Now that the garden is taken care of it’s time to take care
of the brain. 18 months ago I abruptly stopped attending my OpenYale classes
due to my little surprise illness.
I have now resumed my American
Revolution course which is as apropos
in today’s political chaos as it was 18 months ago. I enjoy listening to the
lectures and applying the history into the world we are viewing today (in terms
of American politics and their understanding of their own history – which in
many cases surprises me). I set a pretty high standard of
compression when it comes to history because I had some really excellent
professors who set the bar.
I just finished the session on “Common
Sense” and the takeaway from the lesson was two-fold; I know that Thomas Payne’s
body is lost and that until the pamphlet was published the word “independence”
was not bandied about! Who knew that it
was still hush-hush after the first congress? Or that John Adams simply
abhorred the pamphlet as utter trash, having nothing to do with the reality of
governing (as though he would know, hm?). Don’t get me wrong, I actually have a
great deal of respect for John, Abigail and their son John Quincy but as yet he
hadn’t had any experience of governing.
Feeling curiously aroused in
scholarly pursuit I have also signed on to the Early Middle Ages course. I like
this professor a lot, he is quietly amusing and I think I will enjoy his
insights into the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Again, I chose this one as
it also aligns very well with what we see in today’s political world. So stay
tuned for my “astute observations” as I gain new enlightenment (one can always
hope).
Men occasionally stumble over the
truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened.”
Winston Churchill
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