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13 instead of 15 sections. Only Süssmayer was the last, a reconciliation movement denoted as the “Communio”.
Quaznoid Quintessential
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There are things I don’t do anymore; activities that I enjoyed (or didn’t) as a younger man that I lost interest in.
Golf: Never really liked it. My Dad was an avid golfer and I played it into my 30’s and then I stopped. I plateaued at a certain skill level that was not good enough to overcome the implicit frustrations of the game.
Skiing: I didn’t know ordinary folks skied until I was about 30. I woke up one day to discover that everyone around me skied and I decided to try it. I took some lessons, skied every 2 weeks or so, even skied in the Rockies and the Alps. But, like golf, I plateaued at a certain skill level and then along came wife and kids and work and I dropped out. I don’t miss it.
Swimming: I was never much of a swimmer. Didn’t see a need for it. I dated an NCAA champion swimmer who swam miles a day. I tried but couldn’t get the hang of it and didn’t really want to. We broke up and I let it go. I don’t care if I never go into a pool again.
Fishing: Fished a lot as a kid. Fished fairly regularly into my 50’s when I took up fly fishing. I was good at it but at some point I couldn’t tie the knots anymore and my interest fell off. Still have my gear but haven’t gone out in several years. Hunting took its place.
Attending pro football games: I’ve been to a half-dozen or so but I never enjoyed it much. You can’t see a lot, there are too many TV timeouts, it’s hard to follow what’s going on and the weather is either cold, hot, wet, snowing, raining or otherwise miserable. I love the game but TV at home is the way to see it.
So there’s 5. There are a lot more.
Golf: Never really liked it. My Dad was an avid golfer and I played it into my 30’s and then I stopped. I plateaued at a certain skill level that was not good enough to overcome the implicit frustrations of the game.
Skiing: I didn’t know ordinary folks skied until I was about 30. I woke up one day to discover that everyone around me skied and I decided to try it. I took some lessons, skied every 2 weeks or so, even skied in the Rockies and the Alps. But, like golf, I plateaued at a certain skill level and then along came wife and kids and work and I dropped out. I don’t miss it.
Swimming: I was never much of a swimmer. Didn’t see a need for it. I dated an NCAA champion swimmer who swam miles a day. I tried but couldn’t get the hang of it and didn’t really want to. We broke up and I let it go. I don’t care if I never go into a pool again.
Fishing: Fished a lot as a kid. Fished fairly regularly into my 50’s when I took up fly fishing. I was good at it but at some point I couldn’t tie the knots anymore and my interest fell off. Still have my gear but haven’t gone out in several years. Hunting took its place.
Attending pro football games: I’ve been to a half-dozen or so but I never enjoyed it much. You can’t see a lot, there are too many TV timeouts, it’s hard to follow what’s going on and the weather is either cold, hot, wet, snowing, raining or otherwise miserable. I love the game but TV at home is the way to see it.
So there’s 5. There are a lot more.
Easily twice, if not more, the forces of a preferred interpretation (in my opinion of course), I'm sure it was nevertheless an enjoyable experience.
It’s only getting worse. Now you don’t even have navigate to a website and read it - AI poorly summarizes it straight from the search results.
Ok, here's one.
Golf: I used to play some, very casually. I like it, pitch n putt too. Like most things, I'll play with a good partner.
Skiing: Have done it, not so keen. I've done some xc in tracks and rough light-touring. I'd like to get some decent gear and explore more serious light-touring.
Swimming: Always loved water, only did laps for a few years, a few years ago; loved it. Will do laps again.
Fishing: Have done lots freshwater, love it; not currently. Will do it any time good opportunity presents.
Viewing sports: I'm only really keen to look at stuff I'm engaged with; that I actually participate in, to an extent. Or therapeutically, like golf or curling.
Yeah, there's more.
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- #106
Last night’s Cleveland-New York game was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Fantastic!
