123 Comments

Sea and sky merge as one,

reflecting the multi-hued light

you bring into our lives.

Thank you, Heather and Buddy!

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Wonderful words this morning, Rowshan.

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Thank you so much, Ally!

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Glorious. What a dynamic duo, that Heather and Buddy.

Thank you, Rowshan, for your comment. Always imbued with Light and poetic justice.

Santé!

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They are such a dynamic duo, Christine! And thank you for your kind words! Salud, santé, and take care, my friend!

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Particularly brilliant analysis this week. Thank you. Sleep well. Well deserved.

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All the Andrew Wyeth No One Has Seen https://nyti.ms/3OHqMKW

Here's a different article about contributions and culture. As I read this, I though how unrecognized are these contributions and con culture in large part because of our politics and media that focus on power, money, creating discontent rather than than aspirations for the .mind, heart and soul. Art and education in addition have great economic value for those who become more enlightened.

I am also reading "Race and Reunion" about the creation of memories after the Civil War. There is so more to learn from that War, Reconstruction and that period. The south won out ultimately because the moral arguments that created the war quickly became obscured by a reunion of reconciliation where the North cooperated with the south's narrative that the war was just two "great" armies like a north south football game. Some northern leaders held out that there had been slavery and treason that required consequences not sympathy for the south. Which, explains what we have today. Treason and political crimes without consequences.

FOX delivers both to us. Their cultureless culture and political crimes, even every other crime without consequences when you have political power.

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Thank you for sharing this link and your comments. I was unaware of the complexity of Wyeth's painting having been tutored in the classics that fit our image of America, as a WASP. These are compelling and I wish that more of his collection, and those of his son/daughter were available in the public realm I'd have access to. In 2014 we visited the Shelburne Museum and the collection of works by Americana artist included several from his family collection that hinted at a wider talent and cataloging of America's people and history. Sometimes when I am reading LFAA I wonder what picture or artifact might be attached to connect, as Heather does, history and present events. Buddy's photography is superb and a real gift to Heather's readers and I look forward to them each week and the memories they evoke from commenters. Wyeth prints might well serve that adjunct purpose, I think.

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You must know Norman Rockwell. His illustrations & art were far more conscious of the American experience, significant current events and how Americans responded than most of us realize. His art museum in Stockbridge, MA is worth seeing.

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David Some of Norman Rockwell's most memorable paintings were after he left Saturday Evening Post. His picture of a little Black girl in a white dress superbly reflected those horrendous school desegregation years, including police dogs being set on little children,

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Thank you for sharing these!

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Once again, Buddy shows a slice of life in Maine. Thank you for sharing its peacefulness. Rest well.

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Just beautiful. Enjoy. You deserve everything wonderful for all you do for us. 💚

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Thank you for all you do.

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Rest well, and thanks to you and Buddy for illuminating our lives! ❤️

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Thank you, Heather Cox Richardson, for your STEADINESS in addition to your knowledge, judgement, and prose. I emphasize ‘steadiness’, which, of course, is true of you because that cannot be said of our country. New York City goes through cycles of difficulties and COVID carried many of us away, nevertheless, sometimes I think, of myself more as a New Yorker than an American. During this springtime, we have had many orange skies at sunrise. This morning, it is threatening shades of gray, and my windows are dotted with rain drops. Thank you, Buddy Poland, for the gift of a glorious orange sky with the bright yellow of sunlight.

Subscriber friends let’s take a moment to turn away from the business at hand on this Monday morning,

“O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie,”

by, Philip Appleman

“Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie,

gimme a break before I die:

grant me wisdom, will, & wit,

purity, probity, pluck, & grit.

Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind,

gimme great abs & a steel-trap mind,

and forgive, Ye Gods, some humble advice—

these little blessings would suffice

to beget an earthly paradise:

make the bad people good—

and the good people nice;

and before our world goes over the brink,

teach the believers how to think.

from Selected Poems (University of Arkansas).

I (Bill Moyers) just discovered that Philip D. Appleman (1926 – 2020) died last year. He was an American poet and Professor Emeritus at Indiana University. I first became acquainted with him in graduate school when I read his edited collection, Darwin (Norton Critical Editions), a classic in the field

I have written previously about his poetry and his work on the meaning of life. I also summarized his book on Darwin and the meaning of life here, here, and here. And I reprinted his poem about his mother’s death here. (It is so intelligent and passionate.)

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Thank You, Dear Fern🕊!

“…make the bad people good—

and the good people nice;

and before our world goes over the brink,

teach the believers how to think.”

💙💙💙💙

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Ashley, You are as a star right there to shine a light. Thank you.

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Thank you for guiding me.

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We are together 🍎.

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Chef Andrés deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.

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Without a doubt.

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Agreed!

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Morning, Lynell. Thanks for the links this morning. Just what I needed to start my day!

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Take care! Thank you.

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Wow! So beautiful! Thank you Heather!

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Thanks.

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Rest well.

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Enjoy!

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I’m glad you gave the reins to Buddy today. That photo is amazing. After the week you’ve put together (not to mention the Historical Society gala tonight) you deserve a break.

Rest well and rejuvenate. Thank you for all you do.

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Thank you for your helpful and insightful letters this past week with current news recaps, thoughts, and history. So appreciated, good night.

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