dual personalities

Month: December, 2021

December 14, 2021

Daily walking close to Thee

by chuckofish

Calvinist humor

Well, how are you doing nine days before Christmas? Organized and ready to go?

My bedroom is a disaster area, but I’m “getting there” and that’s the best I can do. But getting there is half the fun!

This is an interesting article by a birdwatcher. I know some birdwatchers and I doubt if they would agree with it. “Brother and sisters, God has placed birds in your life…for you to enjoy, to praise God for, to care for and to teach you to be confident and remember that God will look after you.” I like to watch birds because they remind me how obvious it is that God did indeed create the heavens and the earth and that on the fifth day He “let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky…every winged bird according to its kind.” I saw a Bald Eagle when we were driving in mid-MO a few weekends ago and that was very exciting, but seeing a Flicker in the backyard is just as exciting to me! Quel oiseau!

@gatewaygardener

But wait, birds aren’t real, right? Not surprisingly, the New York Times did a front page story on these idiots, but I can’t link to it because I don’t have a subscription. Tant pis.

On a higher plain, here’s a classic Christmas episode of the The Andy Griffith Show from 1962 to put you in a yuletide frame of mind.

And here’s a great old hymn. I remember it from Cool Hand Luke (1967). Harry Dean Stanton sang it.

Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee.

Hang in there! Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem.  (Isaiah 52: 1)

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December 13, 2021

“Holy Jesus, ev’ry day keep us in the narrow way”*

by chuckofish

Well, as you’ve no doubt heard, we had quite a storm on Friday night in our neck of the woods. We were watching the Alistair Sim A Christmas Carol (1951) when the tornado sirens went off. We quickly paused our movie and tuned in to the local news where the weather dudes were very excited. We listened attentively and when they said seek shelter in your basement, we did so. We have learned through the years not to mess around. Eventually we came back upstairs and finished our movie, but we did have quite a windy night and there was a lot of detritus in our yard in the morning. Also, daughter # 1’s car was damaged in our driveway.

However, the real damage occurred across the river in Illinois…

…and, of course, in Kentucky.

Very scary indeed. In the Midwest, we never underestimate the wrath and power of nature.

On a happier note, the wee twins came over on Saturday afternoon so we could give them their birthday present, which was a joint present from daughters #1 and #2, DN, Pappy and Mamu.

“It’s a Raptor!” cried the wee Bud. They both took it for a spin and then he just wanted to park it in the garage where he inspected every inch of it (under the hood, how the tailgate worked, etc.).

He then proceeded to load the flatbed up with items from the garage.

(Just like Daddy’s)

Lottie went inside (it was cold) and enjoyed wearing her unicorn headband (which I had bought at the Dollar Store) and played with the old nativity set. The Bud came in too after awhile and they played inside, before he got up the nerve to drive it again, which he did like a pro.

Human beings are amazing, aren’t they? I mean, a five-year old who weighs 28 lbs. can actually handle driving a battery-powered vehicle on the road around the cul de sac and into the driveway like Steve McQueen. Later Lottie decided she would try too and she drove and waved simultaneously like the Queen.

As you know I am reading the book of Luke, one chapter a day, through December. This weekend I read chapters 11 and 12, and let me tell you, they left me shaking in my boots like the Scarecrow in front of the Wizard of Oz. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning…

This weekend surely reminded us that, although we humans are pretty amazing, we are not in control.

We are never in control. “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?”

“No one ever said that you would live to see the repercussions of everything you do, or that you have guarantees, or that you are not obliged to wander in the dark, or that everything will be proved to you and neatly verified like something in science. Nothing is: at least nothing that is worthwhile. I didn’t bring you up only to move across sure ground. I didn’t teach you to think that everything must be within our control or understanding. Did I? For, if I did, I was wrong. If you won’t take a chance, then the powers you refuse because you cannot explain them, will, as they say, make a monkey out of you.”

__Mark Helprin, Winter’s Tale

Trust God. Keep in the narrow way.

*Hymn #226, William Chatterton Dix, 1860

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December 10, 2021

Good people, I pray you, tell us the news*

by chuckofish

It’s going to be a busy weekend. Son James is coming home to help us trim our tree and get into the spirit of Christmas. I’ve been wrapping presents steadily and easing the decorations into place a few at a time. The house is beginning to look festive!

Snowmen have taken up residence among the family photos,

and John Wayne awaits the arrival of the tree.

I like seeing him there so much that I may return him to that spot after Christmas.

Today I’ll dig out the Christmas books. Obviously, the Bible is the place to start reading about Christmas, and I don’t have to go looking for a copy, but I’m also in the mood for some fiction. If you’re looking for Christmas-themed reading, I’d recommend The Bird’s Christmas Carol, though it is a tearjerker. You can download a pdf if you don’t have a copy. Here you can find links to a very rich assortment of Christmas stories and novels. I confess that I haven’t read most of them, and that’s good because I want to read some new (old) stories.