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Back in 1993, the wife and I set out on a 9600 mile lap of America. Sleeping in the back of my Ford Ranger pickup we traveled to:
Yellowstone
Boise
Crater Lake
Pacific Coast at Crescent City
Redwood NP
Muir Woods
Mt Tamalpias
San Francisco
Point Reyes
San Simeon
Yosemite
Mono Lake
Mammoth
Death Valley
Las Vegas
Hoover Dam
St George, UT
Zion
Grand Canyon
Painted Desert
Petrified Forest
Carlsbad Caverns
Across Texas (!) to Lafayette, LA
Charleston
Home
Wild, weird and wonderful. If you’ve never driven across the continent you have to do it. The immensity of the the US is astounding.
Since that trip I’ve flown all over the country and been back to many of the places we drove to. But it’s not the same as driving it, pre cell phone, with paper maps, with the windows down and no air conditioning, and the bugs and the smells and the rain, snow, hail and flying Texas rocks to appreciate it and understand it and to love it.
Yellowstone
Boise
Crater Lake
Pacific Coast at Crescent City
Redwood NP
Muir Woods
Mt Tamalpias
San Francisco
Point Reyes
San Simeon
Yosemite
Mono Lake
Mammoth
Death Valley
Las Vegas
Hoover Dam
St George, UT
Zion
Grand Canyon
Painted Desert
Petrified Forest
Carlsbad Caverns
Across Texas (!) to Lafayette, LA
Charleston
Home
Wild, weird and wonderful. If you’ve never driven across the continent you have to do it. The immensity of the the US is astounding.
Since that trip I’ve flown all over the country and been back to many of the places we drove to. But it’s not the same as driving it, pre cell phone, with paper maps, with the windows down and no air conditioning, and the bugs and the smells and the rain, snow, hail and flying Texas rocks to appreciate it and understand it and to love it.
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Yep.
I often see people knocking MdC for drying their skin and my first thought is always: use a balm.
Everyone should drive cross-country at least once. My wife and I have driven from Michigan to California twice, with Rand Mcnally. Besides hiking into the Canyon on Bright Angel Trail, and of course the scenery everywhere, two memories stand out:
Driving through Colorado with the windows up on a chilly eve, and having the smell of pine permeate the interior of the car.
...and leaving Las Vegas at noon, with the temperature over 100° and arriving in chilly Colorado that evening with the temperature nearly 70° cooler than Vegas.
One of things I always wanted to do was fly into the East Coast of the USA, buy a car - drive it up and down across the country and then sell it when we finally hit the Pacific Ocean. When I was young I could never afford to do it, then I could afford to do it and didn't have time, now I am too infirm to think about taking it on.
I still dream about doing it though. Hollywood definitely sold a vision of your country and the contrasts it contains that inspired my curiousity. For example, I always wanted to see Nebraska...and I might be mistaken but I suspect that isn't something a lot of folks say!
Still, the idea of driving for 24hrs across a state that is significantly larger than my country and is mostly a giant cornfield peppered with remote farming towns struck me as something unique that I wanted to experience. It seems like the USA is a country that is big enough you can still get lost in it, and when you come from the overcrowded British Isles, that's a romantic proposition.
We’ve done the coast to coast trip 4 times, but only the northern route. One of our fondest memories is driving east from Oregon. We crossed over a mountain pass in Montana just as the sun was setting behind us... but the view of Lake George was in front of us... bathed in that golden light of the Western sunsets. I pulled off onto the shoulder of the highway, with the valley and lake in front of us... Both of us were moved to tears. We've never forgotten that view.
In 1987 my family drove from East Tennessee to Southern California and back. 3 weeks with my parents, my older sister and I trapped in our (I think) 1980 Chevy G20 van. We visited the Gateway Arch, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Redwood National and State parks and many other places I’m leaving out. We drove down the PCH and visited San Francisco, Monterey, Los Angeles and San Diego. On the way home we went to the Grand Canyon, saw Pueblo cave dwellings and much more.
