dual personalities

I recently finished reading David McCullough’s 1776 which was a fascinating read, especially in our current age. I learned A. LOT. and was left wanting more when I turned the last page. I decided to pick up A Treasury of the World’s Greatest Speeches, which I’m sure I paid a dollar for at an estate sale. You know I love grabbing books off a shelf and flipping them open and seeing what I find.

“In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe further that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find the system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the builders of Babel; and that our states are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another’s throats. Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partisans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign nations as well as among ourselves from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and efficiency of any government in procuring and securing happiness to the people depends on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of the government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. I hope therefore that for our own sakes as a part of the people, and for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress and confirmed by the Convention) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future thoughts and endeavors to the means of having it well administered.

On the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish that every member of the Convention who may still have objections to it would with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility and, to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this document.”

Benjamin Franklin, September 17, 1787

This week the DH and I managed to get away for a day-trip to the Adirondacks. Did you know that the Adirondack Park is the biggest preserve in the lower 48 states? Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks could all fit inside it. Of course, those parks do not have (as far as I know) towns within their borders, so the statement isn’t really fair. Anyway, we went to visit the Wild Center, a facility devoted to educating people about the flora and fauna of the Adirondacks. It has a big exhibition center (the building by the pond in the photo below) and loads of great hiking trails including a walkway above the trees (bottom right).

Tupper Lake, where the Wild Center is located, is an easy hour’s drive from our house. We timed the trip perfectly; the weather was a balmy 78 and sunny, there were no bugs to speak of, and since it was the middle of the week, it wasn’t very crowded.  The wild flowers were blooming like crazy and very tall. This isn’t the greatest photo, but you get the idea.

The nonchalant deer did not even pause their munching as we wandered by. Can you spot the second deer in this photo?

We climbed up to the treetops and navigated the funky rope bridges and walkways, some of which swayed alarmingly.

From the upper portions of the sky trail, we enjoyed beautiful, tree-filled views.

After thorough exploration, we stopped at the café for a cup of coffee and a packet of Lorna Doons, and then we came home and collapsed, tired but happy. I can’t tell you how nice it was to get out and get some fresh air! Really, we need to make more day-trips!

To start your weekend off with a cute baby, let me introduce our new great-nephew Charlie. The little guy is already six weeks old! Here is our brother proudly holding his first grandchild:

And the happy parents with their bundle of joy.

Welcome to the world, little Charlie!

Not to sound like too much of a lush here, but I do love a margarita. And ever since Club Taco closed, I’ve been searching for my lost shaker of salt. No wait, I’ve been searching for a good replacement. Well, the last time I visited my favorite liquor store (I’ll take phrases I never thought I’d use for $200, Alex), I gathered several margarita-flavored seltzers for an afternoon taste test.

It was 82 lovely degrees on the back patio this Saturday, so my mother and I decided to split all four seltzers and rank them according to our preference. I was inspired by my favorite YouTuber, Matt Mitchell, and his series Bless Your Rank. We were judging primarily on taste. But you know the vintage cocktail hour theme of the Bud Light Seltzer gave it an advantage. Real Henry Mancini vibes.

We started off with the Bud Light seltzer which was in the lead out of the gate. It has a strong margarita flavor without being too sugary and, of course, it had a hint of that Bud Light essence. “These would be great by the pool,” I commented. This reminded me that although I had not won the billion dollar lottery the night before, I had decided that I was going to spend part of the billion dollars on pools for everyone in my family. Alas.

At the end of round one, Bud Light Seltzer was in first place. Because it was the only place to be.

Next, we tried the Topo Chico Margarita Seltzer. This also had a good margarita flavor. Topo Chicos are like a hip Perrier and apparently known for being highly carbonated. I guess it was bubblier than the Bud Light. I enjoyed it.

But was it more refreshing than the Bud Light? Probably not. After round two, Bud Light was still in first place.

Next, we tried the two Ranch Waters. It turns out I didn’t read the labels closely enough and they were really just lime flavored seltzers so not quite in the same category as the prior contestants. We enjoyed them, but we liked the Spicy version more.

Here’s the final ranking.

There you have it, highly official research conducted in the name of blog content.

I had a super quiet but weirdly topsy-turvy week. The DH and I had intended to take a little trip. We had to take the car to the dealer in Plattsburgh, which is 2 hours away, so we figured we could combine that with a visit to the Wild Center in Tupper Lake that we’d been planning to visit for a while. The Plattsburgh portion of the trip was necessary because for the past few months our barely-a–year-old car had been knocking, clanging and moaning like Marley’s ghost. It had become so alarming that I felt the need to take it to an actual Honda dealer rather than our local garage. Of course, as soon as I made the appointment the noise stopped and hasn’t come back since. Whatever rock, stick or scary monster had gotten stuck in the undercarriage evidently worked itself out. The car is at peace – or maybe just toying with us à la Christine, the demonic car.

Anyway, the appointment having been canceled, there was no longer any need to leave the comforts of home to “stay in some flea bitten hotel” as the DH so eloquently put it. Heat and a chance of scattered showers gave us the excuse to postpone the Tupper Lake part of the trip, so we stayed home and kept working.  

While we have been plodding along, our three sons have been busy, busy, busy. Our eldest, beating his deadline by a hair, will move into his new apartment this weekend; our middle son and his wife found a better house and will move in the next few weeks, and our youngest found a new job that he’ll start it in a week! I’ve been trying to remember a time when I had such energy but I cannot.

If anything exciting happens today or tomorrow, I’ll update the post – but don’t hold your breath. In the meantime, have a great weekend!