Still learning lessons from George Washington

Stayed up way too late last night reading Gore Vidal's book Inventing a Nation.

Of course, it pales in comparison to my own recent book. I was certainly put-off by Vidal's jarring interjection of left-wing satire on 21st century events in what I assumed was going to be a work focused on Washington, Adams, Jefferson, et al.

But, amongst his clap trap, were direct quotes from the founders that included several pearls of wisdom that I'm going to try to apply to my own day-to-day.

In particular, I was inspired by the spirit behind Washington's Farewell Address, in which he stressed the importance of remaining above the fray--political or otherwise.

Of course, he was warning his successors to avoid entanglements with the ornery foreign powers of 18th Century Europe.

But, the same lesson might be applied to a lot of the ornery people I encounter on a far-too-regular basis.

Keep your fingers crossed that I may be able to heed Washington's lesson!