Many people, myself included, love nothing more than to be warmed by a roaring campfire outdoor under the stars. At this time of year, the end of January, in most locales tending an outdoor campfire in the cold air has about as much appeal as tending a trash can fire in downtown Detroit in the middle of winter. You may have alcohol and friends and companionship but it's still frickin' freezing out there. Here in Boise much of this winter we have rarely had a day above freezing. So, that said, I've been enjoying my evenings at home with a politically and environmentally uncorrect fire in the fireplace.
With over a cord of wood stacked for use for indoor winter fires, and use for summertime outdoor campfires at home and while actually doing official camping, I feel blessed.
Last nights fireplace enjoyment was highlighted by reading Bill Bryson's book "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" about when he returned to live in Hanover, New Hampshire after residing in England for 20 years. I especially liked his chapter called 'Hail to the Chief' about the next upcoming holiday--President's Day.
Most of us, over the age of 50 grew up with two holidays in the month of February. One was Feb 12 to celebrate Lincoln's birthday and the other on Feb 22 for Washington's birthday. Somewhere along the line they merged the two into one so everybody could have a 3 day weekend and multinational business conglomerates could induce you to "Save like Honest Abe" or "Washington Would Never Tell A Lie-Trust me and We'll Save You 100's on this New TV You Didn't know You Needed" or some such.
I've always used this holiday as an excuse to either go skiing, ice skating or if I'm really sick and tired of Idaho winters; to go someplace warm, like a hot springs or Hawaii.
Some of the the things I learned from Bill Brysons's book include these gems: Herbert Hoover, who is reviled by many because people think he gave us the Depression, much as many think somehow Obama gave us socialism, the current recession and two wars that continue to kill our citizens and the citizens of the countries they reside in; Hoover, like Obama, was actually a remarkable person. Herbert Hoover put himself through college and graduated from Stanford's first graduating class, despite having been orphaned at 8. He was an outstanding engineer (I always thought Hoover Dam was just named after him, I didn't know he helped design the damm dam), started the mining industry in Western Australia and was even invited to join the British Cabinet. He also directed famine relief throughout Europe during the first world war and was highly respected and venerated--purportedly saved ten million lives. He was elected by a landslide in 1928 and then Wall Street crashed in the fall of of 1929. Ironically he spent $500 million assisting troubled banks and public works projects and unemployment (this was more than all the prior administrations combined), donated his entire salary to charity and alienated the electorate by suggesting recovery was around the corner. He was soundly trounced in 1932. Does this sound at all like what may be happening to our current President? Americans would be wise to review the history of our past. But I digress.
Bryson goes on to tell stories of all the truly worthless Presidents we've had lead the country, or should I say, failed to even show up for the job. Millard Fillmore probably gets the award for most ineffective leader right after Zachary Taylor who he succeeded after Taylor died in office. Fillmore is only slightly more obscure than say, Chester Arthur, who is reputed to have shown up for his Presidential Photo and never seen again until the end of his term. There are many other neer-do-wells amongst the "Most Ineffective Presidents Sweepstakes", but you'll have to read Bryon's book about them.
In the meantime, Reuben the wonder dog slept on the ottoman in front of the fire as I finished off this book and told myself it was time to seek out another Bryson book from the library. It's my second book by him and I'm told that "A Walk In the Woods" about his misadventures hiking the Appalachian Trail is truly a classic.
Besides, campfires are an impossible place to read a book by.
