dual personalities

Month: February, 2015

February 5, 2015

Give the devil his due*

by chuckofish

clapper bridge

Have you ever heard of this clapper bridge, Tarr Steps, over the River Barle in Exmoor? I first came upon it here. (There are many more good pictures, so check it out.)

clapper 2

This is so cool! I mean the bridge may date to around 1000 BC! (Its age is unknown–several theories claim that Tarr Steps dates from the Bronze Age, but others date it from around 1400 AD.)  A clapper bridge, you will recall, is an ancient form of bridge found on the moors of Devon (Dartmoor and Exmoor) and in other upland areas of the United Kingdom.

The stone slabs weigh up to 1-2 tons apiece. How were they moved? According to local legend, they were placed by the devil to win a bet. The bridge is 180 feet (55 m) long and has 17 spans. Half of this bridge was washed away by the river during heavy rains in December 2012. Thankfully the bridge has now been re-assembled.

The aforementioned myth has it that the Devil built the bridge at Tarr Steps and still has sunbathing rights on its stones. Supposedly the devil swore he would kill anyone who tried to cross his bridge. The terrified locals got the parson to face him. A cat was sent over the Bridge but was vaporised in a puff of smoke. The parson then set off and met the Devil midway. The Devil swore and intimidated him but the parson reciprocated equally and finally the Devil conceded to let people pass except when he wants to sunbathe.

Photo by John Gay, 1953

These photos were taken in 1953 by John Gay. You can see more here.

John Gay 53

car in river

I’ve no doubt that my dual personality has probably been to Tarr Steps, but this provincial girl has not. If I ever get back to merry old England, I will definitely try to check out Exmoor’s National Park!

Wonderful.

*English proverb

12 Comments
February 4, 2015

Way Back Wednesday: we are but flowers

by chuckofish

MCC flower

Little Mary in Worcester, MA, circa 1931

These are thy wonders, Lord of love,

To make us see we are but flowers that glide;

         Which when we once can find and prove,

Thou hast a garden for us where to bide;

                      Who would be more,

                      Swelling through store,

         Forfeit their Paradise by their pride.

–George Herbert, from “The Flower”

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February 3, 2015

“O hear us when we cry to thee For those in peril on the sea”*

by chuckofish

Today is the annual “Four Chaplains Day,” established by an act of Congress in 1988. It is also observed as a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church.

four-chaplains

Four Chaplains Panel–Sacrifice for Freedom Window, Washington National Cathedral

Who, pray tell, were the The Four Chaplains you ask?  Sometimes referred to as the “Immortal Chaplains” or the “Dorchester Chaplains,” they were four U.S. army chaplains during WWII who gave their lives to save other civilian and military personnel as the troop ship USAT Dorchester sank on February 3, 1943, having been torpedoed by a German U-boat. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats and gave up their own life jackets when the supply ran out. The chaplains joined arms, said prayers and sang hymns as they went down with the ship.

four chaplains 2

The Four were Lt. George Fox, a Methodist minister; Lt. Alexander Goode, a Jewish rabbi; Lt. John Washington, a Roman Catholic priest; and Lt. Clark Poling, a Dutch Reformed minister. Although their backgrounds, personalities and faiths were different,  it should be noted that Goode, Poling and Washington had all served as leaders in the Boy Scouts of America.

Immortal_Chaplains-3c

They died for God and Country and we salute them. You can read more about them here.

Four_Chaplains_glass1

Holy God, who didst inspire the Dorchester chaplains to be models of steadfast sacrificial love in a tragic and terrifying time: Help us to follow their example, that their courageous ministry may inspire chaplains and all who serve, to recognize thy presence in the midst of peril; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

*William Whiting

 

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February 2, 2015

“You will call your walls, Salvation, and all our portals, Praise”*

by chuckofish

Well, another weekend is over. This one was filled with sifting through old, dusty boxes of papers and correspondence. I made a lot of progress! And the OM made guacamole!

Among other things, I found piles of my father’s old book reviews.

ancIII

He wrote them for the Boston Sunday Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, the Post Dispatch, and various smaller papers through the years. He had a column for awhile called “Bookshelf Browsing,” which was an easy-going, chatty review of new books as they appeared in the mid-1950s. We learn that he preferred Hemingway to Fitzgerald, liked John Buchan and General MacArthur and making sweeping statements like,

It is a rare thing these days to find a novel that is full of wit, humor and whimsy at the same time, and to have all three written by an author who does not belabor them.

He goes on to pronounce The Honor of Gaston Le Torch by Jacques Peret,

A delightful book that might be made into a wonderful film, if Hollywood could, for once, be sane…

Does he sound familiar?

I think our pater would have really liked writing a blog–perhaps one with the catchy title: Bookshelf Browsing. In fact, I’m sure he would have become obsessed with the internet had it been available to him. He certainly would have loved email–all his correspondence with his collector friends all over the world would have been much easier and faster!

ancIII 2

However, I’m pretty sure he would have hated everything else about the 21st century.

Have a good Monday!

*from the Sunday Canticle

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