Amid the hustle and bustle, give some thought to what Norman Vincent Peele said: “I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing the Christmas songs, and living the Christmas spirit, we can bring joy and happiness and peace to the world.” Sure, he was an optimist but he was right. As Covid restrictions shut down churches and Christmas festivities, we can’t take Christmas for granted anymore and our celebrations will have to be deliberate. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.

*Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Three Kings”

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December 9, 2021

Eat, drink and be merry–in keeping with the situation

by chuckofish

Thursday again and another weekend approaches. Two weeks until Christmas and the wee twins turn five on Saturday!

(Social distancing with Santa in 2021–good grief!)

We do not have a particularly busy holiday schedule. Gone are the days of multiple Christmas parties to attend and work festivities and school events. And that’s okay with me.

TCM showed They Were Expendable (1945) on December 7 and I watched it even though I had seen it on Memorial Day. It is such a great movie and one of the very best war movies, in part because it is not about winning and glory, but about losing and going on, about learning to be part of a team and making sacrifices for the team. (For the record, there are brave women in this movie, but they are not the ones getting their ankles blown off.)

There is a lot of talk these days about “toxic masculinity” and frequently John Wayne’s name is bandied about as an example of that, probably by morons who have never seen one of his movies. This is a real trigger for me, and this movie exemplifies exactly what is not toxic about masculinity and Robert Montgomery and John Wayne are perfect as the heroes of the film.

Author William L. White based his novel “They Were Expendable” on the experience of Squadron 3 in the Philippines, who, among other things, evacuated Gen. Douglas MacArthur, his family and staff by night from the island of Corregidor, where U.S. forces were trapped by the Japanese army, to Mindanao, the southernmost of the Philippine Islands, on March 11, 1942. John Wayne played the part of Capt. John Kelly (Rusty Ryan in the movie). Robert Montgomery played the part of Lt. John D. Bulkeley (John Brickley in the movie), who won a Medal of Honor for his service as commander of the squadron. By the way, William L. White was the son of the famous William Allen White, long-time Editor/Publisher of the Emporia (Kansas) Gazette, whom he succeeded from 1944-1973.

I also watched Damn Yankees (1958) which is available on Prime now. I had not seen it in forever (if indeed ever.) I was curious to see the Bob Fosse choreography and his muse Gwen Verdon, who did not make many movies. As musicals go, it is pretty thin, but I enjoyed “You Gotta Have Heart,” which transported me back to my senior year in high school when I had to sing it in Class Day. I was in key about half the time.

This is an interesting perspective. “For what it’s worth (and, to be clear, I’m not saying you have to do as I do), Christmas is effectively a secular festival for me. It has nothing to do with the church and isn’t demanded of Christian people in the Bible. But it is fun and I like it. What is more, I am always glad to have an opportunity to think more about Jesus.”

John Piper is so right, as usual. “I risk a generalization to warn you: people who are exercised and preoccupied with such things, as how the star worked and how the Red Sea split and how the manna fell and how Jonah survived the fish and how the moon turns to blood, are generally people who have what I call a mentality for the marginal.”

And I have been wondering about this for a long time, haven’t you?

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

–Numbers 6: 24-26
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December 8, 2021

“Free thine own from Satan’s tyranny; From depths of hell Thy people save”

by chuckofish

Well I find myself here on Tuesday evening, again, pondering what tales to regale you with this week. You all know that my parents visited the happening town of Jeff City this weekend. I thought maybe I’d do a post about how life here is just like a Hallmark movie (minus the romance!) but then my mother STOLE MY BIT in Monday’s post.

I mean, I’ll forgive her, just this once.

Then I thought I’d write about how in lists of Top Christmas Movies, White Christmas is always treated like the lesser of the two when compared to Holiday Inn. Yes, both movies star Bing Crosby and both contain the song “White Christmas.” But other than that, they’re not terribly similar and White Christmas is undeniably the better option. It has Danny Kaye in yellow socks and all of Vera Ellen’s Edith Head costumes.

So I was going to provide some backup evidence for this but OF COURSE the New York Times now says I’ve reached my limit of free articles this month (is that like -1??) and thus I cannot include quotes from their original review from 1954 where the writer is basically like “Meh, it’s low-energy and feels like they are all phoning it in.” As if.

Favorite movie dress of all time.

Also, who can hear the music that goes with that gif?

In other news, this made me laugh.

And so did this:

To wrap up this little Yuletide Clambake of a post, one of the interesting things about going to a Presbyterian church after 35+ years as an Episcopalian, is learning the music. Some hymns are the same, some hymns are new, and some hymns are sung to different tunes. Recently, we sang “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” but to the tune that Episcopalians sing “Love Divine”. I have to say, I really like it.

