Reunions.
Friends meeting again after a period of separation.
Usually memorable these, but not necessarily because all had a good time.

Often boring.
How many times is recounting the same Glory Days interesting?

Often compelling.
No one knows us like old friends or acquaintances.
We can’t ever be as familiar with people we meet as we are with old friends.

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Today’s post is Conflicted, a saga, Chapter Fourteen, the reunion of the four ferociously BFFs.

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Today is Thursday, August 16
This is my 128th consecutive daily posting.
Time is 2.27am and today will be a hot and sunny day.
Today’s dinner is at Morton’s Steakhouse to celebrate Kat’s first yoga class as a teacher.
 

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Photo of the Day
Equestrian Statue of George Washington in Boston's Public Garden

This difficult piece of work was so admirably done that it compares well with the work of the celebrated Royal (old) Foundery at Munich.

The statue represents Washington at the time of middle life, and the countenance and attitude are full of force and vigor.
It faces to the south.
The lines, both of horse and rider, are graceful and natural.

The location of the statue is most attractive. It is placed in the midst of one of the finest thoroughfares of the Garden, handsomely enclosed, and surrounded by beautiful flower beds.
It was placed into position and unveiled on July 3, 1869, with former Mayor Alexander Rice making an address on the occasion.
The speech was also regarded as a matter for congratulation, as all the work upon the statue and its support was done by Massachusetts artists and artisans.

The height of the statue is 22 feet, and the fine granite pedestal 16 feet; so that, with its pedestal, it reaches 38 feet in total. The foundation is of solid masonry, resting on piles 11 feet deep.

The noted sculptor T. H. Bartlett of that time pronounced the work to be "the most important and best specimen of monumental decoration in New England." "The horse," he said, "has a personality; its ears being thrown forward, the eyes and action of the head indicating that he is attracted by some object. Such a personality is an essential quality in a composition like this...”
Derived from Bacon's Dictionary of Boston (1886).

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Encyclopediacs
Who was George Washington?

Find the answer just before today’s Post below. 

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Thumbnail Biography:
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American army general and statesman who served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.

During World War II, he was a five-star general in the United States Army and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.
He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45 from the Western Front.

Born David Dwight Eisenhower in Denison, Texas, he was raised in Kansas in a large family of mostly Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.
His family had a strong religious background.
His mother was born a Lutheran, married as a River Brethren, and later became a Jehovah's Witness.
Even so, Eisenhower did not belong to any organized church until 1952.
He cited constant relocation during his military career as one reason.
He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud, with whom he had two sons.

During World War I, he was denied a request to serve in Europe and instead commanded a unit that trained tank crews.
Following the war, he served under various generals and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1941.
After the U.S. entered World War II, Eisenhower oversaw the successful invasions of North Africa and Sicily before supervising the invasions of France and Germany.
After the war, Eisenhower served as Army Chief of Staff and then took on the uncomfortable role as president of Columbia University.
In 1951–52, he served as the first Supreme Commander of NATO.
 

In 1952, Eisenhower entered the presidential race as a Republican to block the foreign policies of Senator Robert A. Taft.
He won that election and the 1956 election in landslides, both times defeating Adlai Stevenson II.
He became the first Republican-elected President since Herbert Hoover in 1928.

Eisenhower's main goals in office were to contain the expansion of the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits.

In 1953, he threatened the use of nuclear weapons until China agreed to terms regarding POWs in the Korean War.
An armistice ended the stalemated conflict.

His New Look policy of nuclear deterrence prioritized inexpensive nuclear weapons while reducing funding for expensive Army divisions.

He continued Harry S. Truman's policy of recognizing the Republic of China as the legitimate government of China, and he won congressional approval of the Formosa Resolution.

His administration provided major aid to help the French fight off Vietnamese Communists in the First Indochina War.
After the French left he gave strong financial support to the new state of South Vietnam.

He supported local military coups against governments in Iran and Guatemala.

During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Eisenhower condemned the Israeli, British and French invasion of Egypt, and he forced them to withdraw.
He also condemned the Soviet invasion during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but took no action.

