Spreading the Word, from July 4, 1776, to Today

Greetings from rainy, snowy, icy, and flu-ish Vermont. Yes, though normally a cheetah dashing from place to place, I was felled, walloped, really, by the flu ten days ago on the way back home from a wedding in Philadelphia. I’m feeling better and ranty. Yes, the wedding was the joyful and supreme blend of the bride’s and groom’s personalities, families, and friends, and, yes, it’s good to start 2026 in Philadelphia. It was also a salve to visit the Museum of the American Revolution, which opened in 2017 and tells a rousing — and blessedly coherent — story. Among much else, the museum displays George Washington’s field tent for sleeping and working while he and his army fought in New Jersey.