Here is my favorite Branson-based family bluegrass band, The Petersens, singing two Advent classics including the aforementioned with the new/old tune.

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December 7, 2021

Walls of ivy

by chuckofish

As winter approaches and we bring out all the cold weather gear, I thought I’d insert a few pics from the Middlebury College 1946 Winter Carnival booklet I unearthed while cleaning out a drawer in the highboy.

Here are the chairmen of the carnival committees…Our mother is in the front row, second from the left.

Here is the Middlebury women’s ski team–our mother is the third from the left.

And here is an attempt at college humor…Our mother is the gal in the front.

She had that fur-lined coat for years afterward. I remember it well. I still have her ski parka with the Pico Peak lift ticket attached and her wooden skiis, which she hauled to Arizona, California, and finally St. Louis after she was married, although she never skiied again. Of course, I cannot bear to get rid of them.

I have the poster from the Winter Carnival, which she designed, hanging on the wall of our den.

Although her time in college wasn’t perfect, she was happy there like nowhere else. I suppose that’s why I keep all this stuff–I like to think of her happy like that.

RIP to Senator Bob Dole, a gallant soldier and a Christian gentleman. Into paradise may the angels lead thee and at thy coming may the martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem.

And let us not forget that today is the 80th (the eightieth) anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor! You can watch/rent John Ford’s December 7th documentary (Best Documentary Oscar, 1944) here.

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard and hushed their raging at Thy word

tho walked’st on the foaming deep

And calm amidst its rage didst sleep.

Oh hear us when we cry to Thee for those in peril on the sea

–William Whiting

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December 6, 2021

“Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled”

by chuckofish

The OM and I buzzed over to Jefferson City on Friday afternoon to see daughter #1 and partake of some small town Advent fun. We walked over to High Street which had been blocked off to traffic for some Christmas window display viewing. Everyone in town was there–just like in a Hallmark movie–without the romance! We then moseyed over to the Governor’s Mansion which was open for tours.

Then we walked home and watched…

The next day we drove to Boonville to tour the DAR Roslyn Heights house, built in 1895 in the Queen Anne style by Wilbur T. and Rhoda Stephens Johnson. It is currently the Missouri State Society Daughters of the American Revolution Headquarters and every December the different chapters decorate Christmas trees which are displayed throughout the house.

We stopped in New Franklin…

to view the DAR Santa Fe Trail Marker…

(…pink granite just like every building at my old flyover university.)

Then we headed over to Rocheport to have lunch at our favorite winery on the Missouri River.

That evening we strolled back to High Street to stake out space to watch the Jefferson City Christmas Parade. Once again, everyone in town was there.

It was an excellent parade with lots of high school bands and myriad floats and noisy trucks, but when the sun went down, it got much colder and we walked home. We watched another old favorite, The Muppet Christmas Carol (with Michael Caine!) which is a remarkably faithful re-telling of the Dickens story.

We got up early on Sunday morning so we could head back home and not miss church. I’m glad we made it because we heard an excellent sermon focusing on Luke 1: 26-38. Our senior pastor recommended we try starting each day with the prayer, “Behold I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to Your word.” This sounds like a good plan to me.

Also, there was a baptism and an impromptu singing of “Jesus Loves Me” by the congregation. Both Lottie and the wee Bud exclaimed, “I know that song!” and chimed in accordingly. After church we went to Panera because our cupboards at home were bare. While we waited for our food to be ready, I asked the twins what they had learned in Sunday School and Lottie, after a pause, replied, “Fruit…fruit of the spirit.” Her Dad asked, “And what are the fruits of the spirit?” To my surprise, she reeled off, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control!” We were impressed and she repeated this several times, each time ending with a drawn out seeelllfff-controoool.” (I figured out they learned a song about the fruits of the spirit.) Will wonders never cease?

Have fun this week! Watch a Christmas movie, visit a small town or an historic home decorated for Christmas, memorize the fruit of the spirit, and remember you don’t deserve any of this. It is all a gift–and knowing this is a pathway to joy.

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December 3, 2021

I’m going inside. The fresh air is getting into my lungs.

by chuckofish

We had a super fun Thanksgiving break thanks to a visit from our eldest son and the first real snow of the year. We went turkey-free for the first time, not because we have developed a sudden empathy for big, dumb birds, but because Covid has made us lazy and a little rebellious. We feasted on cheese, crackers, the DH’s delicious homemade sausage rolls, and a yummy selection of dried fruit and nuts that Tim and Abbie sent. I had invited a friend to join us for family-favorite beef stew the next evening, but the snow arrived and so she opted, quite sensibly, to stay home.

