The American Spirit

30 May 2021

[Above photo: On a walk along Pearson Stream outside of Blue Hill, ME. ]

It is chilly (50 F) and drizzly outside. A fire in the Jotul has warmed the first floor of the farmhouse to a toasty 66 F. My amazing portable Bluetooth speaker (onn.—$14.99) sends me Bach’s cantatas BWV 48, 82, and 199. I’ve just finished breakfast. A perfect situation in which to write the blog I totally forgot yesterday.

The distances here in rural Maine are for driving, not walking. I’ve had CD’s of David McCullough’s “The American Spirit: Who we are and what we stand for” sitting in the car for several years and never listened to them. My sister, also a Pittsburger, admires his writings and conveyed that to me in the past. Since she is the oldest and, naturally, given to being a bit bossy, as the youngest my first reaction is often “No”.  Was I wrong!

It is a collection of his speeches from commencements, receiving honorary degrees, to Congress, to a celebration of the Bicentennial of our national capitol, and so forth. His gift is large and he brings his subjects to a lively, complex state of animation, warts and all. My god, were our Founding Fathers brilliant, visionary, hard-working, and courageous. My daughter pointed out that most were slave-holders; yes, evil in that regard. But that criticism, available for our current edition of awakening, is a bit irrelevant to McCullough’s storyline, as if we were to criticize him for not addressing the appalling medical and dental care of the age, They were culpable, of course, often personally benefitting from unjust practices and at the same time McCullough is not excusing them, merely focussing elsewhere. And among that group, John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams, were vocal opponents of slavery.

The tale of John Adams sailing the Atlantic in winter, with English warships sniffing around for American prey and the foul weather not matched by the seaworthiness of the vessel, to plead for help from the French during the Revolution is legendary. And taking his beloved 11yo son, because father and mother wanted to further his education, including learning French, by travel to France, was brave.

McCullough has wonderful insights. Acquisition of information, he tells us, is not learning; learning requires thinking, apart from memorization, which generally requires dialogue with another. Facts are not a story, as in “The king died. Two weeks later, his queen died.” However, “The king died. Two weeks later, his queen died of grief.” is a story.

The Founders sought to do what had likely never been done in the history of the world—to establish, with written and ratified documents, a country on the principle of popular, not royal or military, rule—a breathtaking concept, like the discovery of fire. That it was imperfect, that the country was founded on slavery, genocide, treachery, and land theft, doesn’t detract from the novel idea of people ruling themselves in concert. They, horribly, didn’t consider Native Americans and African-Americans people, or at least equal people. We continue to try to correct that, an amazingly stubborn idea that lives all too vitally in some.

Just to think of the shrunken character and the low level of discourse among many of our current politicians, with fantasy, corruption, vengeance, anti-science and anti-intellectualism, loyalty to person over country, probable sex with minors, conspiracists, and flagrant liars rampant, is nauseating. How have we fallen so incredibly far from the standards exemplified by our Founders?  I realize that all were flawed but….good grief! Fortunately, our current government is seeking to redress many ills of the nation and science, policy, and idealism are back in the DC saddle. Anyway, McCullough’s John Adams is on my Kindle and will be my next read. Listen to your sister on occasion, George!

After suffering through some unimaginative and wretched streaming videos, I found two that were fascinating. “Unintended Memoir” is a documentary of and by Amy Tan. I’m finishing The Bonesetter’s Daughter and found the video inspiring, a demonstration of spinning straw into gold. She was the literary angel for the Northern California Regional Organization of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry annual meeting for many years. Each Sunday morning of that gathering, in Carmel, Yosemite, or Sonoma, she would facilitate the attendance by and discussion with creative luminaries: Maxine Hong Kingston, Dave Eggers, Matt Groening, and many, many others over the years.

The other video is a documentary entitled “What Happened, Miss Simone?” of Nina Simone by her daughter. It is beautiful, raw, and gripping, the kind of life tale that shakes your fundament in so many ways.

The forsythia have given way to lilacs, huge exuberant bushes exploding with flower and scent in violet, white, and lavender. Horse chestnut trees are in bloom with their large creamy cones. Tiny bunchberry flowers are in the woods and there are many trillium. I saw fireflies the other night in Ari’s front yard. Deer ticks abound, as well, unfortunately.

I’m expecting the weather to clear for a couple of days on Tuesday or Wednesday. I postponed my move to the island by 5 days, not fancying being wet and cold with no dry firewood as I opened up the house and planted the garden. I have two flats of vegetables, plus packets of seeds, as well as a bale of straw to hold in the water and Ari’s electric rototiller loaded in my car. It’ll be lovely to farm and read and drink tea with whichever islanders are present.