During the Syrian Crisis of 1957 he approved a CIA-MI6 plan to stage fake border incidents as an excuse for an invasion by Syria's pro-Western neighbors.

After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, Eisenhower authorized the establishment of NASA, which led to the Space Race.

He deployed 15,000 soldiers during the 1958 Lebanon crisis.
Near the end of his term, his efforts to set up a summit meeting with the Soviets collapsed when a U.S. spy plane was shot down over Russia.

He approved the Bay of Pigs invasion, which was left to his successor to carry out.

On the domestic front, Eisenhower was a moderate conservative who continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security.

He covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking executive privilege.

Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent Army troops to enforce federal court orders that integrated schools in Little Rock, Arkansas.

His largest program was the Interstate Highway System.

He promoted the establishment of strong science education via the National Defense Education Act.

Eisenhower's two terms saw widespread economic prosperity except for a minor recession in 1958.

 In his farewell address to the nation, Eisenhower expressed his concerns about the dangers of massive military spending, particularly deficit spending and government contracts to private military manufacturers.

He was voted Gallup's most admired man twelve times and also achieved widespread popular esteem both in and out of office.

Historical evaluations of his presidency place him among the upper tier of U.S. presidents.

Web-Meister Contributes:
The most far-reaching of all of Eisenhower's acts was the appointment of Governor Earl Warren of California to the Supreme Court bench. 
Earl Warren had a profound impact on American values in the areas of civil rights, separation of church and state, and police arrest procedure in the United States. 
 

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Movie Details
The Big Chill is a 1983 American comedy-drama film directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams.
The plot focuses on a group of baby boomers who attended the University of Michigan, reuniting after 15 years when their friend Alex commits suicide.
Kevin Costner was cast as Alex, but all scenes showing his face were cut.
It was filmed in Beaufort, South Carolina.

The soundtrack features soul, R&B, and pop-rock music from the 1960s and 1970s, including tracks by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Rolling Stones, and Three Dog Night.

The Big Chill was adapted for television as the short-lived 1985 CBS series Hometown. Later, it influenced the TV series thirtysomething.

Thank you, Wikipedia

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Word of the Day
Clique v team

clique
a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them.

"the old-school clique"

synonyms: coterie · circle · inner circle · crowd · in-crowd · set · group · pack · band · ring · mob · crew · club · society · fraternity · sorority · fellowship · camp · cartel · cabal · junta · caucus ·

team
a group of players forming one side in a competitive game or sport.

synonyms: group · squad · side · band · bunch · company · party · gang · selection

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Answer for Encyclopediacs
George Washington (February 22, 1732[b][c] – December 14, 1799) was a soldier, farmer, and statesman, and served as the first President of the United States.
Since the late 1780s, Washington has been known as the "Father of His Country" by compatriots.
He was commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and presided over the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
As a leading Patriot, Washington was among the nation's Founding Fathers.

Washington was born to a moderately prosperous family of slaveholders in colonial Virginia and had early opportunities in education which he used to advantage.
He learned mathematics and quickly launched a successful career as a surveyor and land investor.
He joined the Virginia militia and fought in the French and Indian War.
The Second Continental Congress made him commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775.
Washington's strategy and command of the army combined with a French alliance led to the surrendered of the British during the Siege of Yorktown.
He also fought against the Iroquois nation, a British ally.
His devotion to American Republicanism impelled him to decline further power after victory, and he resigned as commander-in-chief in 1783.
He was unanimously chosen to lead the Constitutional Convention in 1787 which devised the new Federal government.

Washington was unanimously elected as President by the Electoral College in the first two national elections.
He promoted and oversaw the implementation of a strong, well-financed national government. He remained impartial in the fierce rivalry between two cabinet secretaries, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, though he adopted Hamilton's plans to establish the payment of public debts, a national bank, a seat of government, and a tax system.
When the French Revolution plunged Europe into war, Washington assumed a policy of neutrality to protect American ships—although the Jay Treaty of 1795 created an alliance with Great Britain.
He set precedents still in use today, such as the Cabinet system, the inaugural address, the title "Mr. President", and a two-term limit.
In his Farewell Address he gave a primer on civic virtue, warning of partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.

