Liberty

Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were sitting in the audience in the Virginia House of Burgesses when Patrick Henry stood up to deliver a speech. The patriots in New England were already prepared to fight the most powerful empire in the world. Their vocal leader, Samuel Adams, later called by Jefferson the Patriarch of Liberty, knew he needed the Virginians. Henry got them with this speech on March 23, 1775.

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No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the house. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the house is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at the truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the numbers of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received?

Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlement assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation.

There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength but irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extentuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
-Patrick Henry

Midsummer 2007

Happy sunny day! We are enjoying the nice sun and hope you are too. The weather has been nice in NorCal and the hills on the way to Sacramento have turned brown (I mean golden...sorry about that).

The big thing that happened this month was our vacation to the Bahamas. It was nice to get away and hang out with our friends the Leunigs. Here is a picture of Daphne on the last leg of our overnight trip.

Mom and Dad kept on saying "oh, sweetheart, you're doing a great job, what with the red eye and all, we're so proud of you (et cet., et cet.)," but the truth is we were just trying to keep up our morale. We were amazed at how cool Daphne was throughout the trip.

For my part, I kept on thinking about the fun times I had as a kid in the Bahamas when I was young. In honor of those good times, the picture above features Daphne in a fancy outfit given to her from Aunt Bonnie, who was always part of those Bahamas vacations when I was a kid.

That's all for this month. I know it's less than normal, but you know how it is these days, what with the sun up so long.

May is here and so are we

It’s May in Berkeley, and the star jasmine is back in bloom. This is important because I walk by a bunch of that ornamental shrub on my way to the train in the morning. It's nice when it's in bloom because it makes the street smell sweet. What also makes me happy is the fact that the Sox are playing .700 ball and are 10 games up in the division.

Here's a cute smile of Daphne.

Though I promised to start posting pictures in chronological order, I still put these shots in reverse order. Oh well. This picture is of Marin County in NorCal. We are walking out to the lighthouse at Point Reyes (the Kings' Point). You may have had the blue cheese from this area (there are tons of cows all over this point). It was really windy.

This next shot is of Miles Molina Allen getting some holy water on him. Like good old Jesus himself, Miles took the plunge into the world of baptism. That's me on the left there, in my official God Father position. To the right is Jill's sister Leslie, who is my God-partner for young Miles. We'll make sure he stays on the straight and narrow.

This is my favorite part of the baptism ceremony. The parents and God parents testify that they will do a whole series of Godly things for the child. The best is the renounciation of Satan. I don't usually think about Satan, but I sure do at this particular time. Just imagine how terrified people used to be in the olden days about Satan and whatnot. Just shows to go ya....I'm excited about teaching Miles all I know about the Church, especially what the Jesuits told me back in college.

This is Messers NorCal and SoCal posing with Daphne in front of an altar to the Virgin Mother.

Miles getting his baptising outfit on. Check out that game face.

Here is Unlce (twice over) Fred with the family. In addition to Miles' baptism, we were also celebrating Fred's birthday and prematurely celebrating Peter's.

This is Aunt Jill with Miles. Daphne is looking on from her cozy swing.

Daphne is watching her dad absolutely work Uncle Petenice on the court, just like back in high school when they were on the same hoops team. Believe me, it was a beating that Petenice won't soon forget.

Fred's birthday party with the kids.

Fred getting captured from both sides as he blows out the candles.

Mister Miles.

Snow in Yosemite.

I went to Yosemite for work with the family. Here's a group shot.

I love the smiles in this shot. Full waterfalls this part of the year.

Happy Easter!

We at NorCalAllens want to wish you and yours a happy easter, or something else. I've always enjoyed this holiday because I like sunshine. Daphne seems to be enjoying the day (her second) in the picture to the right, I mean left (trying a new format....).







Here is a picture of Emma, Kelly and Rob at Easter. Emma is super tired from her egg hunt. She did very well collecting eggs, but kept on emptying her basket once it was full.












Here is the aftermath of the egg hunt.

I posted the above because I know you all like those pretty Daphne smiles. This was taken the morning of Easter.

We had a nice Easter meal outside NorCal style. Here is Kelly and Emma, the latter in her retro-flapper finery.

Here's the main table with all of the great food. You can see Papa there enjoying food and an orange juice cocktail.

Birthday

What better way to kick off the sunny time of year than a birthday party for Grandma! The picture above is of the cousins in their birthday finest. Below you will find Daphne framed by the shadows of an old tree. She likes bark.

Here's a nice picture of Kathie and her two granddaughters on her birthday.

