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I�ve been reminded that I did not send out my annual roundup of the year that was. Yes, I got lazy, but here it is in very summary form. The links will take you to photos: |
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In January, for my niece Monica�s
8th birthday, I took
on her first commercial plane flight to visit family and
her old friends in Northern California. I think it�s a
birthday weekend she�ll never forget.
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In February, some friends and I did a
4-day sailing trip around St. John, and I visited
old friends on St.
Thomas. I also snuck a
quick trip to DC. Also in February,
my brother visited New York, and the Gates
were all the rage.
Apparently, I didn�t do anything in March or April, because there are no photos. Such is the way I remember my life these days � if there�s no photo, I didn�t do it. Very 2-D. |
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In May,
my mom visited New York, her first trip
east in decades. That month, I took a leave from my
job to spend time with family in Southern California
and to get in a little Mediterranean sailing.
For the first few weeks of my leave, I was Uncle Jeff / Daddy Uncle to my six nieces and nephews, while their father honorably served his country overseas. We took lots of trips, experimented with camping, went to the pool and library and miniature golf and beach and . . . basically had a lot of chaotic fun. In June, with much guilt, I left Southern California to go sailing and exploring in Turkey and Greece. I sent the kids postcards of my journey, eight in all, which I also posted on-line:
In late July I returned to Southern California. |
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In August, my sister and I drove with the six kids to
Las Vegas for a family reunion / Circus Circus
extravaganza. Then we all drove to the Bay
Area. From there, my mom and I took Monica and
Francis on a
weekend trip to Yosemite, their first trip
there.
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September was chock full: Labor Day weekend I
camped and cabined with the Pinsons in the
California foothills, then we drove up to Eugene,
Oregon and I continued to Seattle to visit my
brother. Back with my sister and her kids in
Southern California, we continued the
summer of fun,
and my niece dragged me on a sick roller coaster.
The next weekend I was on my way to my friend
Jeanny�s
wedding at beautiful Alta ski resort outside
Salt Lake City. At the end of September, I joined old
classmates in San Leandro for my
20-Year High School Reunion. Phew!
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October I was back on the East Coast: My dad
visited New York for a
post-Mediterranean sailing party, and I visited
DC
for a SAIS party.
November, I again did nothing, as there are no photos, and that actually feels about right. I think I hung out in my apartment most of Thanksgiving weekend. |
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In December, I attended a
Clinton fundraiser
with �the man� and handed out
Teddy Bears to ill children on behalf of the
Teddy Roosevelt Foundation.
I returned to California for New Years, but that is the stuff of the next Cronies Review . . . . |
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...adapted from my Turkey-Greek diaries
On July 30, 2005, we meet our Greek caption George
and board our 47-foot boat, awkwardly named �Jo
Wind.� Judging from the ensuing week, it should have
been named �No Wind,� but that�s another story. We
leave Piraeus (Athens� main port) and sail in 20-25
knot winds for Cape Sounian. We arrive at sunset.
The Temple of Poseidon shines majestically on the
cape�s bluff with a clear, starry night as backdrop �
one is thousands of years old, the other billions.
I am so impressed, I stay behind on the boat while my shipmates go ashore for dinner at Jackie-O�s favorite Greek restaurant (supposedly). At one point, however, I text-message George to report that we were really close to the boat next to us and we just about hit it. He and the crew don�t arrive back for another hour, however, and by then we have drifted apart again. We go to sleep. Sometime around 2:00 AM, George awakens me and asks if I�ll help reposition the anchor. I jump up and go topside. As we are pulling up the anchor, we literally hit a snag. The anchor emerges from the water with ANOTHER anchor tangled in it � our neighbors� anchor. Our neighbors awake and start shouting in Greek from the their deck. Our whole crew wakes up as well and comes on deck. The two boats, neither one fully anchored, start drifting towards each other. People on both boats start hopping about, untying and repositioning fenders to prevent a damaging collision. After much commotion and yelling, we collide and then hold the boats together. George takes the spare anchor out on the dinghy and positions it to make up for the other boat�s anchor, which we cut loose. As we try to reposition the boats, we discover another line has fouled our propeller. George jumps in the water with a kitchen knife and a snorkel as the rest of us illuminate the water with flashlights. It is not enough. George is yelling for more light. He finally cuts the line free. Still without power, we drift into our next closest neighbors. Now we are three entangled boats. They wake up and are REALLY PISSED. It seems like everyone in the harbor is awake and yelling in Greek. To add to this, the wind is driving, and our masts start swinging wildly, but in opposite directions. This means they could hit each other and become tangled too. VERY BAD! We finally break free and re-anchor FAR away from other boats. Some of us can�t sleep, and so we stay up and watch shooting starts over the illuminated Temple. Eventually, the gentle rocking of the boat does the trick, our adrenaline returns to normal, and we fall asleep at last. |
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Benjamin Franklin's Triennial
This January we celebrate the 300th birthday of one
of my great American heroes, Benjamin Franklin.
While quintessentially American, he was anything but
conventional.
Historians refer to him as the �First American�, because he embodied so much of what it was and still is to be an American both before and during the founding of our nation. He was a Founding Father and statesman, a scientist and inventor, an entrepreneur and businessman, an author and publisher, and an activist and philanthropist. He re-edited Jefferson�s draft of the Declaration of Independence. He held several public offices including postmaster, ambassador and governor, and served as a colonial in the militia. Arguably his most important accomplishment was securing France as an ally and financier of the colonies during the Revolutionary War, and he was the only Founding Father to sign all three of the major founding documents: The Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris and the United States Constitution. His many �firsts� include founding the first public library and volunteer fire department in America, and helping to found the first hospital as well as a university, predecessor of the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania. He printed currency using anti-counterfeiting techniques he invented. He made a fortune publishing newspapers and books, including his famous Poor Richard's Almanack (which has one of my favorite sayings, "Fish and visitors stink in three days"). As a scientist and inventor, he conducted early experiments with electricity and invented the lightning rod, bifocal lenses, the medical catheter, an indoor stove and swimfins, to name a few. He was anything but conventional. His long hair conjures a 60�s hippie rather than the clean cut all- American, and his philandering (he acknowledged several extramarital affairs and even an illegitimate son) and mixed views on religion certainly would have left him out of the mainstream today. While he paid his annual subscription to the Philadelphia Presbyterian church and wrote on the utilitarian benefits of faith in keeping man from wickedness, he also attacked religious dogma, promoted tolerance, and argued that morality was dependant upon a person�s actions rather than religious beliefs. He published a pamphlet arguing that an omnipotent, benevolent God is incompatible with notions of human free will and morality, but later disavowed that view. He was a progressive political activist who used his publications to argue his points of view. He released his slaves upon returning from an extended stay in France, and he founded the Society to Abolish Slavery and the American Philosophical Society. His final public act was signing a memorial to Congress recommending dissolution of the slavery system. And I had to heavily summarize to keep your attention. Whether we think of America as a reflection of its great statesmen mostly nobly embodied by our Founders, or we cherish its spirit of entrepreneurism and scientific invention, or we value the freedom of speech, political discourse and activism it permits, Franklin cast the mold for all of these. If he were alive today, I�d speculate wildly that he would have started an internet company, and used it and his vast fortune to publish radically liberal views. He'd still have his long hair, but he probably wouldn't have much of a say or place in governing today�s America. I�ll leave you with some of his quotes and ask the question: What would Ben think of modern America, with its angry political discourse, the resurgence of religious dogmatism, and the curtailment of civil liberties in the name of security, to name a few?
Happy Birthday Ben! |
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