After inheriting slaves at age eleven, Washington engaged and prospered in the slave trade most of his life but eventually became troubled with its practice; in his 1799 will he freed all his slaves.
Washington is renowned for his religious toleration; his personal religion and devotion to Freemasonry have been debated.
Upon his death, he was famously eulogized as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
Scholarly and public polling ranks him among the top three Presidents in history, and he is honored by countless monuments, public works, place names, stamps, and currency.


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TODAY’S POST

CHAPTER FOURTEEN 

8.30am, Saturday, 4 February, regathering

Dee, standing behind a column in the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital lobby, felt her cell phone come alive, the screen displaying “Laini.” She clicked on without answering, hearing “Hello?” answering, “Hello?”

“Diana! Dee! Where are you? They just called your room and you’re not there,” Dee peeking out, seeing Lori-Baby struggling to listen in to Laini’s cell. Seeing Stella, she, not distracted by the device, feeling Dee, looking around for, not seeing her, although moving slowly in Dee’s direction.

“How can I be there when I’m here?” Dee stepping out from her hiding place. Three heads snapped around and four joyful screams from the girls precipitated five hushes! from the hospital staff that bounced off the girl-slam stumbling backwards, sideways, forwards, and semi-horizontally, seemingly intent on falling in a heap, but ending safely erect amid tears, laughter, and exclamations rocketing off the brick walls in hysterical cacophony.

“Laini, my dear.” “Dee.” “Stella.” “Dee.” “Lori-Baby.” “Dee, sweetheart.” “How great!” “How great!” “How great!” “I love you so much,” without letup, erratically bumbling and bumping.

“We miss you so much,” Stella, throwing her arms around Dee and kissing her neck.

“And do you think I haven’t missed you?”

“My goodness but you look fine. Really thin and tired, but fine,” Laini, holding Dee’s elbows for a steady look at her.

“A day on Newbury Street does wonders.”

“What did you have done?” Lori-Baby, squeezing Dee’s shoulder.

“The full Monty.”

“Your hair looks great,” Stella, touching it.

“And your makeover,” Lori-Baby, one hand circumscribing Dee’s face.

“You’re my loves. I didn’t want you to see me totally wasted.”

“So thin, Dee. What do you weigh?” Laini, putting her hand to her own forehead, “Wow! I should talk. I’m woozy. Too much excitement,” spotting a chair, wobbling to it, Stella and Lori-Baby moving quickly to ease her down.

“Are you okay?” Dee, bending over her.

“Of course, okay. But what do you weigh?” Laini, looking up.

“Not enough. We’ll talk about that; later. I promise.”

“And you bought some new clothes? Love your sneaks.” Stella.

“My sneaks? Wait till you see the choke necklace I bought us. Yes, well, thanks to Auntie Clara.” Silence. “We have a lot to talk about. Over dinner tonight. But right now, we have a job to do. And it begins,” gesturing to the couple coming through the revolving door at the Spaulding lobby entry. “Come and meet Sgt. Jesse and Lt. Sam, our new allies and our ride.”

“Can all four of you fit in the back? I can get another car in a minute,” Sgt. Jesse saying.

Lori-Baby, “Fitting here? Nothing easier.”

Laini opened the rear passenger door saying, “Dee, you have to sit in the middle because we all want to be next to you.”

Stella, “Dee doesn’t care where she sits,” saying as she ducked into the opened door and scooched across to the opposite door. Laini looked to Lori-Baby to enter next. Lori-Baby reached for the car roof for support, closed her eyes, and put the back of her other hand on her forehead, saying to the wind, “So much excitement. I may faint.”

“Get in the car and faint on the seat, please,” Laini, Lori-Baby following directions. Dee followed Lori-Baby, Laini going in last, half of her rear end landing on Dee’s thigh, closing the door behind her.

Wordless, Lt. Sam and Sgt. Jesse exchanged looks from opposite sides of the car’s roof before getting into the car.