, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
April 25, 2024 by
Americanism Redux April 25, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Stop and listen for the sound. https://youtu.be/zf5T2nb99RY?si=CiKAMaBerv6qgnZY You'll hear it, perhaps recognizing without realizing. It's the sound that tells you where you are, the thing that you often hear at this time of day or this place of night. Or maybe you won't hear … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: April 18-19, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
April 18, 2024 by
Americanism Redux April 18-19, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 The difference a time makes. It was only a few hours ago. A few days ago. A few somethings ago. Time can take such a short form and yet appear to be so long ago. Is it the same for time yet to be? Is the future as far away as the past? No, because there's nothing between us … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: April 11, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
April 11, 2024 by
Americanism Redux April 11, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Your money. It's in your account. How much? It's on your credit card? How much? It's listed on sheets and screens. How much? You access your money through passwords, numbered codes, facial recognition. You're reminded of it every time you see a person holding up a sign and asking … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: April 4, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
April 4, 2024 by
Americanism Redux April 4, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (communication of the casual and natural) Today, you meet your family, your friends, and the people who come and go as the minutes and hours tick by. You talk with them, write to them. Behind the words are ideas in your head. Some are so old and familiar to you that they … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: March 28, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
March 28, 2024 by
Americanism Redux March 28, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (together, voluntarily) Do you belong? To a club, a group, some sort of collection of people outside your family? Together, you and they meet each other, see each other, spend a period of time with each other. You, and they, are joined for a while around whatever it is that brings … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: March 21, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
March 21, 2024 by
Americanism Redux March 21, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (the Virginia bluebells) Take a walk in these first spring days and you'll see the early flowers, the Virginia bluebells. Delicate yet hardy, they are the flowers of aspiration. An aspiration differs from hope. It looks ahead with sharper eyes, seeing both considered plan and … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: March 14, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
March 14, 2024 by
Americanism Redux March 14, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 A public problem has grown into a public crisis. Some people are part of pushing and driving the growth. Others resist and seek its undoing. Still others rush to stand apart and build a wall against whatever is coming. And life rolls ahead, over stones and rocks in the river. … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: March 7, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
March 7, 2024 by
Americanism Redux March 7, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Husband and wife. Parent and child. Friend and neighbor. Do human relationships get any more basic than these? You don't want them to shake or tremble. You don't want them to crack apart and break down. But across the table, across the room, across the fence, something seems to be … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux–February 29, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years go, In 1774
February 29, 2024 by
Americanism Redux February 29, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 This day is your gift. Your gift of an extra day, Leap Day. We all know that time is a truly valuable thing in life. A Leap Day is like a few golden coins in your hand. So, what's your plan for the spending? An extension of the day before? A thing new and different? Peek into … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: February 22, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
February 22, 2024 by
Americanism Redux February 22, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 "My life is (or is not) my own." Which is it for you? Is the answer one of choice or of compulsion, your freedom or something else's force? A blend of betweens? Think about your day and week up to now. As you begin to separate time into pieces, do you see any hint of things you're … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: February 15, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
February 15, 2024 by
Americanism Redux February 15, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 There is a day when you know the driver of your life. It's the most basic, single element of your living. On this day you're crystal-clear about your life-drivers. * * * * * * * Today, 250 years ago, a British ship enters the port of a colonial city. The ship carries important … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: February 8, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
February 8, 2024 by
Americanism Redux February 8, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 You need to see this thing. Good God, it's a massive tree. Down it came, crash and thud. By now, today, 250 years ago, the leaves are dead, the bark and branches gone, and the wood becomes plank and log. Other trees are laying next to it. (Harrod's tool) Over there, that's … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: February 1, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
February 1, 2024 by
