Ways to Save the Planet
To the editor:
Today (11/23) my wife and I walked from the Salt Pond Visitor Center to Coast Guard Beach. Along the way, we saw signs that someone had posted on ways to save the planet. The messages put smiles on our faces. Here are the ways, with the original spelling:
1. Don’t pick roots.
2. Don’t pick acorns, leaves.
3. Water plants.
4. Make houes out of meddle, straw, glass, brick.
5. Plant new trees.
6. Save aimals.
7. Don’t pick branches.
8. Never waste paper or money.
9. Treet trees well.
10. Spred the word.
So, I’ve spred the word. Thank you for posting the messages and making my day.
Jerry Cerasale
North Eastham
The Mayflower and the Mormons
To the editor:
I read with interest your article about Mayflower passenger John Howland [“For Some, It Wasn’t a Pilgrimage but Pure Hustle,” Nov. 19, page A7].
As a descendant of Howland myself, I found the story to be accurate and generally well detailed. That said, one interesting aspect of the Howland legend was left out. In addition to the Bushes, Bogarts, and Palins, Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, was also a Howland descendant.
Many Mormons believe that Howland’s miraculous mid-Atlantic rescue after being thrown overboard in a severe storm was an example of divine providence. Had Howland not been rescued, one can only speculate whether there would have been a Mormon Church.
In any case, Plimoth Plantation; Elmira, N.Y. (where Smith found the Golden Tablets); and Carthage, Ill. are now all pilgrimage sites for many historically oriented Mormons. Maybe Provincetown should tell the Mormons about its role in Howland’s life. It is also interesting to speculate what the Separatists might have thought about the Angel Moroni. But I digress!
Richard W. Thaler Jr.
Wellfleet and Charleston, S.C.
Fists, Noses, and Masks
To the editor:
The notion that “the right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins” (wrongly attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes) was first uttered by John B. Finch in 1882. Since then, dozens of orators have repeated some variant, sometimes substituting the word “liberty” for “right.”
John Stuart Mill, in his 1859 treatise, On Liberty, expressed the same concept by defining liberty as “doing as we like, subject to such consequences as may follow, without impediment from our fellow-creatures, so long as what we do does not harm them.” Societal norms support the important constraint that the consequences of personal liberty should not harm others.
Today, some citizens claiming to be patriots refuse to wear facial coverings in the name of liberty. They either do not understand that wearing masks is primarily to protect others, or they deliberately endanger others as an expression of political defiance.
Refusal to protect others from Covid-19 by covering one’s face in public is unacceptable behavior, whether because of ignorance or disregard for the welfare of others.
Ronald A. Gabel, M.D.
Yarmouth Port
In Lieu of Flowers
To the editor:
I loved Susannah Elisabeth Fulcher’s story about her pet turkey [Nov. 26, page 15], so send you this, what a friend emailed before Thanksgiving Day:
“We’ve been told that only six people are allowed to meet for Thanksgiving, but 30 for a funeral. With this, I announce that we will be holding a funeral for our pet turkey that will pass away on Nov. 26. Refreshments provided. In lieu of flowers, please bring a side or dessert.”
Page Kidder
Yarmouth Port
