We live in a culture coarsening daily. Public discourse, from the very top, down, has been stripped of the most basic elements of etiquettes (look that work up, as in “etiquette and Emily Post” and see what comes up. At one time, to get ahead in the business world and even presidents actually cared about things like etiquette and how to act in a public setting.

A few weeks ago, Miss Mary and I visited the local art museum at the prestigious liberal arts college near our house. It had been years since we last took advantage of this cultural perk, one that’s free to visitors.

Today, we drove to Portland and spent more than two hours at the Portland Museum of Art. We even signed up for a membership. Again, we commented upon leaving that it had been “too long” since we last spent an afternoon surrounded by art. Continue reading →