Americanism Redux February 1, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Sight for seeing up-close. Sight for seeing far-away. Sight for seeing what's not there at all. Sometime your ability to see depends on your orientation, on where you are. * * * * * * * (the home where Mercy missed her friends) Today, 250 years ago Mercy Otis Warren is … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: January 25, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
January 25, 2024 by
Americanism Redux January 25, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Slumped against the front door, he's reaching for the handle. With a few fingers on one hand, he grabs, holds, and turns. The door opens. The mob yells and shouts and taunts as he drags himself inside. He's half-crawling, half-sliding on the wooden floor. The pain is now his entire life, … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: January 18, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
January 18, 2024 by
Americanism Redux January 18, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 The tea rings continue rolling beyond Boston Bay from a month ago. "It was done by Fire and Water; and so general was the spirit, that all ranks and degrees of people, high and low, rich and poor, Whig and Tory, agreed in the affair." So described an observer in Newburyport, … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: January 11, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
January 11, 2024 by
Americanism Redux January 11, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 Over there is your diary. Over there is a sheet of parchment paper. Over there is a notebook. But you're not writing in any of them today, 250 years ago, unless you're in the south, where it's warmer. For most British colonists, it's deep winter. Ice. Snow. Frigid air. And there … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: January 4, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1774
January 4, 2024 by
Americanism Redux January 4, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1774 (near the site of Mrs. Roger's school) Today, 250 years ago, a woman enters the turbulent marketplace of education in Philadelphia. As the most advanced and innovative larger community in the British colonies, Philadelphia is the scene of fierce competition for students and … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: December 28, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
December 28, 2023 by
Americanism Redux December 28, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 (Saint Nicholas, by Carlo Crivelli, 1472) "To Sint Nikolaas." People holding hands. Arms wrapping around necks and shoulders and waists. Smiles on faces. Laughter and words of happiness and good cheer. People having a pleasant and meaningful time. Inside is warmth. A … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: December 21, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
December 21, 2023 by
Americanism Redux December 21, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Well, it's over. And now... ...the waiting begins. 250 years ago today, an east-sailing ship carries five-day-old news across the Atlantic Ocean to London, England. The present's big event is a thing of the past that others will discover in the future. * * * * * * … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: December 14, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
December 14, 2023 by
Americanism Redux December 14, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 The front. That's where you're looking from—the front of the room, the front of the group, the front of the line, the front of the moment. The front is a perspective all its own. * * * * * * * Today, 250 years ago, the smell of tea is still in the nostrils of Reverend Jonas … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: December 7, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
December 7, 2023 by
Americanism Redux December 7, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 It feels like overnight. The change. Fast, everywhere. You look back a few weeks or months and it seems like a different world then. Not that world now. All at once, or so your heart and mind and soul tell you. * * * * * * * Today, 250 years ago, Francis Salvador steps off the … [Read more...]
Leadership, Tea, and 1773
December 6, 2023 by
Leadership, Tea, and 1773 Those eyeglasses on your face are 250 years old. Can you see well through them? Take a look over there, where a group of people are dumping tea in Boston harbor in December 1773. (for your leadership vision) A swath of my Redux entries for 2023 have, one way or another, featured the oncoming story of the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773. I write my Redux … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: November 30, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
November 30, 2023 by
Americanism Redux November 30, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 It's here. No more wondering. The thing is here, right in our laps. And now things happen with blinding speed. * * * * * * * (Dartmouth) The British ship with the East India Company tea is now in Boston harbor. And things have started to happen. Today, 250 years ago, … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: November 23, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
November 23, 2023 by
Americanism Redux November 23, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 A table with chairs around it. A tabletop with platters of food on it. We sit, eat, and talk together. Not all food will be eaten and not all thoughts will be spoken. A moment becomes an event. A space becomes a place. Time becomes a light, carried on waves from a darkness above, … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux–November 16, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
November 16, 2023 by
