1. "Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the wedding tables!"
These are Hamlet's words. He sarcastically and bitterly tells Horatio that his mother married his uncle so soon after his father's death to save money, to make double use of food, to serve funeral leftovers at her wedding feast.
Today I finished reading Rising Tide. While the story of the 1927 flooding of the Mississippi River basin dominates the book, I also read it as a story about thrift, about not spending money, about regarding the protection of wealth and resources as more important than alleviating suffering; and, not only protecting wealth, but protecting a central ideological principle that goes something like this: if those with the means to help those suffering deprivation (homelessness, displacement, no food, etc.) extend help to them, it will sully the character of the recipients, kill their motivation to care for themselves, and encourage laziness and dependence on others.
Eventually, and this was a first in the United States, the federal government helped fund emergency flood relief.
Rising Tide is subtitled, The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America.
Using public funds, federal funds, and drawing upon the resources of the federal government to help alleviate the suffering and repair the destruction brought on by this catastrophic flooding was the act that "changed America".
I've read three history books recently: How the South Won the Civil War, The Legacy of Conquest, and Rising Tide. Each author, Heather Cox Richardson, Patricia Nelson Limerick, and John M. Barry, in their own ways, confront the conflict always at the center of life in the USA between those who see the federal government as a problem, a hindrance to how we live our lives and those who see the federal government as source of protection, relief, and needed regulation.
For many, and these books all examine this, it's a matter of thrift, of saving one's money, of people taking care of themselves and living lives as unbridled as possible. For others, it's a matter of living in a social contract, of acting upon an obligation to contribute to the welfare of others.
I like that word continuum in relation to history and the questions that arose about how best to address the suffering people endured in the 1927 flood are with us right now as we tackle the pandemic or as the arguments about the power outages in Texas and how to alleviate misery there rev up. As these current problems are discussed from every angle, the various positions people took in 1927 are much the same as the positions people are taking right now.
Oh! I forgot to mention the threads of corruption that continue. I guess I can't yak about everything.
2. There is no way that I think the Big East is the strongest men's college basketball conference in the USA. In fact, I have no idea how teams in the Big East will stack up against teams from the other power conferences if and when they square off in the NCAA Tournament.
Here's what I do know: I love to watch Big East basketball on the Fox sports networks. I love to watch these teams play each other. I enjoy the different styles of play, the heated competition, and how I'm never sure how the games will come out.
In fact, I got so wrapped up late this afternoon and early this evening in the scintillating tilt between St. John's and Xavier that I forgot all about tonight's Tree House Concert and I missed it. It wasn't until Diane messaged me later in the evening, checking to make sure I was all right (I had tuned in to 40 straight of these concerts!), that I realized that I had lost track of the days (it seemed like Monday to me) and that I was so excited to watch the Johnnies play that I forgot all else.
About the Johnnies, I'll just say that they pressed and hassled Xavier all game long. The Johnnies got scoring production from several players and continued to be led by Posh Alexander and Julian Champagne who made great plays on both ends of the floor. Back in January, St. John's record in league play was 1-6. Now they are at 8-7. I have loved watching their improvement, seeing them coalesce into a really fun and cohesive team to watch play. Today the Johnnies defeated Xavier, 93-84.
3. Having finished Rising Tide, I will now turn my attention to Bill Davie's new collection of poems, The Pandemic Suite and, I started a new book of non-fiction last night. It's called Grayson. It's a short memoir by Lynne Cox telling the story of the experience she had with a baby grey whale when she was seventeen years old. I recently purchased books on salmon, beavers, and another whale book. I'm hoping to read these nature related books before returning to other books: biography, history, politics, and travel.
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