You Can Lead a Horse to Water
But you can't make him drink, Bob and Judy told us. It seems that they offended the brother and sister that live on their farm to help with a whole assortment of chores. Bubba and Bubbette are good natured enough, but they belong to a church that teaches them among other strange things, that the world is just a few thousand years old, around 6000, give or take a few. Bob said that they very definitely do not believe in evolution, despite living on a farm where fossils abound. Both Bubba and Bubette get quite upset when their beliefs are questioned, even if inadvertently by glancing at an open newspaper on their employers' breakfast table.

Max's Relatives
Schuyler had mixed a precious amount of a delectable cocktail for tonight, Gin Gimlets. On the drinks table, he had some nonalcoholic wine as well. Tanqueray seems to be one of Schuyler's favorites, and the gin he used tonight.

Max told us, and Bob and Judy, that his own family was riddled with rabid born-again christians who subscribed to the Dark Ages theory that indeed evolution did not occur and that indeed the earth was created around 4004 BC, based on some cockamamie theory first promulgated by James Ussher and John Lightfoot in the 17th century. Their theory, called the Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar, embracing the proposal that earth's existence also was settled as lasting only for the 4,000 years before Christ and 2,000 after his death, hence the 6,000 years. The savvy among us, Max said, put this "theory" firmly to rest in 1997 (6001 years after 4004BC.) probably because the world didn't come to an end.

The Infamous Newspaper Article
Title: New Hominid Fossil Found. Well, Max told us, he hated to have this discussion with the Dark Age mentality of the Bubbas and Bubettes of the world, and the Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertsons of your worst and scariest nightmares. Max, with Alex joining in, said that scientists were probably a tad more able to discern the truth than any Kool-Aid-offering snake oil salesman à la Falwell and Robertson. Alex said that if Bubba and Bubette ever bothered to look down the lens of a microscope, they would say the squirming bacteria on the microscope slide were merely instruments of the devil.

Anyway, the article continued, the hominid skull discovered in Ethiopia was between 200,000 and 500,000 years old, a wee bit older than a cranium from 4004BC! The scientist discussing this important discovery, Dr. Sileshi Semaw, an Ethiopian scientist affiliated with Indiana University, in the same article detailing this important and defining discovery, also discussed the discovery of some of the first tools used by present mankind's ancestors' tools from 2.6 million years ago, and discussed the fossils of 4.5 million year old human ancestral species.

Rasputin or Einstein?
Well, guys, Bob and Judy asked, between learning the mysteries and realities of the universe, would you take your counsel from Rasputin or from Einstein? People who think still can believe in a higher being; but people who can't think for themselves take as incontrovertible truth any dribble from Falwell and Robertson and their ilk. So, one last question for the likes of Bubba, Bubbette, and a score of Max's relatives: if true, proven science has been able to carbon-date human fossils and the tools they used, why are you still fostering those idiotic proposals that the universe is only 6000 years old?

Dinner, Before it Too is 6,000 Years Old
After the dinner gong rang, and as we proceeded to the dining room, Liz, our quote expert, told us that Thomas Jefferson had once said: "Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.

Charlotte and Elizabeth prepared Lobster-Mango Rice Paper Rolls for our appetizers. With the weather changing, we enjoyed the room-temperature Spring Rolls, which Charlotte accompanied with little glasses of Gran Centenario Silver Tequila, and dinner was off to a good start.
Terry and Carmen paired up to prepare their superb Gazpacho, with its myriad vegetables. Served at room temperature rather than highly chilled, it was delicious, especially when paired with a Sauvignon Blanc from Washington State's Hogue Cellars.

On the same Pan-Asian, Latin flavor our dinner seems to have taken, Max next brought out one of his masterpieces, Red Snapper Veracruz Style, poached in white wine, with onions, capers, tomatoes and Serrano chiles. Max brought some bottles of Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc which turned out to be a perfect match for the Veracruz-style fish. Max served this course with fluffy Mexican rice and fried plaintains.

Max had the three Viking outdoor grills going on the porch, where he grilled an assortment of meats Argentine-style, and then served with his delectable Chimuchurri, that exquisite sauce made in Argentina to accompany perfectly grilled meats. There were different ways to go with the wine, and Max was tempted to serve a nice Portuguese red wine he had brought over, but in the end the Argentine Malbec from Navarro Correas seemed the better choice, using the theory that wine from the region you are using for your cooking inspiration is usually the best choice, and we all really enjoy Malbec. The grilled fingerling potatoes and Roma tomatoes he served with his "Churrasco" were, of course, grilled to perfection.

Winding Down
We apologize for not keeping up with the chronicles of life on the farm, but last week there was a small epidemic among us of stomach flu, whatever that is, but it was serious enough to knock some of us off our feet so were not able to keep up the chronicles. Everything is back to normal now, and just in time, since spring is really here and chores have piled up in just one week.
We left the large dining room and went back to the great room to have Elizabeth's homemade Cinnamon Ice Cream. The ice cream and Max's "secret brew" decaf after-dinner coffee, paired with the company of all the kids, and the evening, after a week of illness, became pure bliss. Gosh, you don't think Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell would find that sinful, do you?

Summary
A significant portion of this country has a Dark Ages mentality. When presented with uncontestable scientific proof that human fossils are hundreds of thousands of years old, when their perverted faith tells them the world is only 6000 years old, they become dangerously belligerent, since their world does not comprehend scientific fact that the rest of us know does not in any way contradict anything in the Bible. That same ignorance cheers born again "christians" on to encourage George Bush in his nefarious, truly grotesque and evil policies which include torture on a gargantuan scale and the daily slaughter of innocent men, women and children, not exactly "Chritian" virtues as we understand them.