We kept to a relentless pace and were all ready to kill each other. I rode with a pillowcase over my head for hundreds of miles at one point rather than see my sister‘s face
. I am so thankful my parents were able (and willing) to do that for us. Later, after we both had our own families they took all of us and our kids on trips similar in scale. Nothing can open one’s mind like travel.
We kept to a relentless pace and were all ready to kill each other. I rode with a pillowcase over my head for hundreds of miles at one point rather than see my sister‘s face
. I am so thankful my parents were able (and willing) to do that for us. Later, after we both had our own families they took all of us and our kids on trips similar in scale. Nothing can open one’s mind like travel.
In 1987 my family drove from East Tennessee to Southern California and back. 3 weeks with my parents, my older sister and I trapped in our (I think) 1980 Chevy G20 van. We visited the Gateway Arch, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Redwood National and State parks and many other places I’m leaving out. We drove down the PCH and visited San Francisco, Monterey, Los Angeles and San Diego. On the way home we went to the Grand Canyon, saw Pueblo cave dwellings and much more.
We kept to a relentless pace and were all ready to kill each other. I rode with a pillowcase over my head for hundreds of miles at one point rather than see my sister‘s face
Sounds like heaven.
...and much like our trips...minus the chaos...Badlands, Wall Drug, Custer State Park, Black Hills, Mt Rushmore, Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Tahoe, Reno, San Francisco, down the coast to LA, San Diego, Tijuana, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Four Corners, Lion, Bryce, Salt Flats, Mesa Verde...and yes...Nebraska.
I'll never forget the grueling 12-mile (round trip) day hike into the Grand Canyon from the south rim on Bright Angel Trail to Plateau Point.
Going down was a breeze, hiking back up to the rim was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was like ascending stairs for 5-6 hours straight. I remember a group of nuns, dressed in full-length black dresses and habits, passing us on the way down and on their return in +100° heat...hiking with the Lord, I suppose.
But not a moment, not a single day, spared for Ohio? Just these other locations where one is likely to spot a UFO?
How disappointing. Ohio...the proud statistical median of the nation. If Ohio will eat the McRib Sandwich, then anyone will! Ohio...home of the corporate headquarters of White Castle. Ohio...such a consumption of beer that it took Yuengling several years to increase its supply to meet Ohio's demand, even though we are an adjacent state. Ohio...where two guys from Dayton flew an airplane or some such contraption back before World War One.
Ohio was home to a lot of mediocre Presidents, I'll have you know! William Henry Harrison, by God! Taft!
How disappointing. Ohio...the proud statistical median of the nation. If Ohio will eat the McRib Sandwich, then anyone will! Ohio...home of the corporate headquarters of White Castle. Ohio...such a consumption of beer that it took Yuengling several years to increase its supply to meet Ohio's demand, even though we are an adjacent state. Ohio...where two guys from Dayton flew an airplane or some such contraption back before World War One.
Ohio was home to a lot of mediocre Presidents, I'll have you know! William Henry Harrison, by God! Taft!
And rollercoasters, Ashley
At the moment, I can only think of "The Beast" at King's Island.
But it was us, or we, who first thought to mate Greek chili with noodles and a ton of mild cheddar cheese. WE did that.
But we shouldn't have called it chili. We should've called it Greek Spaghetti. Because people from Texas laugh at us when we call it chili.
Not just Texas...
But I do have a soft spot for good Cincy chili. When I was in grad school there was a little hole in the wall chili parlor across the street that was great.
We used to go to Cedar Point in Sandusky. It's a lot closer to the Detroit area.
It is a constant comfort to me that I apparently operate at a higher level of vocabulary than that of "auto-correct" or "auto-fill". No matter what, it tries to correct me down like two elementary school levels below the actual word I want to use.Should be "Zion"...thank you autocorrect.
