Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Psalm 76:10 Washington in the uniform of the Virginia Provencials by Chales Wilson Peale, 1772. This coming Saturday, July 4, 2026, is our nation’s 250th celebration of the English colonies declaring independence from Great Britain and an end to monarchial rule. In keeping with the spirit of the day, I decided to relate a story once common knowledge among a grateful and patriotic citizenry

Fighting to remember The Tennessee Historical Commission marker sets alongside Trotwood Avenue, the historical Mount Pleasant Pike. I imagine most, if ever they consider the term, think of the Gales of November as that violent phenomenon of weather closely associated with the Great Lakes, ever immortalized by the late great Gordon Lightfoot in his song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitsgerald". Still, if a gale is a violent tempest and November holds the last light of autumn, it

“I pray that on this day [Christmas] when only peace and good-will are preached to mankind, better thoughts may fill the hearts of our...