Americanism Redux November 16, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Below the written lines are the other lines. The other lines are separators between the life we believe we lead and the life often led, the life of darkness. These other lines are thin, all too thin, though we seldom bother to notice. Until, that is, the other lines snap and wave in the … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux–November 9, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, in 1773
November 9, 2023 by
Americanism Redux November 9, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Exhausting, that's what it is. The things I need to do. The things I have to do. The things I can't avoid one minute more and so will do right now. It's a crush, all of it, pressing in on me. Do them without illusion because there's more on the way. Yes, that's right, more on the … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: November 2, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
November 2, 2023 by
Americanism Redux November 2, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 There might be one thing that you truly would never, ever give up. * * * * * * * Dr. John Connolly is doing today what he loves doing most, adventuring on a river, seeing the prospects of a new life, absorbing the implications of lost worlds and how the world of now came from … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: October 26, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
October 26, 2023 by
Americanism Redux October 26, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 The marriage you expected, and the marriage you have. One is the life of love. The other is the life of reality. If you're lucky or blessed or both, the two intersect. They share some ground. The record of the sharedness is the story of the marriage. (her ring) * * * * * * … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: October 19, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
October 19, 2023 by
Americanism Redux October 19, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 It comes all jumbled up and twisted together. Knotted and clutched up, in a ball. You have to do the untying and unraveling. Hold a string in one hand, a different string in the other hand, a third string between your teeth and, looking down, you still see about three hundred other … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux–October 12, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
October 12, 2023 by
Americanism Redux October 12, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 The darkness. Oh, the darkness. Into the darkness I see. * * * * * * * The wolves stay quiet and deep in the forest. Ashes in the campfire are still warm. The gray light of an autumn dawn covers the land and the headwaters of Wallen Creek. Eight people are asleep. Twenty … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux–October 5, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
October 5, 2023 by
Americanism Redux October 5, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 It's coming. On the water. A Boston newspaper reprints a letter cited in a Philadelphia newspaper. The reprinted letter describes shipments of tea leaving England bound for Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City. A ship operator has refused to carry the tea but other ship captains … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: September 28, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
September 28, 2023 by
Americanism Redux September 28, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 The ties that bring us together. They bind. They break. They are a physical presence. They are a metaphysical moment. * * * * * * * The door to her jail cell opens. Hagar, the black woman of unknown age, walks out of her cell, a sheriff from the eastern shore of Maryland leads … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux-September 21, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
September 21, 2023 by
Americanism Redux September 21, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 The future is in front of you. It's just ahead, in the direction that your face is facing. Always in front. But where's the thing that affects your future? Is it further in front, beyond your sight? Or off to the side, hiding, or behind you, out of your field of vision? Ask … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux-September 14, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Year Ago, In 1773
September 14, 2023 by
Americanism Redux September 14, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 The world I know and love is falling apart. Falling apart. What can I do? What can I do to help? Is there something, a talent I possess or an opportunity given to me, that can make a difference? Now is the time. Right now, not next year, not next whenever when the stars have … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux–September 7, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
September 7, 2023 by
Americanism Redux September 7, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 In New York City, the news is twenty-four hours old. Here and there, clusters of a few people stand and murmur next to cobblestone streets. Then they disappear into the taverns. They're talking about the day-old news. Came aboard ship and landed in the newspaper called the New York … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: August 31, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
August 31, 2023 by
Americanism Redux August 31, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Well, well, at last the news has arrived in London. The effects of imperial-colonial disputes in Boston and Massachusetts have crossed the ocean. Today, 250 years ago, a London newspaper prints a report on the letters of Governor Thomas Hutchinson and Lieutenant Andrew Oliver secretly … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: August 24, Your today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
August 24, 2023 by
Americanism Redux August 24, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Close your eyes. To see clearly, close your eyes. Behind eyelids, in the loss of sight, your mind's eye begins to see. In the half-dark, with trails drifting across your vision and points forming into patterns, settle in to let your mind's eye open up. Watch the past begin to show on … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: August 17, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
