ROAD TRIP REDUX

Yesterday we got back from our most recent road trip after spending a week at David & Carmen's chalet on Little Island Lake south of Nevis, MN. Highlights include:

> Beautiful weather. We didn't get rained out once.

> Food, fellowship, & fun with friends & family.

> The serene, natural, relaxing setting.

> Fishing follies. Even though the last 3 days were a piscatorial nightmare, I finished on top of the leader board with 15 fish--a CPF [cost per fish] of $2.93.

> A trip to Lake Itasca State Park, which included a boat excursion on Lake Itasca, the source of the Mighty Mississippi, a hike along the Schoolcraft Trail, culminating at Hill Point & a view of Schoolcraft Island, & a lite lunch at the Headwaters Cafe.

> Wildlife. We saw deer, wild turkeys, bald eagles, common loons, beavers, & ospreys. Sadly, we failed to see any black bears.

> Trips around Little Island Lake on David & Carmen's pontoon boat.

> Delicious meals at the Catholic Church, while enduring the world famous Hackensack Flea Market, & gourmet fare at Necce's Italian Restaurant in downtown Park Rapids, because, food.

> No mosquito bites or tick attacks.

> David's expert grilling of pork chops, chicken, hamburgers, & brats. We also feasted on sweet corn, & I enjoyed sipping Not Your Father's Root Beer, Long Island Ice Tea, & Rumchata.

We're ready to go back again next summer.

WHAT I'M READING

I recently finished "The Accidental President:  Harry S. Truman & the Four Months That Changed the World." Now I'm reading 3 books concurrently, including "Founding Myths:  Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past;" [Did you know that fighting continued for a year after Yorktown?] "The Gulag Archipelago," by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; & "Stalin's War:  A New History of World War II." These last 2 books should be required reading for Bernie Sanders & anybody else who ignorantly upholds Socialism.

MAN'S BEST FRIEND

"STUDY:  Dogs 'just get' humans in ways other animals simply can't . . . " Drudge Report

OUR FEARLESS LEADER

"10 Things That Are Worse Than The Civil War According To Joe Biden." Babylon Bee

* The Jan. 6 attack on the capitol, where millions died. Literally, just as bad as Antietam.

* Matlock getting canceled.

* The New York Post reporting on his son's laptop. Pickett's Charge has nothing on this national tragedy.

CRT

"Bad news:  Teachers are teaching CRT. Good news:  They're teaching it about as well as they teach math." Babylon Bee

THE WIT & WISDOM OF BEN SHAPIRO

"Last week, heretofore nearly anonymous hammer thrower Gwen Berry made international headlines when, during the podium ceremony for winning bronze in an Olympic trial, she turned away from the U.S. flag as the national anthem played . . . Berry turned 90 degrees from the flag, stood with her hand on her hip, & glared directly into the camera. It was a deliberate provocation & a deliberate attempt to raise her own profile. 'I feel like it was a setup,' she later complained. 'They did it on purpose.'

"Actually, Berry just saw an opportunity maximum her profile, & she seized it with alacrity. In the U.S., there's far more money to be made & fame to be achieved by spurning the American flag & the national anthem than by embracing it:  Colin Kaepernick makes millions because he failed as a quarterback bu succeeded as a self-aggrandizing symbol of supported racial bravery. Meanwhile, the thousands of athletes with track records superior to either Kaepernick's or Berry's who stand for the national anthem remain anonymous.

"That's because American currently rewards an entitled sense of grievance. Most Americans know little about foreign countries; they somehow believe that the U.S. is inferior, or that the prosperity, health & free lifestyle to which they have become accustomed is the global & historic norm. It most assuredly is not.' [emphasis added] Norfolk Daily News, 7/9