Category: Life

May 27 – One Flag

one flag, one nation
indivisible liberty
and justice for all

Flag Day, Fifth Avenue, July 4th 1916 by Frederick Childe Hassam (October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) The most distinctive and famous works of Hassam’s later life comprise the set of some thirty paintings known as the “Flag series”. He began these in 1916 when he was inspired by a “Preparedness Parade” (for the US involvement in World War I), which was held on Fifth Avenue in New York (renamed the “Avenue of the Allies” during the Liberty Loan Drives of 1918). Thousands participated in these parades, which often lasted for over twelve hours.

1892
(first version)
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

1892 to 1923
(early revision by Bellamy)
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

1923 to 1924
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

1924 to 1954
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

1954
(current version, per 4 U.S.C. §4)
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

May 26 – minds most clouded

at minds most clouded
consequences multiply
risk being honest

Nirmal Purja’s picture of the overcrowded approach to the summit of Everest last week. Photograph: Nirmal Purja/Project Possible/AFP

Inspired by:

Mountaineering is a physical pursuit demanding an affinity for suffering. Where it is cerebral is in its requirement of good judgment, most importantly in extreme situations when the mind is most clouded and consequences of bad decision-making tend to multiply.

Considering risks requires being honest with yourself. At what climbers call the objective level, that involves assessing dangers you may encounter – weather, avalanches, poor rock, even whether there will be overcrowding on your route.

Taken from: Why I won’t be joining the queue at the top of Everest –

A startling picture of overcrowding near the summit shows the peril of turning the mountain into a form of adventure tourism

by Peter Beaumont

May 24 – Kitchen table

kitchen table
set for breakfast, room smelled
of coffee, bacon

Admit it, you can smell the bacon.

You can smell the bacon and it made you smile.

Last week while visiting my sister Lisa, she made bacon and eggs from breakfast on cold dreary day and I can still smell that happy smell.

This is based on this excerpt from Charlotte’s Web.

When Mr. Arable returned to the house half an hour later, he carried a carton under his arm. Fern was upstairs changing her sneakers. The kitchen table was set for breakfast, and the room smelled of coffee, bacon, damp plaster, and wood smoke from the stove.

Yesterday’s quote from Charlotte’s Web got me to thinking about this great book.

Sure sure it’s all about teaching kids about life and death and everything.

But for me it was just a joy to read and have read to you.

I never saw the great, dark picture of life that others painted from the book. (This is a reoccurring theme in my life of missing the possible intended pathos for the romance.)

Much of what is written about Charlotte’s Web reminds me of when I was in college and one Professor assigned a book that was written by another Professor at Michigan that I had a good relationship with.

To answer the first Professor’s assigned questions about the book, I walked over to talk to the Professor who had authored it.

That Professor looked at me, tossed the paper with the questions on his desk and said, “That guy has been telling me things about my book I never knew since I got here.”

EB White himself read the book for a recording and you can listen to it hear from YouTube.

(If you want to download this as an MP3 and add to your phone to listen to later or while at pool, use https://www.onlinevideoconverter.com/.)

For me, the magic of hearing EB White reading his words in his New England accent with his own phrasing, pausing, infliction and emphasis is real and beyond words.

You can smell the bacon and wood smoke and can hear the geese and see the barn.

One last tidbit on the book, I read somewhere that when EB White submitted the manuscript to his publisher, it was ready to go to press without any EDITING.

On the one hand, what else would you expect?

On the other hand, it is still a fascinating comment on EB White.