August 17, 2023 by
Americanism Redux August 17, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 So ruled, says the judge in Augusta County, British colony of Virginia...and David Essex, who has been caught after running away as a servant from the man who claims to own his labor, can either pay a sum of money or work two more weeks beyond his obligated term of work. It's Essex's … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: August 10, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
August 10, 2023 by
Americanism Redux August 10, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Sometimes you're just in one of those moods. * * * * * * Think back in your memory. And write it down. Recall what you've seen or read. And write it down. A thing that has stayed in your mind. And write it down. He's in a mood and decides to think back. (Melancholy, by … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: August 3, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
August 3, 2023 by
Americanism Redux August 3, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Oh my God. He's dead. We're still here but we won't have him any longer. That sweet face and kind eyes. Generous heart and active mind. Gone. Now what? That's the feeling today, 250 years ago, and hour by hour it will flow out of the chamber where the dead man lays. From the chamber … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: July 27, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
July 27, 2023 by
Americanism Redux July 27, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 The antlers of bucks are just now coming in. They've shed the old to make way for the new. The moon of the month, now in its last phase, is named for the males among the deer. (A fading quarter-light) What a Buck Moon it's been for Janet Livingston. Twenty-nine years old, … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: July 20, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
July 20, 2023 by
Americanism Redux July 20, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 The change I see in front of me is the change I... ...embrace...or fear...or expect...or dread...or need to prepare for...or have no way of preparing for. And on it goes for me, my family, my circle of loved ones and friends, my community, my nation—or empire—today, 250 years ago. … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: July 13, Your today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
July 13, 2023 by
Americanism Redux July 13, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Nemisis. That's his name. (the mountain of Nemisis) He was left, left around here somewhere on this rise of land in the thick, dense forest. His comrades told him they would hide him so the Natives he'd been fighting wouldn't come back and torture him to death. They placed a … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: Your Today, July 6, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
July 6, 2023 by
Americanism Redux July 6, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Here they come. Just stand over here with me. Pay attention and keep your eyes and ears open. **************************************** Throughout the day, they come. One person, a pair, a small group. They say much the same things. --He looks so natural. --It's simply amazing, … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: June 22, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
June 22, 2023 by
Americanism Redux June 22, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Filled with them. The pages are filled with them. The people—men, women, children—who are on the run, seeking freedom from some various forms of forced labor. They are enslaved. They are apprenticed. They are bound by contract to one or the other of people who expect forced labor by … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: June 15, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, In 1773
June 15, 2023 by
Americanism Redux June 15, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 Three ties that bind, British to colonial British, colonial British to British. But what is in the ties, and will binding become a bond or a bounding? * * * * * * * Hand me that pen. Yes, paper, too. I'll get the ink. Now stand back and leave me alone. I've never been more furious … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: June 8, Your Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, in 1773
June 8, 2023 by
Americanism Redux June 8, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 In the sights of your eyes...on a street in Paris, France. I want to see her, move aside and let me closer to the street. Has anyone seen her yet? I can't wait to know if she's as beautiful as they say she is in her portraits. I may look a mess, maybe I'm hungry a lot of the time but none … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: May 18, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago Today, In 1773
May 18, 2023 by
Americanism Redux May 18, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago today, in 1773 The river is running fast. (Salmon Falls River) Away from the rushing current mid-stream, two figures float in the water. They drift and turn slowly in the water that laps up to the bank. They are two bodies, the corpses of Lucy Lord and Jonathan Hardison. The pine trees stand in … [Read more...]
Americanism Redux: May 4, Today, On The Journey To The American Founding, 250 Years Ago, in 1773
May 4, 2023 by
Americanism Redux May 4, today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1773 There goes one. Gentle in the air. Falling, drifting onto the bright green grass without making a sound. Delicate and soft in its color and shade. The breeze carries it down. These are the blossoms of the fruit trees, descending one by one after a week of brilliant fragrance. They'll begin to … [Read more...]