On Saturday afternoon, the snow having stopped, we ventured out to the camp to enjoy some bracing fresh air – at least until it “got into our lungs”. We found quite the winter wonderland.

Fortunately, James saved his aging parents by doing all the shoveling!

Now, we are gearing up for the end of the semester and the wild and woolly holidays. Maybe I’ll channel my inner Bertie Wooster and wear Christmas themed clothes that will inspire the DH to remark, “I assumed it had got into your wardrobe by mistake, or else that it has been placed there by your enemies.” In any case, I am in the mood to watch the adventures of Jeeves and Wooster, pretty much all of which are on YouTube. The title of this post comes from season 1, episode 3:

This weekend I plan to finish decorating the house for Christmas and preparing packages for mailing. Then it’s on to the last week of classes – yay! Have a grand weekend!

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December 2, 2021

“Here, there and elsewhere”*

by chuckofish

December is here and Advent with it. Katiebelle is playing with her new nativity set which was handmade by daughter #3. I have always contended (like my mother before me) that children should have their own creche and unbreakable nativity figurines to play with. When they are a little older, they can have their own little tree and their own ornaments. Start those collections early!

Paul Zahl is back with a roundup of good movies to watch on TCM in December. He is, as always, right on target and this made me laugh regarding The Bishop’s Wife: “Nathan’s novel is more detached than the film, and perhaps a little cynical concerning the long-term spiritual prospects of the bishop. But, hey, when it comes to most bishops, I’ve come to feel about the same way Nathan did. Wish I didn’t.”

If you have an hour to spare, this is a great conversation with Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr., filmed back in 1995, about a year before Ben died. Those two old-timers have some wonderful stories to tell from their movie-making days.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been catching up on Michael Caine movies and the other night I watched Alfie (1966). It was quite risqué for its day and the amoral womanizing of the anti-hero Alfie was considered rather scandalous even by swinging ’60s sophisticates. “Live for yourself, like I do” is Alfie’s motto. “I never want to hurt anybody,” he says, but, of course, he does. Ultimately, he hurts no one so much as himself.

I couldn’t help thinking as I watched the movie that what has obviously changed in our society in the 55 years since its debut is that today everyone (and specifically women) is encouraged to “live for yourself.” In fact, since the feminist “revolution,” woman feel free, even entitled, to act just like Alfie. Such bad behavior as Alfie demonstrates is no longer judged to be “wicked”–at least when women act that way. And the climactic abortion scene would be considered no big deal today. In the film, the seriousness of the event even shocks selfish Alfie into realizing that a perfect little life has been ended without its having had a say in the matter. Gosh, what old-fashioned thinking!

While I didn’t find this “comedy” to be very funny, I will say that the movie is a must-see as social commentary and Michael Caine is sensational. It was a break-through part indeed.

I also will note that I watched Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz (1979) which I had not seen since 1979. It seemed very dated–all those jazz hands.

Well, watching such movies is a good reminder of what Sinclair Ferguson says: “The mortification of sin is indeed vital. [John] Owen was right: if we are not killing sin, it will be killing us. His memorable one-liner comes as a shock to much modern Christianity: ‘Let not that man think he makes any progress in holiness who walks not over the bellies of his lusts.'” I mean, sin literally kills the Bob Fosse character in All That Jazz–not that this thought is ever actually expressed overtly. But c’mon.

“God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other.” — CS Lewis

Amen, brother.

*Billy Collins–read the poem here.

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December 1, 2021

“It’s what you give, not what you get.”

by chuckofish

Well, how is everyone? I have had a doozy of two days back at work, culminating with the arrival of the Capitol maintenance staff to clean the inside windows of my office (for the first time since I’ve worked here) and requiring me to vacate my office. I threw up my hands and finished the day working from home.

But! I have lots to update. So let’s get to it.

Much of my finest handiwork was on display for Thanksgiving. Including these lovely Peanuts napkins

and these darling Mommy & Me outfits (plus my skirt).

I put my Christmas Tree up last night–and had the joy of going through my vast ornament collection. I just love all of my needlepoint ornaments from years past. I can’t believe Winnie the Pooh is approaching 20 years old! Oldie Hawn, OMG. My collection of donut ornaments continues to grow (and this year I found a new french fry ornament that was a gift from last year).

Speaking of french fries, a commenter on the blog noted yesterday

and my immediate reaction was “because she is stuffing her face with crescent rolls??!” I know it isn’t for that reason (IS IT?!).

Anyway, it has been a very busy few weeks (with no end in sight). So, please enjoy the sweet musical stylings of Mandisa. This song is sure to get you feeling festive. Maybe next week, I’ll tell you my dream Hallmark Channel Christmas movie idea with Mandisa as the star. Also, be sure to check out the #12DaysofUCP on social media.

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