November | 2017 | dual personalities

November 6, 2017

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God”*

by chuckofish

As you know, Sunday was All Saints’ Sunday when we remember those who have gone before us in the faith. It is a long service, made longer this year by three baptisms and it was also Pledge Sunday! I didn’t mind, especially since we had a piper and a cake afterwards.

My busy weekend flew by as expected. I got up early on Saturday morning to meet one of my oldest BFFs from high school who was in town. We gathered for coffee with a few other HS friends that I see infrequently and a gabfest ensued.

After returning home, daughter # 1 arrived and we headed out to a few estate sales and lunch. We were successful, picking up some wooden cup and saucer holders and silver trays–the things no one seems to want anymore, but for which I am always looking. I also bought this very cool photo enlargement of the St. Louis levee in 1869.

How cool is that? I’m not sure where I will put it, but for $5, I’m not worrying.

We headed over to babysit the wee babes at 5:00 p.m. The boy and daughter #3 left for their wedding and we settled in with the wee babes. Daughter #1 had brought her bluetooth speaker/phone and we played the soundtrack to Peter Pan, entertaining the wee babes with our singalong and dancing talents: I’ll just call on Tiger-Lily! I’ll just call on Peter Pan! We’ll be coming willy, nilly, Lily! They were duly impressed. Anyway, all this gaiety wore them out and put them in the mood for eating dinner and bedtime.

We watched a little Moana and they were soon down for the count.

Indeed, the evening went quite well except for one huge diaper blow-out with green poop up Lottie’s back to her neck. That onesie is toast.

The grownups started to watch Miss Congeniality II and then I fell asleep. Par for the course.

Daughter #1 headed back to Columbia before church the next morning. I puttered around after church, catching up on laundry and dusting. I put away my halloween candles and got out my pilgrims and indians.

Sunday night the OM and I Ubered to terra incognita to see an old friend perform a cabaret to a sold out audience of friends and family.

She sang a lot of old standards–Sondheim, Porter, Nelly, and my favorite–a Guys and Dolls medley–with witty chatter in between songs. I have known Cindy since I was in second grade and we went to school and church together and college too. She has been a successful banker and headhunter, but always in her heart, wanted to be a Broadway star. So for one night she was.

More power to her for her courage and chutspah! She gets the “You go, girl!” award this week.

I leave you with this classic snap of the wee babes, which the boy texted me yesterday.

Screen Shot 2017-11-05 at 4.02.05 PM.png

Haha. Enjoy the day!

*I John 3:1

6 Comments

November 4, 2017

One equal temper of heroic hearts

by chuckofish

It’s November and today is my DH’s birthday! Although it is Saturday, he will spend the day working. Here he is (in back-lit glory) doing the finances this morning.

Never fear, we will celebrate tonight with beef curry and Naan bread, cake, a few gifties, and perhaps a toast to the birthday boy. I quite like this Tennyson:

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Tennyson, Idylls of the King

The DH’s birthday signals the rush toward Christmas, but November is for giving thanks, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m thankful for my dear spouse, who, besides incessant work, does a ton of household chores, including (more than) his share of laundry, vacuuming, and cooking. What would I do without him?

I do appreciate other good things in my life as well. Take flowers, for example. Last week a dear friend brought me this lovely bouquet.

What a wonderful way to cheer up a dreary November day. I am fortunate that my son makes me cocoa with whipped cream on top every night, and that I have fairly lights (aka small white Christmas lights) strung around the family room windows to provide the perfect ambiance for movie-watching. And let’s not forget: washing machines, hot showers, and sleeping under piles of blankets; being silly, dressing up, feeling satisfied when a project gets finished, and pictures of ADORABLE BABIES (see yesterday’s post)! I could go on and on…

What makes you feel grateful?

4 Comments

November 3, 2017

“Hand me down that can of beans”*

by chuckofish

I have a busy weekend ahead with a bigger helping of social events than I am used to. How about you?

In addition to the aforementioned social events, the OM and I are also babysitting for the wee babes while their parents go to a wedding. This will entail sticking around for longer than two hours, so daughter #1 has kindly agreed to come into town to help. Phew.

The King of Cool: one-handed non-chalance; he will be one-strapping** a backpack soon…

Nobody puts Baby in a corner.

Here’s hoping the three of us can handle these two goofballs.

In other news, did you read that November 1 was the 50th anniversary of the release of Cool Hand Luke (1967)?

