dual personalities

I will always love you

by chuckofish

I have blogged about or mentioned Dolly over 50 times in my 15 years writing this blog. She has been on my radar for 60+ years.

Somebody compared Dolly’s passing to the death of Queen Elizabeth, and I have to say, there is a lot of truth in that. I mean, can you think of anybody else in America who was so universally loved in his/her lifetime? And she was a queen of sorts, an American queen from the hills of eastern Kentucky. She earned her place as a global icon through hard work, talent and brains. She stayed humble. And she had class. The real kind.

The boy shared this tweet from Spencer Pratt and he says it best:

The boy also shared this tweet from Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem):

That made me almost cry. Of course, she felt some unexplained connection with him.

Above all else, she was a great writer–so many great songs! Jolene, I Will Always Love You, Tennessee Mountain Home.

And remember this great one released on Dolly’s 77th birthday?

But my favorite will always be Coat of Many Colors.

But they didn’t understand it
And I tried to make them see
That one is only poor
Only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
Made just for me

P.S. This post about Dolly would not be complete without the inclusion of this photo of daughter #2 when she chose Dolly as her 6th grade Reach “creative producer” project. Here she is in costume holding her shoe box Grand Ole Opry for her (1st place) presentation:

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to watch Steel Magnolias tonight and have a real good cry.

Into paradise may the angels lead thee, Dolly. Thanks be to God for the gift of your extraordinary life.

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August 26, 2026

Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble

by chuckofish

Today we remember H. A. Rey (born Hans Augusto Reyersbach) on the day he died in 1977. He and his wife wrote the Curious George books, which were favorites of daughter #2…

Now George is an inseparable friend of her daughter, Ida.

Funny how that works.

Curious George was an instant success when it was first published in 1941, and the Reys were commissioned to write more adventures of the mischievous monkey and his friend, the Man with the Yellow Hat. As of October 2024, more than 25 million copies have been sold, and translations include Japanese, French, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Swedish, German, Chinese, Danish, and Norwegian. The prairie girls are also big fans of the animated TV show, which was originally on PBS Kids.

“’Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.’ George promised to be good. But it is easy for little monkeys to forget.”

And, yes, I heard about the passing of the incomparable Dolly Parton yesterday. Literally 90% of my Instagram feed was dedicated to that news. Lord knows, readers of this blog know that she was a favorite of mine. She and my mother shared a birthday. I will comment at a future date.

She was just the best.

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August 25, 2026

Like the dew of Hermon*

by chuckofish

It has been too hot lately (and for most of the summer) to use the Florida room, but it cooled off over the weekend and I was able to sit out there yesterday and read. Lovely.

The twins went back to school and are hopefully off to a good start in fourth grade. Lord, cover them today, body, mind and soul…Give them one friend who is good for them, and the sense to hold onto that friend. Place your hand over their day…

Meanwhile on the prairie, Katie was helping Ida get dressed, and when their mother came in the room, she was zipping up her sister’s sweatshirt. Ida said, “My sister is helping me out. That’s why I have her. She’s my assistant.”

Count your blessings–they are many. Breathe the fresh air!

*Psalm 133:3

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August 24, 2026

“Yet I creep/To the throne of grace”*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? We had lovely sunny days in the high 70s–low eighties, so no complaints. I didn’t do much, but that’s okay too. Church on Sunday morning is always a pick-me-up for me. Good music, an excellent sermon (on Psalm 38) and another wonderful adult ed class on prayer. It was our last class and I will miss this topic–it has been great!

Wrapping up the course, we talked about practicing daily prayer. The teacher asked the class how we practiced this growing up. It occurred to me that I went to a private school where we had daily chapel, which we all just took for granted. But really, this was quite a privilege. We sang a hymn, we said prayers–it was all very Anglican, like our headmaster. Of course, this sort of practice at schools is mostly all a part of the distant past now. More’s the pity. Anyway, I am inspired to get serious about my daily prayer routine.

Today I must note that it is the birthday of Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), who readers of this blog know, is one of my favorites. He really was brilliant.

In other news, sadly, Scottie Scheffler was under the weather at the BMW Championship here in town and had a bad day on Thursday. He battled back on Saturday after a rough start, but it wasn’t enough to catch up and win on Sunday. C’est la vie. I went to the pool with daughter #1 and they had set up a big screen TV poolside, so I got to watch the final round while floating! Anyway, I was reminded, while watching, of driving the boy to Bellerive Country Club at the crack of dawn when he used to caddy there twenty-something years ago. Sunrise, sunset.

Have a good Monday!

*George Herbert

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August 21, 2026

You’ve got to take the bitter with the sweet

by chuckofish

The summer is seemingly drawing to a close. The kids are all heading back to school. Only two weekends remain between now and Labor Day! Sigh. I will note, unlike a lot of flyover summers, since we have had so much rain, everyone’s flowers are still blooming abundantly. The grass is still green!

The Rose of Sharon has been particularly vigorous.

Of course, that also means that there has been a lot of flooding. It has always been thus. A lot of rain = flooding.

We are reminded that back in 1915 a flash flood of the River Des Peres inundated much of St. Louis. Between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. more than 40 people were rescued by boat from homes in the Manchester-Hampton area. At Sublette Avenue, 40 people were taken from marooned streetcars in skiffs, and a dozen more were evacuated from a Gravois Avenue waiting room. But waters fell almost as fast as they had risen, and within two days traffic was back to normal.

Well, although the kids are heading back to class, summer weather will not end. It will stay warm well into October and that’s okay, right? “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22)

Have a good weekend! Try to get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

(Information about the 1915 flash flooding is taken from St. Louis Day By Day by Frances Hurd Stadler.)

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August 20, 2026

Dips for dinner

by chuckofish

The twins came over as planned yesterday and entertained themselves for the entire morning. They are so grown up now. They played with Legos…

and then Lottie and I did a Hobby Lobby craft…

I made one frame, she made four. Then they went upstairs for awhile and poked around. They are very curious and there is a lot to look at in my house. I found Lottie in my closet. It must be in the genes. We went to the Sunny Street Cafe for lunch and had our usual, which they wolfed down with abandon. Then I took them to their dad’s store and I went home to collapse.

Also, while the twins were at my house I finished my small counted cross-stitch project:

IYKYK…think Martin Short.

And in other news, the prairie prince is crawling!

Watching babies develop is amazing! Life is so exciting!

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August 19, 2026

Sauntering toward the Holy Land

by chuckofish

Yesterday I spent a good part of a pleasant afternoon reading randomly from this book:

What a wonderful resource! I love this from Henry David Thoreau, don’t you?

I enjoyed reading James Melville’s (1556-1614) description of the Spanish Armada being blown off course and thereby shipwrecked in Fife. The Spaniards come begging for mercy and Melville explains that the Scots are “men, and sa moved by human compassion and Christians of better religion nor they, quhilk should kythe, in the fruits and effects, plain contrary to ours…

I also read about Scott’s last expedition, retold by Charles Turley, and I have to admit, I wept a little.

While I read I listened to sad classical music and some movie soundtracks as well–this may have contributed to the weeping. I commend this practice to you. You can search on Youtube and most things are there. My favorite movie composers are: Jerome Moross, Alfred Newman, Miklos Rozsa, and Elmer Bernstein. Even a pretty bad movie can have good music, i.e. The Valley of Gwangi (1969).

Anyway, give it a whirl sometime when you have a few free hours. I’m sure you have something on your shelves that you can crack open for some delightful entertainment!

And it’s so much better than scrolling Instagram! Although I did think this was funny:

The twins are coming over this morning to hang out while their parents are working in these last days before school starts. I hope my engine is fully operational.

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August 18, 2026

Thrills and laughter, Concert after

by chuckofish

Today we remember this day in 1852 when Captain Jack’s Floating Palace arrived in St. Louis. Built in Cincinnati to carry the famous Spalding and Rogers Circus, its amphitheater for equestrain performances was capable of seating 1,000 people. Its museum contained about 100,000 “curiosities”, including Indian weapons, old-world relics, oil paintings, and zoological exhibitions of wild and rare animals.

The boat was 200 feet long – approximately two-thirds the length of a football field, and 60 feet wide. There were 1,100 cane-bottom arm chairs sold on a reserved basis. There was the “family circle,” consisting of cushioned settees to accommodate another 500 people. Finally, there were 900 gallery seats.

So many people crowded to the wharf in St. Louis for admission that special tickets were sold to those willing to watch the show through the windows.

Performers included: William Lawrence Slout; Miss Rosaline Stickney; H.P. Madigan, who served as a ringmaster, equestrian, gymnast, vaulter and pantominist; E.S. Perry; Charles Crosby, a gymnast who worked for Spalding and Rogers from 1852-56; D.W. Stone; Dr. Reed; the Le Pantomime Troupe; Masters Eustache & Jean and Monsieur Benoit. In addition, John Gossin was a clown, rider, tumbler and still vaulter. Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., surnamed the Grimaldi of America, he was an immense favorite of audiences in the United States.

Each performance was two to three hours in length. Once a show concluded and passengers debarked, a steamboat pulled the elegant barge to the nearest small town.

The palace kept a busy schedule until the outbreak of the Civil War, when it was seized by Confederate forces and and fitted out to serve as a military hospital.

I was never a big fan of the musical Show Boat or of the movie Show Boat (1951)–based on the novel by Edna Ferber–although it would seem an appropriate historical diversion.

But it does kind of make me want to watch Circus World (1964).

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August 17, 2026

He will hold me fast

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty quiet, mostly due to the weather, which was not particularly condusive to activity.

I did take the speedwagon in for an oil change and 6-month check-up on Friday morning. I was given a loaner, so I got to drive around a 2026 4-door Mini Cooper which was fun. I still love my Countryman though.

That evening daughter #1 and I braved the heat and went to see our friend Gary and his band, Colonel Ford, play, which was very enjoyable!

On Saturday, after my night out, I had to get up early and go to Trader Joe’s to buy some flowers and then go to church to arrange them for Sunday,

After that, I went home and took it easy. I watched The Searchers (1956) on TCM in the afternoon. It is a flawed but great film–John Wayne is awesome. It was amazing watching it again having been to Monument Valley recently.

Amazing.

I took those chairs over to daughter #1’s house after that and had a glass of wine

That night I watched 28 Days (2000)–the one where Sandra Bullock is in rehab with Viggo Mortensen. I had not seen it in a long time and enjoyed it a lot. (Not to be confused with 28 Days Later (2002) about the apocalypse.)

On Sunday I went to the 11:00 service, because the boy and the twins could come to that service. However, they had a car accident on the way there, so they didn’t make it. They are fine, but quelle pain in the neck. Anyway, I saw a lot of people at the later service that I hadn’t seen all summer because I went to the 8:30 and that was nice.

We sang a hymn which seemed appropriate to the circumstances…

When I fear my faith will fail,
Christ will hold me fast;
When the tempter would prevail,
He can hold me fast!

Refrain:
He will hold me fast,
He will hold me fast;
For my Savior loves me so,
He will hold me fast.

(Ada Ruth Habershon, 1861-1918)

Our pastor gave a good sermon on Psalm 37 (Trust in the Lord’s timing!) I went to the adult ed class on prayer–another great one led by another seminary student who was learned and funny. He got a couple of good laughs from this serious Presbyterian audience, which is saying something.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
⁴Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

–Psalm 37:2-4

We went to the boy’s house later where he grilled smashbergers–an excellent end to a lovely weekend. Life is good.

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August 14, 2026

Count your blessings

by chuckofish

Yesterday my copy of The Sing! Hymnal–a Treasury of 200 Hymns for Worship & Reflection–came in the mail.

It is a lovely book, small and compact. It includes all of my favorites–I am amazed that I know almost all 200 of them.

A perfect book for one’s bedside table.

Yesterday I also went down to the Link Auction House to pick up three chairs I rescued for a pittance. Two are ebonized, stencil-backed, cane-seated chairs which daughter #1 will be able to use with her Hitchcock dining set. The third is a small antique Hitchcock rocking chair which I will keep or give to daughter #2.

They are always so nice at the auction house, good-naturedly helping to fit everything into the speedwagon. This kind of service is not always the case these days and I appreciate it!

It is also interesting to drive down to the Central West End and see the slow progress being made on the mansions along Lindell Blvd which were heavily damaged in the tornado on May 16, 2025. So many tile roofs to replace! Millions of dollars! Progress is slow.

They have planted a lot of trees in Forest Park, but there are so many massive stumps!

It is always a shock to see the tornadic devastation wrought in the blink of an eye.

Well, have a nice weekend! Sing a hymn (or read one), watch an old movie, pet a nice dog.

(Mr. Smith is a big fan of The Mentalist.)

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