We are at the end of April vacation in Massachusetts and Maine. April vacation always occurs the week of April 19th, Patriot’s Day around here. A remembrance of the battle of Lexington and Concord, the start of the war that set us firmly on the road to independence from England. I have always been fascinated by the time period 1600 -1820. There was a change in thinking which resulted in a change in governance, power and the world map. …
I spent the day reading George Washington on Leadership by Richard Brookhiser. I love to read the history, letters and thoughts of our founding fathers and their British counterparts. There were many parts of my reading I found thought provoking but two I would like to share. I was reminded of “The Rules of Civililty & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.” Washington copied these in a penmanship exercise, they were originally compiled by Jesuits in 1595. These rules were…
Note: I originally wrote this over the Christmas vacation and lost it. So I am trying to recreate it from my notes. Not quite as good as the original. The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are a wonderful time for multiple generations to sit around the table and share stories about the good old days. Around our table the conversations usually lean towards education and science. My parents were in high school during the mid 1940’s and we were talking about…