in general.

And then, I drove 500 miles to Chakakwa, New York on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday, I drove 500

miles back. And the drive out, totally worth it. For whatever reason, I'm still a little

confused about this. Google Maps did not want me taking too many interstates. And I didn't

second guess that. And so I ended up going a scenic route. I mean, that probably added maybe 45 minutes,

an hour to the total drive time. I'm not even sure about that. It may have just been trying to

avoid some traffic stuff. But one of the prettiest drives I've ever done, definitely one of the prettiest

drives on the East Coast I've ever done, took me through a big chunk of New Hampshire and Vermont. And then,

just basically the entire width of New York State. And it was funny. So like, about 200 miles

into this drive, I tweeted that I had a... What is it, Pippa? Why are you crying? Hold on, everybody.

You guys can stay outside. Sorry, I don't know if that'll get edited out or not. But I let the dogs out.

What was the thing? I said I went 200 miles into the drive and I pulled over to get something to eat.

I actually had my first big Mac in probably 15 years. And I tweeted that I was, you know,

there's one of the prettiest places. One of the prettiest drives I had done in the US and I've done a lot of drives.

Certainly on the East Coast. And then, I drive into or through Troy, New York, apparently the birthplace of Uncle Sam,

which they're proud to tell you on grain, moldering signs all over the place. And I'll tell you, if the town elders

of Troy, New York really, really work hard and inspire to improve themselves, they might in 2023 go up a full grade to craftacular.

Because, man, that place looked rundown. And then, you know, like 15 minutes out, 20 minutes out of Troy,

I'm going to back to Bucolic, beautiful scenery. Anyway, Chitakwa, I wrote this whole g file that I'm not going to run.

I don't think, but I'll talk about it here. I shouldn't say I hold you. Most of a g file. Chitakwa was, is this, it's this amazing place.

And I had heard of the Chitakwa movement because I do that, you know, I know some of that sort of social gospel and progressive intellectual history, American history stuff.

But I really didn't have any conception of what the Chitakwa institution was. And I usually, I very rarely talk about places I have speaking gigs.

...