One of Daphne's favorite things to do is help us organize our drawers.


We had Kathie, Allen, Rob, Kelly and Emma down from Sac and cousin Lisa and Kevin out from Jersey for breakfast at our place.

Do you know what Zachary's pizza is? They have a contest every year for poster art to adorn their walls. This is Kelly's entry which is a play on the Spice of Life festival that we have here in North Berkeley every year. I hope she wins because that'll mean the Vellanoweths will come down to Berkeley for some nice deep dish.

Sacramento

Prone to floods and fires in the olden days, it parlayed its gold rush wealth long enough to get good steady industry jobs in railroad car manufacturing and servicing. It wanted to be the Central Valley's port of choice in the last century (even built a big channel), but Stockton beat it to the punch. It lost in the race to citrus dominance to Los Angeles (thank you William Mulholland). It got some good rocket work in WWII and thereafter, which helped. And then, of course, it's the capital. I like it for the trees, the rivers and great family and friends up there. It's a long way to introduce these pictures of Daphne. But, it's appropriate because this is the special edition, 1 Year Birthday posting for our daughter. And what is history but a bunch of anniversaries? And what are birthdays but family history?

Birthday Party in Sac

We had a nice birthday party in Sacramento to coincide with my parents' arrival to NorCal from New England (specially, the capital, Boston).



The highlight by far of the day was Daphne's enjoying her rocking horse. This horse was put together from "an old Popular Mechanics kit" by Papa, Cortney's grandfather, who is seated in the background of this picture. This was a very touching gift to the NorCalAllens and we're happy that Daphne took a fast shining to it. We'll enjoy it for a very long time as it was built to last.

Daphne showing off a volleyball in her grandmother's arms. That's my Dad in the background. He was raised in a river town in Western Mass. called Holyoke. Did you know that this was the place that volleyball was invented? It was called Mintonette back then and was designed for old people. History's funny like that. Funnier even than TV.

Saint Patrick's Day in Berkeley

Saint Patrick's Day isn't quite the same in Berkeley. Where I grew up (Boston, aka New Dublin, the heart of New England) St. Paddy's Day is serious business. Schools are out. People get the day off. Everyone spends the day drinking beer, talking about spring training. We New Englanders have more than just a great converter to celebrate on March 17th. You see, on that date in 1776 Boston was once and for all liberated. We Bostonians celebrate this day as Evacuation Day. As in "I have an idea, imperialistic British military and downpressors. Why don't you get the hell out of our harbor and town?! Take your ships and soldiers and never come back to this town. And you loyalists...enjoy Halifax. Have fun with that."

231 years later, you'll see some pictures below of the NorCalAllens enjoying the holiday, which this year fell on a Saturday.

Daphne had green on under her cardigan. No pinches needed.

We're very thankful to all of our neighbors who tend their gardens so well. Here are some beautiful flowers on our street. This time of year it smells very nice in our neighborhood.

Daphne's Birthday Party! Number 2

Because we love our daughter, we decided to have two (count 'em, two) birthday parties for her. This one was at our place in Berkeley and it was designed to have Sacramento and Cal people show up. Here's a picture of Anne, whom you've seen before in various posts. Notice the propaganda in the background. That print hung in front of our bed in New York for the four years that we lived there.

Some of Daphne's friends who came over for the party. Notice Niko, on the right. He's pretty stoked to have three nice looking ladies to hang out with at this party. He was so fired up that he pooped in his pants shortly after this shot.

Daphne wore some crazy party pants, which you can see in this shot. She was lounging on her chair opening presents and this is a still shot from that time.

Children do funny things.

Bostonians in NorCal

Here in Berkeley for a Friday, my Dad and Stepmom joined the NorCalAllens for music class.

Near the end, Daphne decided to go hang out with her grandfather.

We had a nice family dinner on this Friday. Petenice, of the SoCalAllens, was up for some IBM business and we invited our cousins too. That's Julie and Dillon on the right, relatives from Ohio, the Heart of America (be nice to them, they'll decide your next president). Susan and I worked together in the kitchen to great effect. We made creamy, garlic smashed potatoes, roasted carrots with shallots, golden tofu and a beautiful mushroom sauce with homemade fresh herb/mushroom broth and tomato paste base. You can see the parsley that we used to add color and a fresh amoma. There were many empty plates after all was said and done.

Another food treat, Zachary's pizza. We had the mushroom and spinach deep dish pie. There's no reason to get anything else (PS--the secret to their tomato sauce is adding nice nutmeg to the sauce).