It was my great pleasure and honor to have hosted more than a few “VIPs,” and best of all, young people, on historical tours of Mount Vernon.
The more I learn about General Washington, the more amazing he is to me. Design, science, architecture, botany, husbandry... It just goes on and on.
And these things are TRUE!
He is infinitely much more awesome in real life than he is in all these silly legends about wooden teeth, tossed coins, and cherry trees.
Maybe the story about cutting down the cherry tree came from the fact that cherries ripen right around 4th of July. I always think of the story when I’m picking my cherries. Seriously.
What I have found is how different one thinks as they age. History seems too close to be “history” when you are 90. When I recall the times I lived with, and grew up adoring, my paternal grandfather. He was born in 1878. Not that many years since Washington died. All the history of our nation doesn’t seem very long ago to me, and I marvel at how easily it is falling. Very heart breaking.