1789 George Washington

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As if to symbolize the tenuous state of the new administration, George Washington developed a queer affliction in mid-June 1789 that nearly killed him. What started out as a fever was followed by a tenderness in his left thigh that soon progressed to a painful swelling and a “malignant carbuncle.” The president lost weight, could not sit up, and lay dangerously ill in bed for days. Few people outside the small presidential circle understood the extreme gravity of the illness, much less that it might prove fatal. Whether this was a product of anthrax, as diagnosed at the time, or a tumor, it was surgically excised without an anesthetic. (In a still rural America, it was not uncommon for farmers and planters to contract anthrax from infected animals.) The senior surgeon who presided over the procedure did so with seemingly sadistic gusto. “Cut away,” he exclaimed. “deep - deeper - deeper still. Don’t be afraid. You will see how well he bears it!” The president’s health remained so uncertain that Mayor James Duane stopped carriages from passing Washington’s residence and had straw spread on the sidewalk to muffle any sounds that might disturb him.

-- Ron Chernow, “Alexander Hamilton”

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34. Pizza Day

When Pop returns from Little Caesars’, he says that he saw a young couple being arrested. The gal was handcuffed. Maybe to a fence? We do not live in the best of neighborhoods, but this is a very rare sighting. Pop says that it is scary to see this in real life, and that it’s not like watching it on TV. He does seem a little shaken and disturbed.

I don’t get it. I would think that witnessing such an event might have been a bit exciting, if anything, but hardly scary, seeing that there was no risk of danger. The cop was not in the middle of a fight struggling to gain control of the situation. Everything was in hand. What was scary? Could it actually be the sight of heavy-handed state power? I doubt it. Pop cannot really elucidate. He just knows that he was scared.

Maybe it is because he knows that he often drives when he is drunk as a skunk. But for the grace of God! It could easily be him in those handcuffs.

35. Weird Weather

The weather really played me for a fool today. They were forecasting some hard, freaky storms. And Oklahoma just had one of the nastiest tornadoes in memory, which certainly got me thinking. Still, since nothing was expected to hit until noon, I thought I might fit in my morning walk and feed the ducks. However, when I stepped outside to see what’s what, I was alarmed by the black, sooty looking clouds and the whipping winds. I was afraid that Global Weirding was about to become even weirder. I forgot about the walk. I was just going to focus on getting the cats inside. In the end, we didn’t even get one of those nice little summer showers. At least there was no tornado. Better to be annoyed than massacred. But it is very annoying.

Daily Fun

ONTD

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