Fifty years?! Zut alors, that makes me feel old. Not that I was actually old enough to see it at the movies, but almost. I remember my older brother going to see it and hearing all about it afterwards. Of course, he thought it was great, and he couldn’t believe the ending. I couldn’t wait to see it–a few years later and on television. It is one of my Top Ten favorite movies and it is my Friday movie pick. Even if you have seen it 50 times, watch it again. Paul Newman is at his tip-top best and he is ably supported by a terrific cast of up-and-coming actors. The only woman in the cast is Jo Van Fleet and her one scene is very memorable, although the Academy failed to nominate her for an Oscar. As I have said before, Paul Newman was also robbed.

By the way, last weekend I watched Paint Your Wagon (1969) which I had not seen in many years.

I enjoyed it a lot, especially Clint Eastwood, who is at the peak of his physical attractiveness and actually, for once, plays a nice guy.

No wonder I fell behind in all my eighth grade classes–I was daydreaming about him! Sigh. In fact, I never caught up with Math and French and was forever relegated to the A1 sections thereafter. (This was fine with me, but I blame Clint Eastwood.) I also was surprised that I still knew the soundtrack backwards and forwards, having listened to it ad nauseum back in the day.

R-1247720-1253972710.jpeg.jpg

Good to know we don’t forget everything.

Have a great weekend!

BTW, if you are wondering who takes all those great photos of the wee babes, it is their pater, the boy.

Screen Shot 2017-10-27 at 3.31.16 PM.png

He’s pretty good, right?

@ultimatelacrossestore

*The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on the Paint Your Wagon soundtrack

**Chan Tatum one-strapping; Jonah Hill two-strapping

7 Comments

November 2, 2017

“I’ve got the sun in the mornin’ and the moon at night.”*

by chuckofish

Once again, I relate to Calvin’s father. My favorite refrain (then and now) is, “Put on a sweater if you are cold!” …also “and it builds character!”–but that’s another story…Well, anyway, we turned on the heat in our house, because it is, after all, November. November!

In November we like to try to be more intentionally grateful, so here’s a quote from a book by one of my favorite authors.

“What was the world coming to and what hearty pleasures folks today missed out of life! One bag of meal her pap said, used to make a whole family rejoice. Now folks came ungrateful from the store, grumbling they had to carry such a heavy market basket. Was that the way this great new country of hers was going to go? The easier they made life, the weaker and sicker the race had to get? Once a majority of the men got weak and soft, what weak, harmful ways would they vote the country into then? Well, her pap’s generation could get down on their knees and thank the Almighty they lived and died when they did. How would they ever have come and settled this wild country if they said to each other, “Ain’t you afeard?” How would her pappy have fetched them the long way out here on foot if he’d kept asking all the time, “Are you all right! How do ye feel? Do ye reckon ye kin make it?” No, those old time folks she knew were scared of nothing, or if they were, they didn’t say so. They knew they ran bad risks moving into Indian country, but they had to die some time. They might as well live as they pleased and let others bury them when the time came. Now Libby’s generation, it seemed, lived mostly to study and fret about ailing and dying.”

―Conrad Richter, Sayward in The Town

My children would no doubt agree that this sounds like me as well. One could argue that the abundance of things we have has made us ungrateful. That is sad. We take things for granted when we should be grateful. So look around and be grateful. Count your blessings.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings name them one by one

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

-Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1856-1922)

il_570xN.1251612696_ru00.jpg

*Irving Berlin/image of sampler from Etsy

4 Comments

November 1, 2017

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.”*

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849 – October 25, 1916) who was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher.

But did you know that he was born in Indiana? Me neither. Although he studied for a short time in New York City as a youth, he was forced to leave New York in 1870 due to declining family fortune and return to St. Louis (!) where his family was then based. While he worked to help support his family, he became active in the St. Louis art community, winning prizes for his paintings at a local exhibition. Chase’s talent elicited the interest of wealthy St. Louis collectors who arranged for him to visit Europe for two years, in exchange for paintings and Chase’s help in securing European art for their collections. Well, well…

Anyway, I especially like his interiors with all their detail…

William_Merritt_Chase_-_Studio_Interior_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

William_Merritt_Chase_-_Shinnecock,_Long_Island_(c.1896).jpg

Chase_William_Merritt_Portrait_of_Miss_Dora_Wheeler_1883.jpg

Self-portrait, 1915

Chase won many honors at home and abroad, was a member of the National Academy of Design, New York, and from 1885 to 1895 was president of the Society of American Artists. After a long and successful career, Chase died on October 25, 1916, at his home in New York City, an esteemed elder of the American art world. He was interred in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.

William_Merritt_Chase_-_Open_Air_Breakfast_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

William_Merritt_Chase_-_First_Touch_of_Autumn_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg Today his works are in most major museums in the United States. We even have a couple in the Saint Louis Art Museum: