"The Way Home," by Peter Ralston. Let's hope we find it in the coming months. I'll see you tomorrow. —- Notes: Peter is a friend, but for those of you who have asked, he does sell his photos. His gallery is at https://www.ralstongallery.com/
Thanks, Heather.....I’m really pleased that you like this one. It’s made from an island I love, looking west over several other islands on which I have spent meaningful time over the years. I once had an extraordinary experience in the middle ground waters. In the background are the hills just behind us where we live in our little coastal village. From where I stood to make this on that evening, I felt blessed to be on the island with people I love, even as that ever so familiar mountain profile spoke of home. I’ve run my boat through here many, many times and it always has that dual effect on me....a foot in both worlds, if you will. It’s doing it now....
A beautiful photo, Heather! Please tell Peter Ralston that its title reminds me that it was John Ralston, a young local member of the militia, who was summoned by General Washington at Yellow Springs, PA to show him the way to Warrick Furnace so that he could replenish munitions there. "The Battle of the Clouds" was actually a hurricane that had ruined the munitions of the British and the Continental Army. John Ralston showed him the best way to travel to Warrick Furnace with the wagons.
Thank you, and perhaps this should be a Sunday evening custom, whenever there is nothing urgent, for you to simply share a photo that speaks to your heart and ours. Rest well, and as always our deepest gratitude to you for all the Letters you have written. You have helped us keep our sanity as well as informing us about how current events are tied to our country's history. So much history have I learned from you that I did not learn in all my years of formal education. (And I have a doctor's degree and started on an MBA.)
Peter Ralston, You raised my heart. Your home is a breathtaking dream. Thank you. Heather, we are on a strange and uncertain journey. You lay a foundation every morning. Thank you. How about a little baseball: “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”– Babe Ruth. A good Sunday to all.
First of all, I share your enthusiasm for Peter's work. I have a slew of his custom prints in my studio which have become reminders of what a true home can look like, i.e., a place of beauty like the iconic environs of Maine he so skillfully documents, but also a place of true democratic community informed by the lessons of history as provided by your Substack endeavor and by the writings of another great American, Lewis Lapham, a man of letters and venerator of the factual historical record like you. "The historical record is mankind's most precious inheritance, telling us that the story painted on the old walls and printed in the old books is also our own," writes Lapham in MONEY AND CLASS IN AMERICA. "It isn't with machines that mankind makes its immortality. We do so with what we've learned on our travels across the frontiers of the millennia, salvaging from the sack of cities and the wreck of empires what we've found to be useful, beautiful, or true." Your letters, Peter's pictures, and Mr. Lapham's books are indispensable aids to navigation as we head for port . . .
Peter has again given us a view of what nature gives us everyday, if we'll just take a moment to "be". Thank you, Heather for this, and for "being" in the moment everyday with us.
A quite peaceful scene, but that isn't the view from much of America. Too many people believe it is and turn backward toward a day when it was. But let's keep our eye on the ball!
Some observers cannot understand why Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Lindsay Graham, House G.O.P. Leader Kevin McCarthy and most other Republican legislators who initially blamed former President Trump for inciting the January 6 invasion of the Capitol eventually changed their tune, minimizing the seriousness of what happened that day, no longer blaming Trump for it and even supporting his “Big Lie” claiming that the election was stolen from him.
Their behavior is easy to explain. Trump’s actions clearly came close to the definition of treason covered in Article Three, Sec. 3, of the Constitution as explained by Chief Justice John Marshall in 1807 in an opinion related to the trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr for treason. McConnell, McCarthy, Graham and others believed the former President’s actions were inexcusable. Then, what made them change their minds?
They had forgotten how ignorant and gullible the base which supported, and still supports, Donald John Trump actually is. For a brief moment, they thought that base had a minimum of intelligence. They were wrong. Once they saw that continuing to blame Trump and not swallow his “Big Lie” would just lose them the votes of his base and possibly result In primary challenges, they quickly changed their opinions. It’s as simple as that.
McConnell, McCarthy and Graham underestimated the ignorance and gullibility of Trump’s base. (Democrats often do that, but here we have the G.O.P. leadership doing that.) I do not know how they will react when the news clips of their initially putting the blame for the January 6 insurrection directly on the former president appear in Democratic TV spots during the 2022 elections. Will they claim that they are “fake news” invented by the media?
Quite apart from the weekly reminder to lift our eyes from the work and look around, I value these images for the quiet reminder that our varied cultural and artistic heritages also weave us together and teach us about each other.
NYTimes 5/15/21 "G.O.P. Pursues Harsher Penalties for Poll Workers in Voting Crackdown" https://nyti.ms/3ycYsb7
There is a lot of evidence like this that contrary to what Republicans / conservatives say about Democrats or "liberals", they are the advocates of a "Big Brother" police state.
