Plough Ahead

I'm sure they didn't use this translation; The Jerusalem Bible is my go-to version: Sirach-Ecclesiasticus - JERUSALEM BIBLEJERUSALEM BIBLE (bibledoctrine.us) The rainbow 43:11 See the rainbow and praise its maker, so superbly beautiful in its splendour. 43:12 Across the sky it forms a glorious arc drawn by the hands of the Most High. The wonders of nature 43:13 By his command he sends the snow, he speeds the lightning as he orders. 43:14 In the same way, his treasuries open and the clouds fly out like birds. 43:15 In his great might he banks up the clouds, and shivers them into fragments of hail. 43:16a At sight of him the mountains rock, 43:17a at the roar of his thunder the earth writhes in labour. 43:16b At his will the south wind blows, 43:17b or the storm from the north and the whirlwind. 43:18 He sprinkles snow like birds alighting, it comes down like locusts settling. The eye marvels at the beauty of its whiteness, and the mind is amazed at its falling. 43:19 Over the ea...

  My nightmarish weekend, 50 years ago … the same weekend the Daniel Webster Inn burnt down . At age sixteen, I got drunk. It wasn’t the first time. I had done so once previously, at age fourteen. At that time I had found a boxful of assorted liquors stashed away in my grandparents’ attic, apparently forgotten. I decided that one day I’d give them a try. It turned out that trying one of each wasn’t such a good idea. I got horribly sick, my parents found out, and I got grounded. The experience left me with such disdain that I swore I’d never drink again. That pledge lasted about a year. I got back into it slowly: during a campout with friends; sneaking slugs of wine from my grandparents’ refrigerator; stealing an occasional beer from my father’s supply. I was wary of overdoing it, but the memory of that initial drunk eventually faded so I decided to plot something larger. I searched through my parents’ liquor cabinet, looking way in the back for something they may have forgotten abo...