I'm in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, where tonight I'll be on Tim Pool's podcast. I took the redeye from LAX to Dulles, and since I caught some sleep on the plane I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit this historic town and hike through the area a bit.
Wow.
First of all, the place is beautiful -- situated at the confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah, with the waters running gently over the rocks, and mountains stretching above, green and gold with the early foliage of spring. It's a spectacular gateway to the frontier.
The historic town itself, and the old armory site, are amazing. I especially enjoyed the monuments to Lewis & Clark: I had not known, until my daughter's school play a few weeks ago, that they had begun their exploratory journey by buying provisions in Harper's Ferry.
There is plenty of John Brown history, too, and the ultimate abolitionist radical is remembered in a number of places. But there are also Confederate landmarks, including a home once used by General "Stonewall" Jackson as an HQ, and now available as a B&B.
There's also a former black college, Storey; and a Catholic Church set beautifully on the hilltop, established when the Irish were building the railroads; and there's the spectacular Appalachian Trail cutting through the town and over the railway bridge, a magnificent walk.
There's so much of America in this one little place. So many different people, so many stories, so many ideas. One is reminded that our country is a place of humble origins and noble ideas. And also that there have been ages of struggle and conflict sharper than our own.
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