Poll workers have been, where we have voted, nonpartisan volunteers and advocates of voting. I have seen people I know to be registered Democrats or Republicans sitting next to each other, working together to get voters through the polling process quickly, efficiently and effectively to cast their votes.
In those same communities, particularly Rhinebeck, NY where we lived, I found Republican poll watchers who I knew in the community, local Republican Party officials to be trouble makers in their questioning, interference and challenges to anyone they thought or knew to be a Democrat. That activity had been apparent to me for at least 20 years. My father, a lifetime Republican became quite upset when he wanted to vote for John McCain for President. The the New York State Republican Party would not allow McCain into the Republican primary. They permitted only one choice, GW Bush in 2000. We are facing a serious and worsening autocratic political party who will stop at nothing.
My wife is reading a novel about Argentina based on the author's observations during their military dictatorship when people who were identified as "enemies" were "disappeared". The disappeared were professionals, housewives, students, grandparents, etc. With rhetoric, laws and spinning facts on their head that Trump Republicans do, it's not as hard as we think to go from "cancel culture" which Republicans practiced on Liz Cheney, and their denial of their 2020 election loss to disappearing people. Senator Joseph McCarthy practiced his form of cancel culture and disappeared people by making Pete Seeger, a US veteran in WWII, and so many others the "enemy", so called "commies". Words and ideas used by Trump Republicans today. McCarthy's enemy list cost people their jobs, careers and some gave up their lives for writing books, creating films or singing songs like "I Have a Hammer" or "This Land Is My Land".
People who buy into these political autocracies see everyone who is marginalized or disposed of as deserving it. And see themselves as the victims of those family, friends and neighbors who speak out, agreeing with their political party "enemy" labels.
Maine's US Senator Margaret Chase Smith spoke out against Senator McCarthy with almost no support, as Representative Liz Cheney does today. Speaking out in large numbers is what it took to overpower McCarthy's tactics.
What happens in America emboldens those in other nations to do good by others, or to disappear their enemies as Netanyahu is doing by intentionally bombing a news media high rise building and many Palestinian civilians. Netanyahu is still living the anti-media rhetoric of Trump.
Thanks, Heather.....I’m really pleased that you like this one. It’s made from an island I love, looking west over several other islands on which I have spent meaningful time over the years. I once had an extraordinary experience in the middle ground waters. In the background are the hills just behind us where we live in our little coastal village. From where I stood to make this on that evening, I felt blessed to be on the island with people I love, even as that ever so familiar mountain profile spoke of home. I’ve run my boat through here many, many times and it always has that dual effect on me....a foot in both worlds, if you will. It’s doing it now....
A modern choral classic: "The Road Home" by Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbwhSP3ZIq4
--------------------------------------------
Tell me where is the road I can call my own,
That I left, that I lost, so long ago.
All these years I have wondered, oh when will I know,
There's a way, there's a road that will lead me home.
After wind, After rain, when the dark is done,
As I wake from a dream, in the gold of day,
Through the air there's a calling from far away,
There's a voice I can hear that will lead me home.
Rise up, follow me, come away is the call
With (the) love in your heart as the only song
There is no such beauty as where you belong
Rise up, follow me, I will lead you home.
----------------------
As performed by Conspirare on their Grammy-nominated disc "Requiem."
(PS. I sang on this album)
"Hearing the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark."
The colors...
A beautiful photo, Heather! Please tell Peter Ralston that its title reminds me that it was John Ralston, a young local member of the militia, who was summoned by General Washington at Yellow Springs, PA to show him the way to Warrick Furnace so that he could replenish munitions there. "The Battle of the Clouds" was actually a hurricane that had ruined the munitions of the British and the Continental Army. John Ralston showed him the best way to travel to Warrick Furnace with the wagons.
Thank you, and perhaps this should be a Sunday evening custom, whenever there is nothing urgent, for you to simply share a photo that speaks to your heart and ours. Rest well, and as always our deepest gratitude to you for all the Letters you have written. You have helped us keep our sanity as well as informing us about how current events are tied to our country's history. So much history have I learned from you that I did not learn in all my years of formal education. (And I have a doctor's degree and started on an MBA.)
THANK YOU, Dr. Heather! ❤❤❤
Peter Ralston, You raised my heart. Your home is a breathtaking dream. Thank you. Heather, we are on a strange and uncertain journey. You lay a foundation every morning. Thank you. How about a little baseball: “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”– Babe Ruth. A good Sunday to all.
First of all, I share your enthusiasm for Peter's work. I have a slew of his custom prints in my studio which have become reminders of what a true home can look like, i.e., a place of beauty like the iconic environs of Maine he so skillfully documents, but also a place of true democratic community informed by the lessons of history as provided by your Substack endeavor and by the writings of another great American, Lewis Lapham, a man of letters and venerator of the factual historical record like you. "The historical record is mankind's most precious inheritance, telling us that the story painted on the old walls and printed in the old books is also our own," writes Lapham in MONEY AND CLASS IN AMERICA. "It isn't with machines that mankind makes its immortality. We do so with what we've learned on our travels across the frontiers of the millennia, salvaging from the sack of cities and the wreck of empires what we've found to be useful, beautiful, or true." Your letters, Peter's pictures, and Mr. Lapham's books are indispensable aids to navigation as we head for port . . .
