American History and the Divine Liturgy

Yesterday and today all I did was go page by page through a history book writing down questions for class discussions. I'm using three different texts for my history classes, which star in two weeks. The book I've been in all of Friday and yesterday is Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story by Wilfred McClay. I don't really like history textbooks which are written by committes, and read like they were written by comittees. In general, monograph narratives of specific events such as Patriots: The Men who Started the American Revoluiton by A.J. Lannguth which only deal with the American Revolution and The Second Work War by Winston Churchill are much better, having been written by experts, having one point of view with which the reader can grapple, and having lots of footnotes so the reader can see what the author's sources are. History textbooks for highschool try to cover so much in so few pages that it is difficult to really know anything, there is often no point of view, and they always lack footnotes.

What McClay has done, however, is really good. Land of Hope might be the best history text book I have ever read. It has a point of view, e.g. America is good but flawed and we are still struggling to perfect it, so let's be thankful for the past, hopeful for the future, and get to work living lives worthy of our ancestors' hopes for us. Land of Hope is written in such a way that even though it doesn't go into much detail about anything it leaves you wanting to read more. Sadly, there are no footnotes but for those who want to go deeper into the knowledge of the people and events McClay wrote about there is, in the back of the book, a four page list of the kinds of history books I prefer to read. And finally, Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story is one long flowing narrative, which is in itself, a huge improvement over every highschool history textbook I have ever read. I think my students will learn much from it.

Today I went to the Divine Liturgy at Saint Stephen Orthodox Church in Campbell, California. My parish, Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church in Saratoga has been hit by Covid-19, and both the priest and choir director are suffering. After liturgy I ate an ommelette and took a nap. Now I have to get back to preparing for the semester.

A Vacation, a Job, and My Youngest Son

Last week Kathleen and I went fishing on the Rogue River in Oregon. I caught no fish but Katheleen caught a beautiful steelhead smolt. I cleaned it and cooked it for her. On the way to Oregon we stopped in the charming little town of Winters. Then we drove on to Red Bluff, at the north end of the Central Valley where we spent the night. While we were there someone stole our anchor off the the trailer. I had read it was a high crime area but I never would have thought someone would steal an anchor. We drove past Mount Shasta (I had never seen it. Wow! It is amazing. Even in July the peak was covered with snow.) It was fun going over the Siskayou Pass. I can now say I have traversed all the mountain passes that lead out of California. After Passing Mount Shasta we stopped in Yreaka to mail postcards to the kids. I talked to the postmaster and saw something interesting. She sprayed my money with a chemical that neutralizes meth and cocaine. She said that cocaine isn't a problem in the area but meth is everywhere. Cute town, though.

When we got to the Rogue River we had to go get a new anchor. The owner of the Rogue River Boat Shop was friendly and helpful. And then one of the fishing reels broke. I bought some new ones. They are better than the old ones. Talked with the owner of Bradbury's for a long time. He was an MP in the Army a few years before I enlisted. He gave me the fishing line for free and gave me some good information about fishing on the Rogue River, mainly, that I was there at the wrong time of year and that I shouldn't expect to catch anything. We stayed there four nights. The river was beautiful.

On the way home we stopped in Yreka again and had a picnic at the Greenhorn Reservoir Park. Deer walked within 30 feet of us. The dog almost died trying to break his leash to get to them but the deer didn't care.

On Monday I applied for a job teaching history, government, and economics at a private school in San Jose. I interviewed on Tuesday. On Wednesday I found out I got the job. Later this afternoon I'll go in to fill out all the HR paperwork. On Monday of next week I'll start training to get AP certified.

Basil is still very sick from having Covid back in April. He has many of the long covid symptoms but the doctors do not seem to know what to do. It is very alarming. Please, pray for him.

A Trip to Reno.

I went to Reno for one night, just to buy ammo for rabbit and pheasant hunting. The shortage in California is severe and the prices are sky high. The prices are almost as bad in Nevada but, at least, they had some for sale. I like Nevada.