John’s love of the outdoors in general, and fishing, trapping, and hunting specifically, has lead me to remark on more than one occasion that he lived 150 years too late. If he were born in 1803 rather than 1953, he would have been a young man during the height of mountain man activity from 1830–1840. The longer he is retired, the more certain I am that my statement is true. (more…)
I have come to accept John’s limitations in the area of daily communication. However, I have always hoped that in a crisis, he might somehow miraculously develop the ability to say what he means. The storm last weekend proved that whether the circumstances are mundane or life-and-death, he will never change. (more…)
“You are what you eat.” That’s a familiar quotation to most people, but few know its origin. In 1826, Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote, “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es.” in Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante. The translation means “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” It usually is unnecessary for me to tell what I eat because it is only too obvious to anyone who casts a cursory glance my way since I often wear what I eat.
Even when I’m being careful, I often end up with drops or splatters of food and beverage on my clothing. My morning coffee seems to be the worst offender, but that stands to reason since I have a cup every morning on my 45 minute drive. The paved portion of the road I travel has
its share of bumps, and the gravel road is a sartorial catastrophe waiting to happen. However, my experience this morning tops anything I’ve done in the past.
I was about 20 minutes into my drive when I hit one of the aforementioned bumps just as I was taking a sip of coffee which caused a surge of liquid that I struggled to keep in my mouth. Unfortunately, a tiny bit slipped down my throat before I was ready to swallow. It is amazing that so much dialogue can pass between your conscious brain and your involuntary nervous system in a nanosecond. (more…)