Sometimes it's good to just look. Enjoy. You don't have to own everything.
Wow...simply gorgeous. Rest well.
Peter has again given us a view of what nature gives us everyday, if we'll just take a moment to "be". Thank you, Heather for this, and for "being" in the moment everyday with us.
A quite peaceful scene, but that isn't the view from much of America. Too many people believe it is and turn backward toward a day when it was. But let's keep our eye on the ball!
Some observers cannot understand why Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Lindsay Graham, House G.O.P. Leader Kevin McCarthy and most other Republican legislators who initially blamed former President Trump for inciting the January 6 invasion of the Capitol eventually changed their tune, minimizing the seriousness of what happened that day, no longer blaming Trump for it and even supporting his “Big Lie” claiming that the election was stolen from him.
Their behavior is easy to explain. Trump’s actions clearly came close to the definition of treason covered in Article Three, Sec. 3, of the Constitution as explained by Chief Justice John Marshall in 1807 in an opinion related to the trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr for treason. McConnell, McCarthy, Graham and others believed the former President’s actions were inexcusable. Then, what made them change their minds?
They had forgotten how ignorant and gullible the base which supported, and still supports, Donald John Trump actually is. For a brief moment, they thought that base had a minimum of intelligence. They were wrong. Once they saw that continuing to blame Trump and not swallow his “Big Lie” would just lose them the votes of his base and possibly result In primary challenges, they quickly changed their opinions. It’s as simple as that.
McConnell, McCarthy and Graham underestimated the ignorance and gullibility of Trump’s base. (Democrats often do that, but here we have the G.O.P. leadership doing that.) I do not know how they will react when the news clips of their initially putting the blame for the January 6 insurrection directly on the former president appear in Democratic TV spots during the 2022 elections. Will they claim that they are “fake news” invented by the media?
Quite apart from the weekly reminder to lift our eyes from the work and look around, I value these images for the quiet reminder that our varied cultural and artistic heritages also weave us together and teach us about each other.
So calming to the soul. I hope we can find a “way home.” Thank you.
NYTimes 5/15/21 "G.O.P. Pursues Harsher Penalties for Poll Workers in Voting Crackdown" https://nyti.ms/3ycYsb7
There is a lot of evidence like this that contrary to what Republicans / conservatives say about Democrats or "liberals", they are the advocates of a "Big Brother" police state.
Poll workers have been, where we have voted, nonpartisan volunteers and advocates of voting. I have seen people I know to be registered Democrats or Republicans sitting next to each other, working together to get voters through the polling process quickly, efficiently and effectively to cast their votes.
In those same communities, particularly Rhinebeck, NY where we lived, I found Republican poll watchers who I knew in the community, local Republican Party officials to be trouble makers in their questioning, interference and challenges to anyone they thought or knew to be a Democrat. That activity had been apparent to me for at least 20 years. My father, a lifetime Republican became quite upset when he wanted to vote for John McCain for President. The the New York State Republican Party would not allow McCain into the Republican primary. They permitted only one choice, GW Bush in 2000. We are facing a serious and worsening autocratic political party who will stop at nothing.
My wife is reading a novel about Argentina based on the author's observations during their military dictatorship when people who were identified as "enemies" were "disappeared". The disappeared were professionals, housewives, students, grandparents, etc. With rhetoric, laws and spinning facts on their head that Trump Republicans do, it's not as hard as we think to go from "cancel culture" which Republicans practiced on Liz Cheney, and their denial of their 2020 election loss to disappearing people. Senator Joseph McCarthy practiced his form of cancel culture and disappeared people by making Pete Seeger, a US veteran in WWII, and so many others the "enemy", so called "commies". Words and ideas used by Trump Republicans today. McCarthy's enemy list cost people their jobs, careers and some gave up their lives for writing books, creating films or singing songs like "I Have a Hammer" or "This Land Is My Land".
People who buy into these political autocracies see everyone who is marginalized or disposed of as deserving it. And see themselves as the victims of those family, friends and neighbors who speak out, agreeing with their political party "enemy" labels.
Maine's US Senator Margaret Chase Smith spoke out against Senator McCarthy with almost no support, as Representative Liz Cheney does today. Speaking out in large numbers is what it took to overpower McCarthy's tactics.
What happens in America emboldens those in other nations to do good by others, or to disappear their enemies as Netanyahu is doing by intentionally bombing a news media high rise building and many Palestinian civilians. Netanyahu is still living the anti-media rhetoric of Trump.
Our example and voice matters.
Thank you for this goodness and beauty.