No coffee can be good in the mouth that does not first send a sweet offering of odour to the nostrils. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to
Psycmeistr’s Ice Palace

Although most people, driven by advertisers, refer to the third Monday in February as Presidents Day, today is (officially) Washington’s Birthday. Those of you in my age range remember celebrating Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays on their actual birthday, with Valentines Day sandwiched in between. I remember there being a heavy use of silhouette as classroom decorations.

Of course Washington’s real birthday is Thursday, the 22nd. It will be the 275th anniversary of his birth. Blue Crab Boulevard points to a story in the Washington Post about the state of Maryland obtaining the, “original, handwritten speech that George Washington delivered when he resigned his commission in 1783.” Let me quote the final paragraph:

Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action, — and bidding an affectionate {a final} farewell to this August body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer {today deliver?} my Commission, and take my {ultimate} leave of all the employments of public life.

See the BCB post for a link to a pdf file of the document.

Let me offer two of my favorite George Washington quotes:

How soon we forget history… Government is not reason. Government is not eloquence. It is force. And, like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

and

If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.